If your baby is taking 30-45 minute naps in the day, and waking 2-3 hourly (or more) at night, the problem is one and the same.

Once you teach your baby to go back to sleep in the day after a short nap, or back to sleep at night after a 2-4 hour sleep cycle, you will get those consistent long consolidated periods of sleep. On top of that, sleep breeds sleep.... to some extent.... getting the balance right is important, but if your little one is stuck in a short sleep pattern, in all likelihood they are building sleep debt which is contributing to the pattern. Over tired babies cat nap, and over tired babies wake frequently at night.

Working on re-settling is harder than working on initially self soothing, as we have reduced babies sleep pressure over the nap, and they don't have that wave of pressure behind them, pushing them off into sleep land. This difficulty can put parents off, as it can be so different to the experience of initially teaching self soothing, but this is 100% to be expected.

It's hard, in most cases its not the easiest part of establishing healthy sleep habits, and its slow...sometimes 1-3 weeks of consistency.

The 2 hour lunch nap.....this is a glorious thing.

It helps us mums and dads stay sane! We can get so much more done in 2 hours, than 45 minutes! The 2 hour nap is very restorative and your baby will thank you (if they could) for the yummy delicious sleep for their brains and bodies! This nap is the nap which will stick around into toddler-hood, therefore it is worth putting in the effort now to get it established.

Having this long lunch nap means you can have a short morning nap which is much easier to go on the go, or out and about. Essentially giving you all morning to get things done before your baby needs a nap at home. The 2 hour nap also means your baby will cope with the long stint between waking up from this nap and going to bed at night. They'll be happier, easier to parent, and more content with this big chunk of sleep under their belt.

Emma Purdue