How To Offer A Bridge Nap
All About the Bridge Nap
Are you dealing with short naps? Struggling with nap transitions? Your baby or toddler taking brief naps at daycare? Or perhaps you need a solution to help your little one stay up later for an event?
If so, a bridge nap might be just what you need!
What Is a Bridge Nap?
I call it a bridge nap because it’s not a true nap — it simply bridges the gap between a short nap and bedtime, allowing your child to stay awake longer. This short nap doesn’t reset their full wake window!
Typically lasting 10-20 minutes, ideally around 15-20 minutes, the goal is to wake your child at the 20-minute mark. Why? Because once they hit 20 minutes, they tend to enter a deeper sleep stage. We want to avoid this, as deeper sleep can make them more drowsy, cranky, and might require more awake time afterward to fall asleep at bedtime.
This strategy helps extend the wake window between their actual nap and bedtime, making it easier to adjust their schedule when needed.
When Should You Offer a Bridge Nap?
If your baby or toddler has a short nap, your first step should be to try to save that nap if possible. However, there are situations where this isn’t feasible — such as during travel, car rides, or at daycare.
If a short nap occurs, you can consider moving their bedtime earlier by about an hour to help them get more overnight sleep and avoid overtiredness. Keep in mind, a maximum shift of one hour is usually all your child can handle. If shifting bedtime earlier still results in a longer-than-normal wake window, your child might become overtired, which can make falling asleep more difficult.
In these cases, or if you’re unable to get home early for an earlier bedtime (due to work commitments or events), offering a bridge nap can be a helpful solution. This short nap can be taken in various settings — during car rides, while in a carrier, or as a contact nap.
What Time To Offer the Bridge Nap
Timing is key. Offer this bridge nap when your child is tired enough to fall asleep easily — even if it seems close to bedtime. Because the bridge nap is short, your child will still be tired at bedtime. This will fall around their normal wake window, making sure they are tired enough.
Adjusting for a one nap day
Normal schedule:
Wake-up: 7:00 a.m.
Nap: 12:00-2:30 p.m.
Bedtime: 7:00 p.m.
Suppose your toddler wakes at 1:00 p.m. from a car nap and resists falling back asleep. Following a typical 4.5-hour wake window, bedtime would be around 5:30 p.m, which is too early. To adjust, you can offer a bridge nap around 5-5:30 p.m, allowing them to nap for 20 minutes, then keeping bedtime to 7:00 p.m.
Adjusting for Later Bedtime
If your child wakes at 7:00 a.m. and naps from 12:00-2:30 p.m, but you want them to stay out later, you can skip the bridge nap if they’re going to be home by 7:30 p.m. Instead, try and let them back 15-20 minutes longer or keep them in the dark longer. This helps them to be less overtired at bedtime.
For later bedtimes (e.g., 8:30 p.m.), you can offer a bridge nap around 7:00-7:20 p.m., then push bedtime back. For an 8:00 p.m. bedtime, wake them at 2:00 p.m., offer a short nap at 6:30-6:50 p.m., and then put them down at 8:00 p.m.
Adjusting a two nap schedule
Normal schedule:
Wake-up: 7:00 a.m.
Nap 1: 9:15-10:45 a.m.
Nap 2: 1:45-3:30 p.m.
Bedtime: 7:00 p.m.
In this case, the child has two short naps, one at 9:15-10am, then 1:00-2:00pm. The baby can only handle a 3.5 hour wake window before bed, making bedtime at 5:30pm. We don’t want to offer a bedtime at 5:30pm so we will offer a bridge nap to push bedtime later. In this situation, the baby may be tired from two shorter naps, so I would watch tired cues and aim for the nap to start around 5-5:30pm, then wake them from this nap after 20 minutes, and aim for bedtime around 6:45-7:00pm based on when they fell asleep for this nap and their tired cues.
Final Thoughts
This bridge nap is especially useful on days when naps are unpredictable — during travel or daycare. At home, check out my blog on how to help your child nap longer or what to do when they have a short nap.
If you’re struggling with short naps or finding a schedule that works for your child, then set up a call with me. I can help your child sleep longer, have a more predictable schedule, and on a routine that works for your family!