Crib Hour for Naps
I’m not exaggerating when I say that when crib hour for naps is suggested, the absolute number one response is, “So we just leave them in there and make them cry for the rest of the hour?” and the answer is no, that’s not what crib hour means. I figure it’s time to set the record straight on what exactly crib hour is!
In this blog, we will cover the following about crib hour for naps:
how to do crib hour/crib hour for nap training
how long does crib hour last/when does crib hour start/modified crib hour
crib hour wake window
is crib hour effective/crib hour not working
what age to start crib hour
how long for crib hour to work
can you sleep train for naps only
how to do crib hour/Crib hour for Nap Training
Crib hour has a few different purposes: it can help with nap training during the sleep training process and it can be used to lengthen short naps. I also believe it can help them become more comfortable in their sleep space by practicing the pause and allowing them to hang out independently for whatever length of time.
When you’re using crib hour for nap training, you would utilize it as an hour attempt for the nap. When you are sleep training for nights, you essentially have the whole night. But for naps, you don’t have that luxury. You’re going to run out of day time!
So to practice crib hour for nap training you would:
utilize your sleep training method for the “crib hour”
if NO sleep happens, you’d get them up and provide them with some quiet play (like puzzles, shapes, blocks, etc, nothing too stimulating), maybe a feeding or a snack (but preferably not something they’d fall asleep doing)
re-attempt the nap for a second “crib hour”
if SOME sleep happens during the first attempt, you can practice crib hour from the time they fell asleep with your sleep training method to see if they can go BACK to sleep.
once the “hour” is over, you’d get them up and move on with the day
When you’re utilizing crib hour as a way to lengthen naps, you’d do this:
crib hour counts from when they fell asleep so if they were in their crib at 9:00am, fell asleep at 9:10am, then crib hour would be over at 10:10am
if they wake up at 9:50am for a 40 minute nap, the next 20 minutes would be practicing your sleep training method to either help stretch the day out or encourage them to return to sleep
How long does crib hour last? When does crib hour start? Modified crib hour?
Crib hour is an hour from when they fell asleep. You can modify crib hour and do less time— maybe you start with 5 or 10 minutes after they wake up from a short nap before utilizing a full crib hour. Everything is customizable and flexible based on your specific child. When a child is on one nap, some parents will practice “crib 90” or “crib 120” since we would ideally like the single nap of the day to be longer than an hour, but when you’re on multiple naps, an hour is sufficient!
Another modification you can make to crib hour is holding them in the dark room until crib hour is over. You can attempt to get them back to sleep and extend/hold them for the rest of the nap or if no nap happens, you’re still giving them quiet rest time in a dark, low stimulating environment which is still beneficial for them + helps to stretch the day out so you’re not ending up with a ton of extra naps (and less sleep overall) or 5:00pm bedtimes.
*I will say that if they’re happy and not crying, you can let them hang out happily in their sleep space without intervening! This is a good thing! If they were happily playing in their pack n play in the living room, would. you feel guilty for not interacting with them? Would you interrupt them? Nope. Same thing.
Crib Hour Wake Window
Are you nervous that crib hour is going to completely throw off your wake windows and whole day? Cause your child to be super overtired?
That is a potential risk— all of it! My best advice would be to start with one nap a day (the first one usually develops/lengthens first so you get more bang for your buck practicing it for nap one) and then incorporating the next nap once the first one has lengthened or you’re more confident in their skills.
So when you’re utilizing crib hour, you’d count their awake time when the hour is over. Like this:
Baby falls asleep at 9:30am
Baby wakes up at 10:15am
Crib hour ends at 10:30am
Baby has 2 hour wake windows (for example) so next nap will start at 12:30 (2 hours from 10:30, not 10:15 when they woke up, but when you got them up/crib hour ended)
Sometimes, if they’re spending A LOT of extra time in the crib, like 20+ minutes, then you can split the difference and count half of it as crib time and half of it as awake time. This is beneficial for really young babies who might be extra sensitive to overtiredness. That would look like this:
Baby falls asleep at 9:30am
Baby wakes up at 9:50am
Crib hour would end at 10:30am, but that’s 40 minutes of non sleep time so you instead of counting their next wake period starting from 10:30am, you could start it from 10:10am as a way to split the difference.
I don’t suggest this is a normal practice because I do find that it can actually create some UNDERtiredness for the next nap by not having a full wake period exposed to light which is what builds up our sleep pressure (adenosine) and causes us to feel tired enough for a full nap.
Unsure about undertired/overtired or even what wake times to use? This blog has all of that information and more!
Is crib hour effective? How long for crib hour to work?
Yes! I’ve seen the evidence of it over and over and over with the families that I work with. So it’s purely anecdotal, but I suspect it wouldn’t be a “thing” if it didn’t work. But what if it’s not working?
Well, let’s say you diligently practice crib hour for 7-10 days for the first nap of the day and you’ve seen ZERO progress.. I would suggest re-evaluating their awake time before that nap (maybe they need 15 minutes more, maybe they need 15 minutes less), look at their total sleep overall (this is where we went wrong with our first child— he would take 3 30-45 minute naps and then sleep 13.5 hours straight at night. when I added his total sleep up, he was getting what he needed! So I had to gradually shift his bedtime back to shift some night sleep to day time— this isn’t always necessary, but he was super cranky after his short naps so it was necessary for us), and look at how you’re responding during crib hour.
Some kids need less intervention and some kids need more. It’s an experiment!
Crib hour not working
If you’ve attempted crib hour and you’re like this is crap, I hate it, it isn’t working, then STOP! Don’t do it. It’s not a “must”. It’s a practice you can utilize IF YOU WANT. You can accept short naps, you can contact nap, you can do whatever you want to do. You can choose to revisit it later. And that’s okay.
What age to start crib hour?
I’ve seen the benefit of practicing “le pause” from a very early age. This is simply a practice of pausing and observing EVEN if you have a newborn to see what they’re capable of without assuming that when they woke up from a sleep cycle transition that the nap is just over. If your child is exhibiting hunger cues, you’ll be able to observe and see that. If they’re not, maybe they’ll fall back asleep. Maybe they’ll need some intervention to do that, maybe not, but it is ALWAYS worth it to be curious about it.
Want to read more about the pause? This is the blog for you!
Can you sleep train for naps only?
Sure, you can do anything you want— but I will tell you that with the lower drive to sleep and reduced sleep pressure overall during the day, it will typically be more difficult to nap train without also sleep training at bedtime first or in addition to.
As long as you have realistic expectations with the understanding that it might be harder, then go for it!
Research about Crib hour?
Sorry friends, but I don’t have any. I do have research about using the pause and whether that affects attachment— but crib hour is a new-er term that doesn’t show up in pub med. We do know that crying/sleep training ISN’T damaging so we can assume crib hour isn’t either since that’s exactly what it is. But here’s some research I have about the pause!
It was made famous by the book Bringing up Bebe as a way for parents to encourage little ones to sleep through the night. Meaning, we don’t respond the second we hear a peep! Babies are noisy sleepers and it’s normal to wake between sleep cycles + take some time to return to sleep.
(Not responding the second they wake may seem controversial but I have research!)
The pause gives you time to really listen and observe. This means you can become more aware of what they’re communicating and respond accordingly-- which is what’s important for a secure attachment!
This also allows you a moment to regulate your emotions, especially if it was a short nap, another night time waking, or early morning, so you can go into the room calmly and in a supportive manner.
A simple sound or cry out from our child doesn’t mean we have to be there the second it happens (which is often impossible anyway)!
Here’s some research I found interesting! 🤓
WAYYYY back in 1972, Ainsworth and Bell conducted a study that concluded the following:
Close physical proximity = less crying
Promptness of response = less crying in later months
HOWEVER….
These findings have never been replicated and in fact, with each attempt to replicate it, the findings have drawn different conclusions.
van IJzendoorn & Hubbard attempted to replicate the study and found:
Frequency of “ignoring” crying = decrease in later crying
Frequency and duration of “ignoring” did not predict later attachment
Mothers of avoidant (not securely attached) infants responded most promptly to crying
He goes on to say, “benign neglect of fussing may stimulate the abilities in infants to copy with mild stress.”
So what does that mean?!
Responsiveness does not mean promptness
Pausing before deciding how to respond gives your child a chance to learn to cope with (mild) stress
Pausing then responding is better than reacting
From this study: “Mindful parenting is a parenting style that encompasses several aspects, such as listening with full attention (i.e., directing complete attention to the child and being fully present during parent-child interactions), self-regulation in the parenting relationship (i.e., being able to pause before reacting in order to choose parenting behaviors that are in accordance with values and goals), emotional awareness of the child (i.e., noticing and correctly identifying child’s emotions), compassion for the child (i.e., being kind to and supportive of the child, sensitive, and responsive to the child’s needs), and a non-judgmental acceptance of parental functioning (i.e., accepting the characteristics and behaviors of the child, the self as a parent and the challenges of parenting).
So to answer the question, “So we just leave them in there and make them cry for the rest of the hour?”… my answer is: maybe- if you’re utilizing extinction/CIO for your method of choice AND THAT’S TOTALLY ACCEPTABLE! Utilizing something else? Then no, you’re not “making” them cry for the rest of the hour.
Struggling with short naps? We can help! Book a consult and we will discuss the option that fits your situation the best.
