Best Nap Time
When your baby is 3 to 4 months old, most babies begin to display a more predictable sleeping pattern in the day time. Experts say that infants nap two hours after waking up in the morning for about one hour and in the afternoon for about one to two hours. Another afternoon nap is taken in the late-afternoon. The frequency may be a damper on activities so you might want to try conditioning your child to expect specific nap times.
Record Baby’s Sleep Signals
For a week or two, keep a record of baby’s naps and his behaviours prior to dozing off. For some babies, some tired signals include rubbing eyes, yawing or even general restlessness. Other more active babies wail due to a lack of sleep. So figure out how your little one reacts when he’s tired.
Pre-empt Sleepiness
Note the times in which your child snoozes in the day and go into a bedtime routine 15-20 minutes prior. If baby always sleeps at around 11am, you may want to feed, change, lower down the lights and rock him quietly prior to the time.
Fixed Routines
If you have enrolled your child in baby daycare, follow a similar nap routine during the weekend so that your baby will be in sync. When enrolling in baby activities in the day, avoid classes or activities that conflict with baby’s nap schedule.
Switch Times
Be aware of the need to separate breaks between feeding and sleeptime. If your child has a penchant for falling asleep right after feeds as most babies do, schedule her last feed earlier in the evening or at the start of her bedtime routine so that she will doze off to sleep easily.
Doze Off Independently
A baby may go through one sleep cycle of about 30 minutes and wake up crying. This is because babies are not able to fall asleep again easily and must go through the cycle on their own. Some babies will fuss and cry after waking up but this will decrease in frequency when they’ve found out how to fall asleep on their own. Another tip is to swaddle your baby during nap times.
