You should never wake a baby, we often hear. But, what to do when the nap is too long and it impacts the night? The answer from Candice Turjman, sleep expert for children aged 0 to 5 years.
On the subject of baby naps, we hear everything and its opposite. Some say that waking a baby from a long afternoon nap helps ensure a good night’s sleep. Others, on the other hand, are convinced of the opposite: waking a baby guarantees that he will be tired and upset at the end of the day and, therefore, more difficult to put to bed in the evening. One thing is certain, if a baby sleeps, it’s because he needs to. It remains to be seen whether or not it is necessary to reorganize your sleep when it seems a little off. We interviewed Candice Turjman, sleep expert for children ages 0 to 5. According to the author of the book La fête du sleep (Editions Le Courrier du Livre), everything will depend on the age of the baby and the frequency of his awakenings.
Before 4 months, we let him sleep as much as he wants without waking him up. Between 4 and 15 months, if this happens every day, we will observe the consequences it has on nights. If the nights go well, there is no need to wake him. Conversely, if falling asleep is difficult and your baby has long nighttime awakenings, it may be interesting to reorganize waking times during the day so that the afternoon nap comes a little earlier. You can also wake your baby if the nap lasts more than two hours. Some exceptions of course: if your baby is sick, it is best to let him sleep and recover as much as he needs.
Between 14 and 18 months the transition from two to one naps usually occurs. The nap begins around 1 p.m. and lasts on average 2 to 3 hours. As long as the afternoon nap does not impact falling asleep or sleeping at night, nothing changes. But if baby naps from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., it is obvious that we will not be able to put him to bed between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. since at that age, there are 4 hours to 5 hours of waking time. Two options are available to you: let your baby sleep while accepting that he will stay up later in the evening, or wake him up around 3-4 p.m. maximum so as not to impact the night. Either way, if long, late naps only happen every once in a while, chances are it won’t have any impact on nighttime sleep.
Also, from 15 months, if your baby does not want to sleep because he woke up at 5 p.m., it is better not to insist on going to bed at the usual time, that would be counterproductive. It’s best to wake up for a little while and try again later. This is indeed a sign that it is time to reorganize waking times during the day, or even bring forward the afternoon nap time. Finally, keep in mind that it is better to wake a baby from his nap so that he has a restful night without long night wakings rather than letting him sleep and wake up several times during the night.