Is my newborn napping enough or too much?
Babies need a lot of sleep as they are developing at such a fast rate, taking in so much information about the big wide world. The one thing you often hear from parents with newborns however is that their baby just won’t sleep. The key to getting your baby to nap is all about timing and making sure you are putting your little one down at their sleepiest moments. At first, this might all come down to a bit of trial and error and experimenting with different nap time routines, but by knowing what suits your little one, it might just make it all a little bit easier.
When should my baby nap?
How long your baby will nap for will very much depend on their age. According to the NHS, newborns need as much as eight hours of sleep in the daytime and a further eight hours of sleep at night. What a life! This equates to every two hours until they are about three months old. As your little one gets older the number of hours of daytime sleep will decrease as the number of hours sleep, they require at night increases. Many articles and magazines suggest, to begin with especially, just letting your newborn sleep for as long as they need to. Make the most of the peace and quiet and get some rest!
How long should my baby nap for?
Although your newborn will nap a lot, the maximum they are likely to sleep when they are very young is two hours at a time, waking regularly to be fed. It is not until your baby is between 6-8 weeks old might only just start to recognize a day and night routine. It is believed therefore that you should not start to implement a sleep routine until they are about three or four months old where your baby will start to follow more of a predictable pattern of sleep.
Safer sleep advice for napping
For some newborns, no matter what you do they will fall asleep when they decide best. For others, you might have to decipher from the glazed eyes, rubbing of eyes and yawning or, if maybe left a little too late, a full on melt down, that they are ready for another nap. You know your baby best! When putting your little one down to nap, it is important to make sure that your baby is at a comfortable temperature, with a room temperature of 60-68° F. A room thermometer such as the Groegg will give you an accurate reading to know what you should dress your little one in. Experts recommend your little one sleeps on a firm, flat and waterproof mattress and for the first six months they remain in the same room as you.
White noise toys such as Ollie the Owl can help further by imitating familiar sounds they would have heard in the womb to settle your little one off to sleep with a choice of four sounds. The choice of the lullaby and white noise for the CrySensor means if your little one wakes up mid nap, Ollie the Owl will gently soothe them back to sleep.
