Your Guide To Nap Training

Naps are essential for children because they allow them to rest and recuperate, which aids in their psychological and physiological growth during the formative years. They have a  significant impact on your kid's mental and emotional growth. Sleep aids in forming neural pathways in the brain and improving mood, focus, memory, and immunity, so it’s essential for babies who are just developing. 

Babies who struggle to fall asleep during their nap time are more likely to be difficult and grumpy in the afternoon, which is not something most parents want to deal with. They have shorter attention spans than normal and frequent outbursts. Your ability to get things done around the house and give yourself a rest will be hampered if your child has trouble sleeping during naps.

What Is Sleep Training?  

Sleep training is training your baby means teaching them to fall asleep without any assistance from you. It helps them to become independent sleepers. For example, they may fall asleep by themselves when they wake up alone at night.

Why Naps Are Important

Taking naps throughout the day helps babies get the total amount of sleep they require in a 24-hour period, improves the quality of their nocturnal sleep, and supports their emotional and cognitive development. That’s one-way sleep training could help your baby's health. 

Another way it can help is by boosting their physical health. Your baby's immune, endocrine, and cardiovascular systems may all benefit from regular naps.

Naps aren’t just good for babies. Healthy newborn sleep (including naps) appears to be beneficial for parents as well as infants. The time parents get for themselves while their babies sleep boosts their moods and can potentially reduce their stress.

How To Sleep Train Your Baby

You should wait until your baby is at least 4 months old before you start trying sleep training. There are a lot of sleep training methods available, and as each baby is different, different methods will have different results. Here are two of the most popular sleep training methods.

The extinction process involves putting your child to bed and letting them cry until they fall asleep. It’s completely safe as long as you ensure that your child is full and comfortable.

If you’re uncomfortable leaving your child to cry, you can use the Ferber method, which is similar to the extinction method, except for the fact that you soothe your baby at preset intervals. These intervals gradually increase in time until your baby starts falling asleep without your presence. 

You should see results from sleep training in at least a week, but as aforementioned, every baby is different, so times will vary.

Summer's Sleep Secrets is an online resource for helping your babies sleep better. We have a team of trained sleep consultants ready to improve you and your baby’s life.  Learn how we can help you today!