Should we be worrying about cat napping?

I recently did a poll on instagram stories, this is obviously not an evidence-based piece of data and it has many biases, like the fact that people follow me who likely haven't nor do they want to sleep train, but moving along and looking at these stats with a birds eye view, the results were fascinating and even surprised me, the baby sleep coach....Here they are:

I asked people:

• Has your baby had ever cat napped.

98% of people said YES. 1% of people said never.

• Did cat napping stress you out because you thought they should be sleeping longer?

70% said YES. 22% said Sometimes. 7% said never.

• What age is/was your baby cat napping at?

86% said 8-10 months and under. 7% said over 10 months

I started this blog with the intention of launching into how it is biologically normal for babies to cat nap, especially in the first 8-10 months of life, and that longer naps often come with a reduction in the number of naps needed in a day because this correlates with brain maturity and the ability to stay awake for longer periods of time which naturally builds more sleep pressure and in turn means longer naps and less sleep over a 24 hour period. I would also rant on about how the pressure on a parent of feeling like their baby "should" be sleeping longer sometimes can cause so much stress that parents find life harder than they need to, over something they don't need to be stressing over. Wow it winds me up! ... BUT I think the IG story poll results speak volumes, MOST BABIES CAT NAP, ESPEICALLY UNDER 8-10 MONTHS, so I will leave it at that.

You are not alone if you have a cat napping baby.

Your baby isn't broken if they cat nap.

You are not doing anything wrong if you have a catnapper.

If your baby is catnapping, and it is working for you and your baby, you don't need to fix or change anything.

It is HIGHLY likely that if you have a cat napper, you have nothing to "fix". Contrary to what the internet might tell you.

However, if you aren't sure if cat napping is a good fit for your baby, or you feel like it isn't working anymore, then the Baby Sleep Community is an incredible place for you to be. There is a process in there that will help you figure out if your baby is getting enough sleep, which can be invaluable for putting the minds of cat napping parents at ease.

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