Is it a problem if your baby only catnaps during the day?

Your baby's daytime naps are only meant to take the edge off her rising sleep pressure

It's normal and common for babies to sleep for very brief periods only during the day. Babies' daytime sleep needs are highly variable, both between babies and in the one baby from day to day.

Daytime naps function to take the edge off your baby's rising sleep pressure. If naps occur in the midst of the circadian cues of noise, light and activity, then your baby will only stay asleep while the sleep pressure is high. What's most important is that you protect night-times. We want your baby's sleep pressure to be very high and her body clock aligned with yours at night, so that she wakes a normal amount of times through the Big Sleep (rather than excessively).

I am always saying to parents: "Don't try to get your baby to sleep during the day, and don't try to keep your baby asleep during the day. Don't hesitate to put your little one down if she has dropped off to sleep, too. If she really needs the nap, she'll stay asleep. If she wakes up, then she's taken the sleep she needs."

Why does your baby cry when he wakes up during the day?

Sometimes parents might hear that their baby wakes up crying because he needs more sleep. But there are other, more helpful, ways of making sense of this. Here are three reasons why your baby might wake up crying.

1. He is frightened of being alone (even though it's daytime and you know he's safe), and wants the comfort and safety of your arms, close to your body. This is normal baby behaviour.

2. He wants to be surrounded by a richer environmental experience. Lying on a mattress inside a room is a very low sensory motor experience.

3. Transitioning from sleep to wake during the day feels unpleasant. Have you ever woken up from a daytime nap yourself, and found the experience disorienting and unpleasant? I believe the same happens with babies!

Often, you might offer a quick transitional breastfeed when your baby wakes, to dial your little one down, and then you move on into your day, with its focus on your own enjoyment and rich and changing sensory motor nourishment for your baby.