How to Sleep Train for Naps
Want your baby to stop waking up mid-nap? Learn how to sleep train for naps, including how often to check in, when to start, and common hurdles to watch for.
Getting your baby to sleep through the night is fantastic enough as it is, but what do you do about naps? Maybe you still need to lie down next to her or shush and rock her to sleep. You may have even justified these choices by saying that at least she sleeps through the night.
But what if you could sleep through the night and get her to nap on her own? Below, I’ll share what has worked with my kids—I hope these tips can work for you, too:
Table of Contents
How to sleep train for naps
Put your baby to nap in the same place you put him to sleep at night, helping him get used to the new sleep environment. Implement a nap routine, perhaps a shorter version of your bedtime one. Whichever routine you choose, use it each time he naps.
Next, determine how long he’ll remain in his room for naps. Use his former nap times as a gauge, since nap lengths can vary.
Put him down awake, not asleep, so he can learn to put himself to sleep without external sleep aids. Remove any crutches like pacifiers and swaddles.
How often should you check in during sleep training? Once you close the door, set your timer for five minutes. If he’s crying at the five-minute mark, enter the room and make sure all is fine. Reassure him you’re nearby and encourage him to fall asleep. Repeat the same process at 10- and 15-minute marks. Check in until the designated wake-up time, whether that’s 45 minutes or two hours.
How long do you do the check-ins? Treat the designated nap time as the window for checking in. Let’s say he should nap for an hour. If he fell asleep right away but woke up after 30 minutes, continue to check in for another 30 minutes until the hour is up. Let’s say he was awake for 20 minutes, slept for the next 25, and woke up soon after—continue to check in for the remaining 15 minutes until it’s time to get him up.
Expert tip
Sometimes you might notice that he cries harder when you check in frequently at five- and 10-minutes. In that case, you might have more luck checking in every 15 minutes instead of at five- and 10-minute intervals. Checking in every 15 minutes can give him a longer time to calm down and actually fall asleep.
Free resource: We’ve all made mistakes when it comes to sleep training. Grab your copy of 5 Mistakes That Keep Your Baby from Self Soothing to see which ones are crucial to avoid. You’ll also get my newsletters, which parents say they LOVE:
When to start sleep training for naps
Regardless of when you start, keep in mind that sleep training for naps tends to take longer than the evenings. Whereas some babies can sleep through the night within a few days, others can take weeks before they do the same for naps (as it did for mine).
The good news is that your baby can put himself to sleep for naps—it just usually takes longer than the evenings. You also have a few options on when to start. Take a look at the three most common scenarios:
Start after the first night of sleep training
One is to start with the first nap after the first night of sleep training. If you start on a Friday night, begin with your baby’s first nap on Saturday morning.
Naps are much harder for children to fall asleep, sleep training or not. You’ve got the sunlight to contend with and babies not wanting to “miss out” on anything. Throw sleep training in the mix and naps will almost always be harder than the evenings. That’s why many parents start with the easier of the two, which is the evening.
Start after your baby is sleeping through the night
Another option is to start after your baby has already been putting himself to sleep at night. Several parents admitted to doing this, as they couldn’t stand the thought of their babies being sleep-deprived the night before, only to do the whole process again for naps.
Start before sleep training at night
And finally, you can also start with naps even before tackling the evenings. This is less common and mostly applies to babies who are already sleeping better at night than they are for their naps.
As you can see, you have quite a few options. Personally, I started the next day after the first night of sleep training, as described in the first option. I wanted to get it done all at once rather than extending the process longer. But when you start is totally up to you and is a personal preference.
What to do about skipped naps
Your baby will likely skip naps or not nap long in the beginning. Here’s how to determine your next steps:
- If your baby is six months or younger and skipped a nap, try again an hour later from the end of the designated time. For instance, if your 4 month old skipped his 9—10am nap, try again at 11am.
- If your baby is older than six months, try again at the next scheduled nap time. For instance, if your 8 month old skipped his morning nap, try again at the afternoon nap. If he only naps once a day, keep him awake until bedtime (you can move bedtime earlier for that day if you prefer).
Frequently asked questions
You can definitely let her keep sleeping even past the nap window. Of course, there are times when you’ll need to wake her up. For instance, you might need to leave the house at a certain time, or the nap is cutting it close to bedtime. But generally, if she happens to finally fall asleep at the tail end of the nap window, it’s okay to let her continue sleeping and simply wait for her to wake up on her own.
What should I do if my baby falls asleep in the car? Should I do my best to keep her awake during the car ride, or is it okay to take her to the crib and do the check-ins at that point?
Try to avoid being on the road when she might fall asleep. Instead, save your outings for after she’s awake, giving yourself enough time to get home without her getting too sleepy in the car. If you can’t avoid it, keep her awake by giving her a toy, talking to her, singing upbeat songs, or having siblings play with her.
If she still falls asleep in the car, make sure she’s awake before you put her down in the crib. Talk to her and explain what happened, change her into a clean pair of diapers, tickle her, and do what you can to make sure you don’t put her down completely asleep. Be warned though: she’ll likely be cranky not only from being woken up, but from not having her old sleep aids to fall asleep like she just did earlier in the car.
My baby’s daycare won’t let him cry for naps because it’ll wake the other kids. What do you suggest in that situation?
If there’s not much you can do to change procedures with your daycare, then continue the process at home. Let the daycare handle it their way in the meantime. Once your baby can put herself to sleep at home without crying, let the daycare know. Ask them to give her a chance to put herself to sleep first before rocking or bottle-feeding.
The bottom line
“Will the crying ever stop?” a parent asked me about naps. Evenings felt more successful after only a few days, but crying at nap time didn’t seem to go away, even after weeks had gone by.
But the crying will stop, not only for naps but for the evenings, too. It’ll dwindle to a few whimpers before your baby falls asleep until finally, he’ll stop crying at all. And sure, you’ll likely hit a few snags down the line, but you now have a plan to get back on track. Best of all, you’ve given him the skill of falling asleep so you can put him down awake, knowing he’ll take care of the rest.
Get more tips:
- How to Prepare for Sleep Training
- How to Wean from Night Feedings
- Frequently Asked Questions About Sleep Training
- How to Create a Conducive Sleep Environment for Your Baby
- How to Stay Calm When Your Baby Won’t Nap
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