Most parents would give their baby a silent round of applause for an extra-long sleep, and sneak back to bed themselves.

It’s what every parent wants—but when it becomes a habit, you’ll start to worry that something is wrong. Instinctually, your mom or dad brain will be making a checklist of all the possible reasons.

The first stop if you are concerned should be to speak to your pediatrician. After you've checked that nothing is really wrong, here’s a list of potential causes and resolutions to help your super sleepy baby:

Baby is a newborn

Newborns sleep often and erratically. So long as you’re following a pretty consistent sleep, eat, repeat schedule your newborn should be getting all the sleep they need. At the newborn stage, you can’t enforce any strict schedule on your baby, but soon you’ll be able to see a pattern occurring, and build a routine around that.

Baby might be sick

If your baby is sick, they'll want to sleep more than normal as they fight off the sickness. Check their temperature, and look for other signs of sickness. When in doubt, take them to your pediatrician. 

Baby might be adjusting to something new

Often changes in children’s routines like a new caregiver, or starting nursery or elementary school, result in a higher sleep need because there are so many new things happening in your child’s life. This sleep increase can last for weeks and even a few months, until they are adjusted. 

Baby isn’t sleeping enough for their age

If your child is well, nothing has changed about their routine, yet they seem to want to sleep more than usual, they may not be getting enough sleep for their age.

Download the Kulala app for iPhone or Android and follow the prompts to fill in your baby’s details. Refer to their personalized Kulala app schedule for sleep averages for their age group. If your child sleeps through the night yet wants to have longer naps, try increasing the total daily nap time by 30 minutes to 1 hour, until they don’t seem sleepy anymore. For children who don’t take naps anymore, move bedtime earlier in 15-minute intervals until your child is more rested in the morning and during the day.

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