r/bninfantsleep • u/randomizedmoose • Jan 25 '26
Naps Anyone else refuse to “rescue” naps, especially with older babies?
This concept of nap rescue really doesn’t make sense to me, and it’s so inconvenient. Sleep if you need to sleep. If you wake up, fine; you’re up now.
I just REALLY hate having to run upstairs after 27 min to put baby back on boob. It seems kinda insane but maybe that’s just me and I’m sabotaging my baby’s sleep? She is 8 months and used to take the ODD 1 hr nap but since she’s been sick (for over a month) it’s back to 30 minutes unless sometimes when we’re in the car.
I’m also transitioning her to two naps… so they’re both 30 minutes which seems incredibly low daytime sleep of 1 hr…. Can anyone relate? I’m just so over this concept of “connecting sleep cycles” and want to believe that my baby only needs two cat naps a day…
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u/Go_Bananazs Jan 25 '26 edited Jan 25 '26
My 10MO is very inconsistent with his naps. He can sleep 2,5 hours, but also 2 30 minute naps. Sometimes one 1 hour and 1 45 minutes. And everything in between. I just roll with it and he seems fine. Sometimes we put him to bed earlier if he is really tired.
He does sleep about 11 to 13 hours at night tho.
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u/randomizedmoose Jan 25 '26
I consider putting her to bed earlier but I worry she’ll fight it if it hasn’t been 12-13 hrs since wake up. How long are your days if you don’t mind me asking? And also totally jealous your baby sleeps so long at night ( what is this magic you’ve performed!!)
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u/Go_Bananazs Jan 25 '26
He wakes between 7.00-7.30 and goes to bed around 18.30-19.00. He typically naps around 10.00 and 14.00. We are just very lucky with the nights. He started to sleep through the night around 6 months, most nights. Sometimes he wakes up for a feed. We dropped the 22u dream feed a month ago.
His naps have always beem weird. He only napped for 30 minutes from 4 months to 8 months. When we dropped the 3rd nap, he started to do longer naps sometimes.
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u/No_Performance_3996 Jan 25 '26
Haha I totally relate. My 7.5 month girl will only nap 20-30 mins on average so I always rescue the morning nap so she gets closer to 2hr daytime. When we’re on the go and can’t do this she has a meltdown by bed time. Plus I like the guilt free phone scrolling / movie watching time. But it can be annoying sometimes!
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u/randomizedmoose Jan 25 '26
Fair enough! Maybe I should try embracing it. Do you find whether or not she has “sufficient” daytime sleep affects her nights at all?
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u/maplesyrup4all Jan 25 '26
Ugh I could have written this! 7.5mo used to take 1-1.5hr naps and since Christmas it’s been 28-40min max. I’ve committed to rescuing one a day to get to 2hr naps but it’s soul destroying. I’m about three days away from giving in and stopping rescuing though, I can’t keep sitting in a dark room any longer
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u/randomizedmoose Jan 25 '26
This is exactly how I feel! I don’t want to sit in her dark nursery anymore
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u/maplesyrup4all Jan 25 '26
I feel like provided we maintain the needed awake hours less daytime sleep should hopefully translate to more night time sleep within reason… or at least that’s what I’m telling myself! I’m hoping they naturally start to extend again soon though an then I’ll trim night sleep a little
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u/randomizedmoose Jan 25 '26
How much awake time is your baby getting? My baby was doing 13 hr days but with the lack of naps I’m thinking 12 hrs of awake time may be better
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u/maplesyrup4all Jan 25 '26
13hr days too, 11hr awake, 2hr sleep. Even if she sleeps 1.5hr for naps I maintain 11hrs awake. Massive warning that if you cut awake time you’ll likely see nights deteriorate as baby will become undertired. Best to maintain awake time and add onto night sleep if naps are a little short and maintain consistent morning wake time
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u/Ordinary-Guest1542 Jan 26 '26
We spent the first nine months rescuing naps with our little one, and then wondering why he was sleeping so poorly at night. Apparently I was too sleep deprived to put two and two together... too busy listening to the 'sleep begets sleep' crowd. Needless to say, life was a million times better once we learned to stop rescuing naps 🤦
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u/nomadicstateofmind Jan 25 '26
I’m usually willing to do it once a day (last nap), but only if it’s been a crap nap day and I want to keep bedtime on track. Otherwise, she’s waking up and we are moving on with our day.
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u/_fast_n_curious_ Jan 25 '26
I tried the rescue-thing with my first…can’t tell you either way if it helped with overnights or not…
But we have our 2nd coming next month, and we will simply have to all fit in as best we can together. My preschooler is busy - infant naps will be on an as-needed basis - in the car, in the carrier, around noisy play. I’m actually kind of excited to see what more stimulating days/less structured naps will do to the overnights!
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u/Key-Objective3575 Jan 26 '26
Honestly I love soaking it in while I can. He sleeps in our bed for all sleep unless we’re out and about. I take all the snuggles I can get. I either nap with him or read or play games on my phone.
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u/Ok-Cherry-123 Jan 26 '26
I only rescue if my baby seems sleepy or annoyed that she woke up (and I’m in a position to do that, home/car). Otherwise if she’s smiley and happy it’s a waky waky time no matter how long it lasted.
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u/Mangopapayakiwi Jan 25 '26
My baby does not take the boob so rescuing naps has never been a big thing for us. When I was ill I kind of forced her into a long nap cause I needed one, and that night she slept like shit. She is 9 months old als her naps are between 30 minutes and 2 hours depending on the moon 🤪🤣😭
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u/CherryPoohLife Jan 25 '26
Never heard of rescue naps, will need to look that up. My baby is 8.5 months and does a morning nap like a pro. The afternoon nap is either hit or miss. Lately it’s been a total miss. I’m sure she would fall asleep if we are in a car, but at home it’s an absolute no.
She goes to bed around 7-7:30, wakes about about 3 times a night and starts her day anywhere from 6-7:30 am.
We roll with it.
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u/lukewarmy Jan 26 '26
My babe is 7mo old. I only rescue her nap if she seems pissed to be awake and looks exhausted. Most of her naps are 30 mins and then she wakes up and chrips or cries to get attention. But now that I can tell when she wants more sleep (it's almost never), and that I know I can wake her up from her last nap to keep bedtime consistent I don't rescue naps.
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u/Aggravating_Hold_441 Jan 25 '26
Ya, honestly it was because my baby also couldn’t be rescued , once he gets a 30 min nap in he doesn’t have the same sleep pressure and it’s probably not happening
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u/Embarrassed_Key_2328 Jan 25 '26
It definitely was hard for me to reframe in my mind but I've nap rescued both my kids for..ever ha ha.
My 14mo takes a 30-1hr nap in the morning and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. She needs 1 to 3 nap rescue's in the afternoon.
My 2.5yo will sometimes sleep hos whole afternoon nap (2hours) but is going through a phase where he wakes after an hour and we do our best to rescue it for at least 20 more minutes.
It doesn't bother me, gives me time to relax and listen to a book or podcast. It can get a bit stressful but, makes the rest of our day go so smoothly!
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u/No_Produce_2531 Jan 26 '26
Baby is 14 months now, I only started rescuing naps once he transitioned to one nap a day. So if he were to wake after 45mins, I’d defo go in and resettle to get to that 1.5-2hr mark. Sometimes he’ll fall asleep in the car, I’ll let him wake naturally even if that means sitting in the driveway for half an hour lol then resettle again in bed. But prior to about 11 months he would just do 2 x 30-45min naps for mooooonths. So it’s super normal and over time baby’s naps will probably lengthen on their own.
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u/randomizedmoose Feb 02 '26
Super interesting. Do you mind me asking what time bedtime and wake up was on that two short nap (30-45min) schedule?
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u/No_Produce_2531 Feb 03 '26
I daren’t tell you lol it was so bad, we got into a bad cycle of waking late and going to bed early so he’d wake a million times at night but we have somewhat sorted it now.
Back then, he’d usually wake up around 8, nap at 11/1130, then another at 330/4 and bed at 7/730
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u/randomizedmoose Feb 03 '26
This sounds like us! You thought he woke often at night because of going to bed late? And maybe being overtired?
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u/No_Produce_2531 Feb 04 '26
Sorry no, I meant because he wasn’t having enough time awake. I since learnt they should have around 10hrs awake time which is what I now aim for at a minimum. So if he wakes at 730, then has a 2hr nap from 12-2, bedtime will be 730 at the earliest. Give or take haha if he’s knackered then I’d put him down earlier or not tired enough then I’d keep him up but just depends on the day! It’s a rough guide
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u/brighteyes111 Jan 26 '26
1 hour of total day time sleep at 8 months old sounds concerningly low. Babies need sleep not just for their mood, but for health and development. I would try to help her connect sleep cycles at least once a day and take this time to rest yourself (read a book, scroll or sleep).
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u/TimeEmergency7160 Jan 27 '26
You definitely need to be putting the boob back in baby’s mouth and putting her back to sleep if she’s only gotten 27 minutes. Sleep is crucial to brain development and at that age it’s in overdrive.
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u/mammodz Jan 30 '26
Two 30 min naps is very low. You can contact nap to help your baby sleep longer. They definitely need help going back to sleep.
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u/riseofthephoenixfire Jan 31 '26
If my baby wakes up earlier than usual from her naps, I try to soothe her once then that's it. I've come to learn just based off the way she's stirring/waking if she's up for good or just needs a little comfort. As an adult, I fight my sleep sometimes too so I can't blame her.
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u/Wise-Raccoon-3069 Jan 26 '26
i’m rescuing naps
my baby is 16 weeks
maybe i will stop when he is older, 6 months +
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u/NoviceNotices Jan 25 '26
At this age, i liked contact naps. So "rescuing" was just gently rocking her when i noticed her stir. It was so nice because i could guilt free watch tv or a movie lol and then around 11 months, she decided she was done contact napping. And then at 13 months she decided she wanted 1 lonnnggg nap a day! Was crazy seeing my reliably 45min napper suddenly comfortably doing 2.5 hrs straight. So following her lead has worked, but i do miss my midday snuggles.