Let your baby nap on the go

This page is part of a collection of short articles called Brief & simple, which together make up a quick summary of The Possums Sleep Program in plain language. For comprehensive information and support, please go to The essentials section of The Possums Sleep Program, and begin to work your way through the program's online text and videos.

Babies don't need to be taught to sleep.

They can be trusted to take the sleep they need, dropping off in the carrier, the pram, the car capsule or after a feed when the sleep pressure is high enough. As long as your baby has enough milk in the tummy and plenty of adventures outside the house, sleep looks after itself.

Babies daytime naps are often very brief. Trying to keep your baby asleep for long periods during the day can result in excessive night waking after a few weeks. Less day napping equals more night sleeping, as a pattern over time.

Acknowledgements

I'm grateful to Professor Sophie Havighurst, Ros June, and Caroline Ma at Mindful, The University of Melbourne, for their feedback on the articles in the Brief & simple section of The Possums Sleep Program. They helped to keep the language plain and the concepts as accessible as possible. For comprehensive information and support, please go to The essentials section of The Possums Sleep Program, and begin to work your way through the program's online text and videos.

Recommended resources

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Babies with a pattern of long naps during the day might have unmanageably late bed-times or wake excessively in the night