Summer is drawing to a close and “back to school” season is upon us. This is actually the perfect time to start optimizing your schedule because it’s about to get busier! As a parent, we understand the challenges of juggling a busy schedule while wanting to provide the best care for our baby. One crucial aspect of their well-being is ensuring they receive adequate rest through regular napping. A well-rested baby is happier, healthier, and more attentive. In order to support you in this endeavor, we have crafted a quick outline highlighting effective methods to ensure your baby gets good naps, even when faced with a busy schedule during back to school season.
Establish a Consistent Nap Routine
First thing would be to try and prioritize 1 or 2 really good naps on busy days in the crib in a good sleep environment. Creating a consistent nap routine will help your baby recognize and anticipate sleep times, making napping more natural and effective. Prioritize setting regular nap times based on your baby’s natural sleep patterns and adjust them as needed. Consistency will reinforce your baby’s internal clock, signaling it is time to rest, even during busier days.
Navigating Nap Time Around Car Time And Car Trips
Since school will be in session, you will typically be in the car much more often than during the summer, or at least in the car at certain regularly scheduled times. This means that since your driving and errand schedule is fixed in stone, then you must mold your naps around this. Here are some bullet point tips to get you started:
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- Avoid car trips if possible when within 30 minutes of the nap time.
- Push your child’s first nap to be a little earlier in order to have it completed ~30 minutes before you have to leave home.
- Have alternate caregiver stay home with baby if your baby is having trouble adjusting to a new nap schedule.
- Alternate driving with friend or neighbor. Have them pick up/drop off children on certain days, then switch. That way you have fewer interrupted nap schedules to worry about.
- If needed, swap cat nap from afternoon for the morning. While this isn’t ideal because the first nap of the day is a continuation of night sleep, it will work in a pinch!
- If the baby falls asleep in the car during nap time and they are still asleep when you are about to arrive home, keep driving and let them finish out an hour nap minimum.
Keeping baby awake in the car:
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- Roll down the windows, especially the one closest to the baby.
- Make sure they don’t have access to a binky, even if it makes them a little fussy. They can’t be sleeping if they are awake and fussy!
- Have an older sibling interact with them to distract them from their fuss and to keep them awake.
- Keep a sippy cup of cool water around and have them drink it. Cold water has been shown to help keep children awake (but only temporarily).
- Turn up the volume on the car stereo, especially if it is something that the baby doesn’t care for like talk radio. If you end up playing songs they like, then it could have the opposite effect of having them fall asleep.
- Turn up the AC! Making the car a little cooler will help to keep the baby awake as well, just don’t make it too cold.
Before You Go
We hope you enjoyed learning about tips for keeping your baby’s nap schedule intact during a busy school year. If you would like to know more about this, our sleep programs or any of our excellent newborn care services, we are happy to help. Just contact us and we can go over your options and help you find the best path for your little one. We hope these tips have helped you along your journey. If you have any questions about helping your baby to sleep better, or about your baby in general, please reach out to us HERE. We are experts in all things baby and sleep and would love to help!
If you have questions about your child, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We would love to help. Please reach out to us here! We always look forward to hearing from you.
