I don’t want to be ‘nap trapped’!
Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant
This is a phrase that I hear a lot from parents when looking at sleep and it can be something which puts parents off working on naps with their little ones.
So, what do I mean by ‘nap trapped’?
Napped trapped is when parents and carers can feel that they are ‘trapped’ at home because their little one needs to be in their cot for their naps and/or due to the timings of the naps it can mean that they are having to miss out of things such as classes, groups or going for a coffee with a friend etc.
Nap trapped can also relate to:
when you are not able to leave your baby while they are sleeping otherwise they wake up
the need to be sitting down while your baby naps on you
feeling like you can’t let your little one nap out of the house as they don’t settle as well as they do at home.
In this blog we are going to mainly focus on the area of feel trapped by naps in relation to getting out and about and the general feeling of being trapped by your little one’s routine or schedule. My aim is to provide you with some reassurance that you don’t have to be trapped by naps! It is all about balance, the importance of you and your little one being able to get out and about alongside your little one having the right amount of sleep during the day so that they are not tired and cranky…which is important for you too!
There is a great deal of information out there when it comes to naps and the benefits of cot naps and I have referred to this in previous blogs. In the same way as at night-time, the crib/cot naps do help with restful sleep, however we have to be practical - it is not always possible to do all of the naps in the cot and that is ok! Some naps will need to be in the pram, in the car or in a sling, and can often be on the move as you might have places to be such as groups and classes or even doing the school run for older siblings.
Here are my top tips:
Start by looking at your week. You may have specific days and times that you need to be a groups or classes, or doing nursery/school runs if you have older children. Write out your week with what you need to attend including timings and then look at when you are able to do naps at home in the crib/cot and when you might have to do a nap on the move. By seeing your week all planned out it can help you to feel like you have control over when and where the naps will be and how you might look to balance them out. Often when doing this weekly plan you will find that you are at home for naps more than you first thought.
Look for groups and classes which work around nap timings where you can. This is not always possible but doing some research to see what is available and what might work can help take pressure away from working the naps out or even having to cut naps short in order to get somewhere. It can also help if your little one has had a good restful nap to be a good mood for the class or group.
If you need to do some naps on the go, see how you can create similarities to cot naps. This might be portable white noise, a comforter such as a muslin or cuddly (age dependent and following Lullaby Trust guidelines) and something like a Snooze shade to create a dark environment if using a pram. It might be that your little one is happy to nap in the sling and this is equally fine for naps on the go. Creating similar sleep environments can help your little one predict when it is nap time and help them to settle to sleep easier.
Try to see the positives of being ‘nap trapped’ - it can mean that you need to be at home, and where you take time for you. It can be a time where you can have a hot cup of tea, to catch up with your favourite tv show or a time for you to have a nap too! Use this time in a positive way and it can help to stop the feeling of being ‘nap trapped’.
Get people to come to you. If we feel that we are not able to see people or get out and about, it can help to ask people to come to your house while your little one naps and then you can always go out after nap time. This way you don’t feel that you are missing out and it can give you some time to catch up with your family member or friend while your little one is sleeping.
Create a routine where there is some structure to the day so that your little one knows what to expect. If you are able to, have a pre-nap routine so your little one knows that it is nap time. By having a routine like this it will start to structure the day for you both and hopefully avoid those nap battles that you can have when your little one is resisting doing down for a nap. Always have a wind down to nap time (even if it is just 5 mins), before a nap so that your little one is not going from playing straight to being put into their cot/crib.
It is important to remember that naps will change and evolve over time, so keep reviewing what you are doing and tweak where needed. As I said previously, it is all about balance - it is important that you are able to balance everyday life and the need to get out and about with using time you are at home while your little one sleeps to get things done or more importantly taking some time for you!
For more information about sleep you might be interested in ‘Your Guide to Sleep’ - a step-by-step video guide, our other sleep blogs, or you might feel that you would like further support from a 1:1 sleep consultation - more information on our parenting consultations is here.
We also have a podcast - ‘Newborn to Teen and Everything in Between’ - listen here.