Let your baby nap near the washing machine, expert says

Light, noise and natural rhythms

Professor Ball, a scientific adviser to The Lullaby Trust and sleep researcher at Durham University whose work has involved over 5,000 parents and babies, is encouraging parents to let babies nap in bright rooms with background noise – even something like a running washing machine.

Long daytime naps are like mini night-times, and they can disrupt babies’ sleep when they go to bed properly at night

Her advice? Keep nap environments light and noisy to help babies learn the difference between day and night, and allow them to wake naturally when they’ve had enough rest.

Pressure to follow the clock

Ball says modern parenting culture is putting increasing pressure on mums and dads to micromanage sleep with apps, routines and “wake windows”.

“The pressure to control babies and give them scheduled sleeps... is getting worse now we have so many baby sleep coaches, baby sleep monitors and apps,” she explains.

Babies, like us, biologically need to build up sleep pressure – tiredness from energy expended in the brain – to fall asleep.

So while putting your baby down in a quiet, dark room might seem ideal, it’s not always what they need. Instead, she suggests allowing your baby’s natural rhythm to lead the way.

Are tired signs just boredom?

Most of us are told to watch out for tired cues – rubbing eyes, yawning, ear tugging. But Ball warns these can be misleading.

“These apparent tiredness cues can just be a sign of boredom, and the need for a change in activity,” she says. “Even if they are tired, the baby is not necessarily ready for a nap, so a parent could be trying to rock them to sleep for a long time with no luck and for no reason.”

Rather than trying to force a nap, Ball suggests letting babies fall asleep naturally. This, she says, can save parents frustration and give them more time to enjoy being with their baby.

Sleep training and bedtime tweaks

Ball, whose book How Babies Sleep is out next month, also advises against “sleep training” methods that involve leaving babies to cry. Instead, she recommends adjusting your own sleep routine – like going to bed earlier – to match your baby’s longest stretch of nighttime sleep.

For older babies, she even suggests experimenting with later bedtimes so that the first wake-up happens later in the night.

What do other experts say?

While Ball’s advice might come as a relief to parents overwhelmed by rigid schedules, others in the field believe there’s a middle ground.

Andrea Grace, a sleep consultant who supports scheduled naps, says: “Wake windows can be useful for parents to feel more confident on when their babies need to sleep. A schedule based on these can prevent infants becoming overtired.”

Prof Paul Gringras, a children’s sleep medicine expert at King’s College London, agrees that rigid schedules aren’t helpful in the early months but adds that some structure can support family wellbeing.

“All families are different, and where parents’ mental health and wellbeing is really suffering, they might try to get babies to nap at around the same time,” he says.

He also warns parents to check the qualifications of baby sleep consultants, as the profession remains unregulated.

The takeaway for parents

If you’ve been wrestling with blackout blinds and white noise machines, Prof Ball’s research is a gentle reminder that sometimes, less effort is more. Letting your baby nap in a light, noisy room might just lead to better sleep for everyone.

And yes – if the tumble dryer’s on, don’t be afraid to make the most of it.

Read more:

• New white noise album turns parenting advice into a sleep aid
• This small baby monitor detail helped us survive sleep regressions
• Do babies dream? Understanding newborn sleep cycle