"I wish I had come across your book sooner! I was one of the parents experiencing "mystery fussiness" with my baby. She was always so cranky and impossible to get to stay asleep during the day although she has always slept well at night. I have a question regarding the length of naps. I just started implementing the N.A.P.S. program and I definately see an improvement however I'm concerned about the fact my 3 1/2 month old baby is currently taking a nap that has been going on 4 hours already and it's only 1:30pm. She took a 4 hour nap yesterday as well. Is a nap ever too long? I know the book states to let them sleep but her naps seem a little excessive and last night she was still extremely irritable and hard to settle even after such a long daytime snooze. Thanks!! I can't wait to see how following this plan will help get my daughter to nap well."

- Christa

In fact, your description is just what would be predicted by sleep research.

It indeed sounds like your baby had not been getting enough sleep. Once you start correcting this situation, it's a good sign when in those first few days you see some long-ish naps.

That is most likely part of something sleep researchers call the "sleep recovery process" and a very good sign that she's making up for lost sleep.

This probably continued for a day or two, and then her naps shortened back up. Am I right?

Also, just as an aside, this sort of temporary lengthening of sleep bouts (naps and/or nighttime sleep) can also be observed in children or toddlers whose snoring has recently been corrected by tonsillectomy.