Polly Moore, author of The 90-Minute Baby Sleep Program, defends her NAPS sleep solution. The Babble.com Five-Minute Time Out.
The baby sleep guru defends her technique.
Moore’s plan is this:
Note the time when the baby wakes up.
Add ninety minutes.
Play, feed or do other things.
Soothe baby back to sleep when ninety minutes are up.
Her book details her program, offers tips on perennial problems like early morning waking and provides readers with a handy-dandy sleep journal where you can chart your baby’s sleep. Babble talked to her about how she came up with her plan, why parents get so testy about their baby’s sleep patterns and how much sleep she gets at night. – Jennifer V. Hughes
Every parent I’ve ever known was totally freaked out about their baby’s sleep – how often the baby wakes up at night, how hard it is to get the kid to sleep. Why do you think new parents are so consumed by sleep?
My guess is it’s for selfish reasons, because their own sleep is so affected by it. I don’t mean to say that people are selfish. It’s just that it’s the one area of our lives that has the biggest impact. I think the other thing is the unpredictability. They have no idea when the baby is going to wake up and that leads to stress.
How did you come up with the N.A.P.S. system?
I came up with it quite by accident. I made a bunch of mistakes with my daughter, but what it came down to was not recognizing her signs of sleepiness. I had an “aha” moment when she was about four months old. I had gotten into the habit of rocking her to sleep and I had to take her into this large closet that was dark. One time I noticed that she started to look sleepy and I realized she had just gotten up ninety minutes ago. All the training I had as a sleep researcher and the ninety-minute clock came rushing back at me. Once I started following the clock, she started to nap longer and her nighttime sleep got better in two or three days.
So, you tried it out on your daughter (Maddie, now ten). Did you use it on your son (Max, now eight)?
When my son was born, I thought “I’m going to pay attention to this from the day he’s born,” and it was apparent to me while I was still in the hospital.
About the Author
Jennifer V. Hughes
Jennifer V. Hughes is a writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Mothering magazine and the Columbia Law School Report. She also makes a killer sangria.
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16 thoughts on “Polly Moore, author of The 90-Minute Baby Sleep Program, defends her NAPS sleep solution. The Babble.com Five-Minute Time Out.”
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I haven’t heard of Polly Moore but I did read in another baby book to start watching for signs of sleepiness about 2 hours after your baby wakes up. As soon as I keyed into that, naps and temperament improved greatly. I don’t live my life by the clock but I do always pay attention now to time and cues from my kid. I think we’re both much happier (and more well-rested).
I hadn’t read this book but right around 3 months I realized that my daughter got sleepy right at 1 hour, 40 minutes. If I picked her up and walked her around for a few minutes, I could put her down much more easily for her naps. Of course, she still took only 30 minute naps until she was over 4 months old, so that meant she took naps all day long. But at least we weren’t struggling to get her to sleep the way we had been before.One thing I wondered about was younger babies (newborns). I can’t imagine our daughter staying awake for 90 minutes at a time when she was that young. 45 minutes was the max for a while. Maybe this is addressed in the book though. Anyway, everything she said in the interview jived with my experiences. I think I will recommend it to my pregnant friends.
This lines up with my experience too. Sooo much easier to fall into a routine using their own rhythms than to try to impose one. Milosmom, I got that 2-hour advice too when my kid was around 6 months and it was very helpful. Also, this seems very similar to the Eat-Activity-Sleep cycle described in Secrets of the Baby Whisperer.
I think one problem with worrying about “long term consequences” in a newborn or older infant , is just because your kid started out a crap sleeper doesn’t mean he’ll grow up to be a klutzy, fat idiot. You can always do better later. I think moms feel pressure to have the baby sleeping like a stoned musician from birth, and feel like if they don’t their kid is going to be a psychopath. And mine was a crap sleeper, taking HOURS to go to sleep, then up every 90 minutes. Then when he could talk and reason a bit (nearly 2) we worked on some things, and now he’s fantastic.
I battle sleep on a daily basis! It rules my life, and I am always tired!! Always! I am the mother of a 2 yrs old…she is the WORST SLEEPER EVER. Has never slept through the night, even now she is up 2-3 times a night. My biggest mistake was I never taught her to self-soothe. SHe uses her bottle to sleep. So I keep a bottle in her room and I am running to her all night to give her the bottle and soothe her back to sleep..She gave up naps when she was 16 month…never takes a nap during the day. At So if I have any advice for new mothers it is to let your baby learn to self soothe…or you will have long term sleep deprivation…
I don’t agree with sleep training or schedules. Babies are all so different, they don’t fit into a little plan. I agree with Dr. Sears who suggests parenting your baby to sleep. It’s all part of the job. Yes, you might be sleep deprived, but if you hold and spend a lot of time with your baby, you’ll learn to get to know their individual cues. You have to parent to sleep and do not let baby cry themselves to sleep or they’ll learn not to trust you. They are crying for a reason. It’s all part of the job of being a parent.
while i can relate to what ‘NO SLEEP’ has to say…i TRY to put a positive spin on it. my son is 2 1/2 and has slept through the night a handful of times. he only falls asleep to nap while in the car- tho’ i can then transfer him into his stroller if i need to run errands or into bed if we are near home AND he does nap from 1 1/2- 2 hrs daily. he nursed on demand until he was 18 months and still drinks 2-3 cups of milk throughout the night- i think he loves that ‘full belly woozy’ feeling- he likes to pull up his pajama top and show me his round tummy after a big drink! on top of that- he uses me for a lovey and only falls asleep at night with me next to him. i absolutely get frustrated, i miss evenings w/ my husband and if i was going to have another baby (nope!) i would teach him or her better habits. but i also know that he won’t be little forever and as my mom promises me, no kid ever takes his mom to college with him so he can fall asleep. i do agree that every kid is different and our jobs as parents aren’t supposed to be easy but, darn it, i’m tired. oh, by the way, he was a great sleeper as an infant…whatever that says. goodnight to all.
It is interesting that the article talks about sleep myths such as skipping daytime naps and eating solid foods. I think one of the major sleep myths is that there is a “sleep formula.” Every baby is different and so is every family.Oddly enough, my son did nap about every 90 minutes or so during the day and we did nurse after he woke up. I have never heard of Polly Moore nor did I do anything by a clock. It was just the natural pattern my son and I fell into. It didn’t help. He is not a good sleeper. After he turned a year and was continuing to wake every 2 hours (sometimes more frequently) during the night my husband and I did try some sleep training. Some of what we tried did work, but it was moderate and intermittent success. We were very consistent, but nothing worked in the magical 3-5 nights the “experts” tell you it will. One thing is for sure though, no matter what approach your family has to sleep there is someone to criticize. If you don’t use any sleep training approach and your baby doesn’t sleep then you are doing harm by not getting them enough sleep. If you do choose sleep training then you are not a good mother because you are not tending to their every need.
Hey VegMomma sleep training is parenting! Just because you follow a schedule (and Polly does recommend following your baby’s schedule ) does not mean you do not hold or care for your baby when she cries. Your comment is judgmental, condescending and entirely dismissive of the fact that different things work for different babies and different parents. If Dr. Sears works for you more power to you. Other things work for other people who are in fact ‘parenting’ their babies.
For those of you who follow Dr. Sears’ advice you may want to check out this link that refutes much of Dr. Sears’ claims about the ill effects of CIO – this is also for those of you who already know a child who CIO is not a damaged child as certain people would like to believe:http://mainstreamparenting.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/of-sources-and-straw-houses-the-annotated-dr-sears-handout-on-cio/I thought this interview was really interesting and am interested to talk to friends whose children are young enough to try this out. As with any advice, you can take it or leave it – and yes – sleep training is parenting whether or not you agree with sleep training.
It’s interesting to read this interview because I’ve just read Polly Moore’s book and have been using her techniques for about a month. I’ve read just about every book about sleep and I found that this technique makes the most sense. My baby will go right down at the 90 minute mark with hardly any fuss! It was hard at first being at home during her naps (sometimes she’d take six 45 minute naps a day), but she’s settled into her own natural schedule and is beginning to consolidate her naps. This method is not a way of training your baby to sleep–it’s a way of teaching your baby how to sleep well. I strongly believe in attachment parenting and this technique compliments that style of parenting because it follows the baby’s lead. Trust me–It’s better to but your baby down for a cat nap than to constantly soothe her fussiness when she’s tired!
The sleep,eat play routine is nothing new,UK author Gina Ford has been encouraging mothers to adopt this for yonks in her Contented Little Baby Books. And like many of those who write parenting books, GF has plenty of haters who also believe she is advocating routine for the convenience of the parents when in fact it is completely about making sure all the babies needs are met. I can attest that her approach works…she has plenty of fans. It does require that you meet your babies needs first, which most parents seem to be in agreement on.But there are plenty of mothers crying foul because they feel they can’t live up to the requirements of the routine, or that their precious bundle is different. Unless there is some medical problem, I can’t really see how the basic needs of one precious bundle can differ so much from the next bundle unless the baby has been encouraged to expect its needs to met in a different way. Unfortunately parents are not objective in respect of their own parenting or objective about their childrens sleep needs. And there seem to be parents who can’t properly comprehend what the authors are trying to explain. I have to disagree with the view that poor quality/quantity sleep in infancy doesn’t matter…that’s sleep that can’t be made up. Ever. It’s crucial brain development time. And over time poor sleep habits are learnt and are hard to alter. Just because it is difficult doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. And it’s best to begin before that child of yours reaches the age where they can fight sleep.I hear too often that some kid doesn’t seem to need as much sleep as recommended- yeh, well sure the kid is functioning, he’s got average grades, and he plays sport yadyadyada but he’s a shit that requires immediate gratification, is throwing tantrums at age 8 and can’t control his impulses. Oh let’s get him something for his ADS. Well I really have to agree that so many kids are not getting enough sleep…a growing kid that has been allowed a 9pm bedtime since he was 2 years old but must now rise for school at 7am, is better off working on more sleep before more drugs. And even if you start your kids on a good 12 hour routine, when they start elementary school and playing sport etc the system then conspires to make it impossible to meet all commitments without stealing from the sleep bank. It is even more difficult to insist that a child go to bed at a reasonable hour when there are all manner of other diversions to waste their sleep time on. At least when I was a kid it was only reading under the covers…but now it’s Tv in the bedroom, texting, nintendo and laptops.And having twins myself…a good sleep routine is imperative. I can tell you first hand the effects of long term sleep deprivation on my brain and body….and if you imagine a baby or young child experiencing that then you would will understand how important it is. Gotta be proud of a nation that runs on Dunkin- yep coffee and donuts. Coffee because no one sleeps enough. Donuts- well they taste good with coffee. But they are not good for you either.
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oh my god, my sister gave me polly moore’s book I didnt finish it coz I was getting frustrated every time my daughter wouldnt go to sleep when she was ment to. people dont write any books about babies please, all the babies are special and unique, some sleep well some dont some eat ”too much” some eat little some dont walk till they’re 2 some start at 6months. they do what they want to do and when they want to do it. the only thing i do is to make sure she is healthy and happy.