Dana Obleman: Hi! [background music starts] I’m Dana Obleman, creator of the “Sleep Sense Program”. Today’s question comes from Carrie. She is wondering, “Dana, why are naps so much harder?” [laughs] That’s a great question and it’s one I hear every single day.

To be perfectly honest, I have a few ideas on why naps are harder but I don’t actually know that answer a hundred percent. I do find that, I would say, 99 percent of the time most people find that their children do quite well with bedtime.

After a night or two they’re going to sleep fairly easily. They’re sleeping longer and longer stretches in the night. Most people don’t have a lot of problem once they get the ball rolling around bedtime at nights.

But, they’re pulling their hair out over naps. First of all, it’s common. Don’t panic and don’t worry if you’re struggling with naps a little bit more than you are with night. It is a hundred percent normal, OK?

Now, I think one of the reasons why is because, given the choice, most children wouldn’t take nap. I can remember asking my kids if they were tired, if they wanted a nap. They would almost always say no, even if they are practically falling asleep in their high-chairs.

Children don’t really want to stop playing and having a good time and interacting with their parents to go and take a nap. They tend to fight it a little harder. Also, they’re not as fatigued. They do need their naps, they are a hundred percent important, but they’re not as fatigued.

Our body clocks are designed to sleep through the night and be more awake and alert throughout the day. So it’s really not quite our natural rhythm. However, it’s still really needed. So they fight it a little bit more.

I’ve got a couple of tips to share with you around making this transition a little bit easier. Number one would be to make sure that the room is nice and dark for nap. The closer to nighttime darkness that you can get, the better the nap will go.

Meaning she’ll falling asleep a little faster. It also really helps improve the length which can be a really tricky part. Maybe falls asleep, but it’s only for 20 minutes can be so frustrating. Make sure that the room is nice and dark.

Another tip would be to look at your timing. You really want to have your timing just right in order to encourage a nice long nap. Have a look in the book. I’ve got a chart in the nap section that outlines the different ages and the length of time those children can handle being awake.

Tinker with it a little bit. I would say 20 minutes, add an extra 20 minutes, decrease it by 20 minutes. Give each of those scenarios a try for a couple of days until you find that magic window of opportunity where it just makes naps that much easier.

Hang in there. Naps will come, I promise. They often take two, sometimes even four weeks before they really feel like your accomplishing it and it’s consistent and the length is good. It’s worth the effort in the long run. Hang in there. Thanks so much. Sleep well.