Continue to follow Baby’s cues
Your baby will nap when they’re tired and wake when they’re ready. Therefore, scheduling naps throughout the day is counterproductive to your baby’s actual sleep needs and can be frustrating for a parent trying to force a nap.
What sleep science tells us about Baby’s cues
Sleep-wake homeostasis is a biological regulator driven by sleep hormones that build until they reach a tipping point which causes sleep. These hormones typically build throughout the day, and for infants and children it builds to a pressure where a daytime nap is required. These naps can be 20 minutes to 3 hours long depending on the sleep your baby feels they need.
Baby wake windows can be the archnemesis to the sleep-wake homeostasis because parents feel the pressure to put their little one down for a nap at the close of a wake window. But how can you know when that is? Your baby’s sleep requirements cannot be charted because no one is studying your baby’s specific needs except you. Look for your baby’s sleepy cues rather than watching that clock, and use those wake windows as an idea of what you might expect rather than a hard and fast rule for naps.