Sleeping is necessary for growth, but did you know that unlike nighttime sleep, naps have various functions that are essential for growth? In this article, I will introduce the necessity of children taking naps, the measures I take when they don’t take naps, and how long naps are necessary, along with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s views. Please use this as a reference if you are a mother who is worried about your baby’s naps or your child’s naps.
Why do you need a nap?
I think most babies take naps every day while they are still small. Most people stop taking naps when they become adults, so why is it so important for babies to take naps?
Rejuvenate your baby
Naps tend to involve more REM sleep than nighttime sleep. There are two types of sleep: non-REM sleep and REM sleep. While non-REM sleep is responsible for physical health, REM sleep is effective for emotional recovery.
Therefore, even with a short sleep, babies can wake up feeling mentally fulfilled and calm.
Relieve your baby’s frustration
It is said that taking a nap lowers stress hormones and relieves a baby’s mental frustration.
Some mothers may have experienced their babies becoming fussy in the evening after missing their nap. This may be because they were not able to release stress during the nap. You may also
think that your baby will fall asleep quickly at night because they didn’t take a nap, but they don’t fall asleep easily. This is also because the stress that should be released during a nap is carried over to the night, making it difficult for them to fall asleep.
You can get into a rhythm of life
Planning nap times will lead to planning sleep times at night, helping to establish a daily rhythm.
If you want your baby to sleep between 7 and 8 p.m., if you have two naps, have the first one around 10 a.m. and the second one between 2 and 4 p.m. This will keep your baby in a good mood at dinner time, and he or she will be tired and fall asleep by 7 or 8 p.m. As your baby gets
older, if you want to limit it to one nap, try to have that nap between noon and 1 p.m.
What do moms do when their kids can’t fall asleep?
What do you do when your baby won’t fall asleep? I’d like to share with you the methods I use to help my baby fall asleep.
Creating an environment that helps you fall asleep
Television is attractive to babies because of its changing images and bright, sparkling lights. If the TV is on when you take a nap, your baby’s attention will be drawn to it, so make sure to turn it off. Make sure to close the
curtains and make the room a little darker.
Mommy taking a nap next to me
If it’s nap time but your child is having trouble falling asleep, try taking a nap next to them. It
seems to be a common pattern that children become sleepy while listening to their mother’s breathing. My child sleeps well too. It will also help you to relieve your fatigue, so try taking a nap every once in a while to stop doing housework.
How long will the nap last?
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s guidelines for daycare centers used to require afternoon naps, but this has now been changed to “consider creating an environment that is appropriate for each individual child, and does not necessarily have to be limited to afternoon naps, but allows for mental and physical rest.” Some
daycare centers have begun to stop naps for 5-year-olds in preparation for their entry into elementary school. Some 4- to 5-year-olds who have gained physical strength find it difficult to sleep at night if they take a nap, and for these children, not taking a nap seems to have the advantage of falling asleep earlier at night.
If your child is able to stay awake until night without a nap during the day, you may not need to force them to take a nap.
Let your baby take a nap while keeping an eye on him or her
This time, we introduced why children need naps. Naps are useful not only for the body but also for resting the mind. Please think
again about sleep for the growth of both mothers and babies.
