Naptimes are essential, not only to our children’s brain development but also the parent’s mental health. Like seriously, how would we survive without our little one’s napping. In this post, I’m giving you a couple tips on developing a stellar naptime routine for you and your child.
Before naptime arrives it’s important that your children have engaged in some gross motor activities during the morning. This will allow them to have already exhausted some energy that may prevent them from falling asleep. As a transition from playing to napping, I suggest doing a quiet activity such as reading.
Be consistent
I chose this as the first tip because it is easy to start something and then stop if it doesn’t work the first couple times. Give this technique a week or so and you’ll be amazed at the progress.
Consistency is also related to all of the following tips.
Talk to them
It’s important when developing a routine that your child knows that is happening and what to expect. Before starting the process, you can say, “we are going to read a couple books and then we will take a nap.” Proceed with reading the books and give them a warning once you start the last book. Doing so will help prepare them for what is to come.
Continue to talk to them until it is time for them to sleep. It’s amazing how many questions and topics your children want to discuss during naptime. Gently tell them that you will talk about it but right it is time for a nap.
Soothing music
Playing soothing music or any form of white noise will be a great assistance in helping your child fall asleep. Personally, I play a 2-hour instrumental version of baby songs that I found on YouTube. I usually play it as soon as I begin to put the girls to sleep and let it play for the entire two hours. Once it is over, I know that they have slept for approximately an hour and fifty minutes. I then allow them to wake up on their own.
Dark room
The last tip is to have your children sleep in a dark or almost dark room. This will help them understand that is time for a nap. I would go as far as saying, especially for infants, to not have the room entirely dark just so they can begin to understand the difference between the length of sleep from day to night. If it is dim, it’s just a nap. If it is dark, its time for “deep sleep” 5+ hours.
I hope these suggestions help you and your littles have an awesome naptime.
As always, feel free to comment your naptime hacks, I’d love to read them.
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