CASE STUDY: 6 weeks old, catnapping all day

Max's sleep story...

Little Max was Leah's second baby. She thought things would be easier the second time around but she struggled with Max's sleep right from the get-go!

Leah had learned from her first baby that newborns get overtired really easily and this affects their ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. So, based on some advice she had been given that babies this age can only stay awake for an hour maximum, she was putting Max down for his naps after an hour of awake time.

Max had to be actively settled to sleep each time with rocking or bouncing and once he was asleep, he would only ever nap for 30-45 minutes at a time. Leah was incredibly frustrated as she felt like she was constantly either feeding the baby or trying to get him to sleep. She barely had any time to spend with her toddler, let alone have a shower or grab something to eat before Max woke up again.

Leah couldn't figure out where she was going wrong. Max had the ideal sleeping conditions - he was swaddled and being put down for naps in a dark room, with white noise playing. He was feeding well, burped, changed and definitely not overtired... WHY wasn't he napping for longer?! 

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The constant catnapping was starting to take a toll on Max's night sleep too, with unpredictable and frequent night wakes. So Leah got in touch with us to see if we could help.

We quickly identified the culprit behind Max's chronic catnapping! In her desperation to avoid an overtired baby, Leah was was actually putting Max to bed too early! He wasn't getting enough awake time between naps, which meant he then wasn't tired enough to sleep for more than one sleep cycle.

We suggested Leah start following the age-specific schedules in our Newborn Sleep Program, which would mean stretching out Max’s awake time between naps. It only took two days to see a huge improvement!

By making sure Max was perfectly ready for sleep, he was far easier to settle and much to Leah's amazement, he was actually able to drift off to sleep on his own, without her needing to rock or feed him to sleep.

Max also started having longer naps during the day, including a lovely 2 to 2.5 hour lunch nap - something Leah never imagined was possible! Best of all, since Max and his toddler sister were both napping at the same time across the middle of the day, this meant mum was able to take some time for herself too!

Leah contacted us a few weeks later to let us know how much Max’s day sleep had improved. She was happy to report that his nights were more predictable now too and his sleep was starting to consolidate, meaning fewer and fewer night wakes!

I really can't thank you enough! I had no idea about the importance of awake times in a baby this age - all the generic advice I had was leading me to think there was something wrong with my baby or my parenting skills, when all I needed to do was keep him awake for longer between his naps! This Program has literally saved my sanity.

Improving your baby's sleep doesn't need to be difficult or complicated - as you can see here, small changes can make a world of difference! If you're ready to start your journey to better sleep, everything you need can be found in our Little Ones App, including support from our team of expert sleep consultants.