A question I get from nearly every client I work with is how to transition from 3 naps to 2 naps (or from 2 naps to 1 nap, but that’s for another post). Assuming your child is falling asleep unassisted and is taking three naps a day, it’s likely those naps are occurring sometime around 8:30 am, 11:30 am, and 3:00 pm. If they were trained through the Baby Sleep Trainer method, they are likely eating when they wake in the morning, after each nap, and 30 minutes before bedtime. This schedule works very well for babies until about their 7th month when you may start to notice they aren’t quite ready for their second nap around 11:30 am, or they can’t seem to fall asleep for nap three at 3 pm. If this occurs for several days in a row and your child is around 7 months old (give or take a month), your little one is ready to transition to 2 naps a day.
Photo Credit: verdes cosmin
You’ll want their current schedule to shift to the following:
Wake in the morning, milk
8 am – breakfast solids (if applicable)
9:00 am nap
Wake from nap, milk
12:00 pm – lunch solids (if applicable) + milk (optional)
1:30 pm – nap
Wake from nap, milk
5:00 pm – dinner solids (if applicable)
6:30 pm – final milk feeding, bedtime prep
7:00 pm – bedtime
- Naps can start as early as 9 am and as late as 10 am for the morning nap, and as early as 1:30 pm and as late as 2:30 pm for the afternoon nap. For example, if your child takes an uncharacteristically long morning nap of two hours, they may need to go down closer to 2:30 pm, but if your child only sleeps 40 minutes for their first nap, they may prefer to nap closer to 1:30 pm for their second nap. Also, as children grow older you may find that one or both naps need to start a bit later, so you can move naps to start as late as about 10:00 am and 2:30 pm.
- No single nap should exceed 2 hours and generally speaking TOTAL daytime sleep should not exceed 3.5 hours.
- Do not go back and forth from 3 naps to 2 naps. Once you are ready to make the transition, stick to it even if naps are short.
- Wake time in the morning is typically around 6:30 am or 7:00 am, but even if it’s earlier than this time, feed your baby milk when they wake.
- Generally around the time your child is ready for two naps, they are also taking solids. Feel free to follow the solids feeding schedule as well.
- If your child is not yet taking solids in, or if you just want them to have an additional milk feeding, noon is a good time to do that. Make certain that if your child is taking in milk at this time that they remain fully awake during the feeding. A milk feeding in addition to solids is also a good idea.
- If your child is not eating dinner solids, you’ll want to give them another small milk feeding around 5:00 pm, again making sure they stay fully awake.
- Do not worry about nap lengths. Your baby will sleep however long they need and want to sleep, and with time, their naps will lengthen.
If your child is not on a 7-7 daily schedule, adjust the times accordingly to whatever times your child wakes and goes to bed each night. And if you would like to learn more about getting your baby’s naps on a healthy schedule, sign up for my newsletter!
Hi there – found this post via a Google search, it’s immensely helpful, thank you. We are in the stage of transitioning to 2 naps and this seems like a great model for us. Question — in your model here, there is a rather big gap between bottle #2 and bottle #3. Our baby is used to drinking milk every 4 hours — this version extends it up to around 5 hours-ish. Would it make sense to give our bottle #3 BEFORE the 2nd nap? Or is there a detriment to doing this?
Thank you!
Hi!! Yep, here is a quote from the blog post on how to address this issue:
“If your child is not yet taking solids in, or if you just want them to have an additional milk feeding, noon is a good time to do that. Make certain that if your child is taking in milk at this time that they remain fully awake during the feeding. A milk feeding in addition to solids is also a good idea.”
Hi Natalie,
If my 7 month sleeps from 7pm-5:30am, how will it be possible to go down to 2 naps a day? He falls asleep unassisted with no sleep props, takes naps around 8am, 11am and 3pm and doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night. I can’t seem to get him to sleep in later! I normally don’t go into his room until 6/6:15 to get him because he just lays there talking.
Thank you!!
Shelby, I have the exact same scenario with my little one and I am trying to figure out how to get her down to 2 naps (she is almost 9 months already). I am wondering if trying to stretch her daytime waking and then giving her an early bedtime will be the answer? I am a bit nervous to push her too much right now because we are just two weeks in to no night wakings. I don’t want to make her overtired and disrupt this heavenly sleep we have all been getting!
Hi there! You don’t have to go down to 2 naps if your child’s sleep is still great on 3. Like mentioned in the blog, it’s when they start fighting a nap consistently or waking earlier in the morning that you should look at dropping a nap. Also, you don’t need to be sacred about “stretching” them, kiddos usually adjust well within a week or two as long as the parent is consistent, and sleep typically improves with just two naps.
What do I do if baby keeps napping only 30 min long and can’t hold off til 6:30-7? My baby definitely doesn’t want to nap 3 times a day anymore but her naps are just ridiculous shorter! She’s turning 8 months in a few days.
As long as your little one isn’t physically falling asleep in your arms, I’d simply keep her awake (even if she’s fussy). Give her about 2 weeks and her body will adjust to being awake longer periods of time.
Hi there, my 8 month old has been waking up at 5am for the last week and a half instead of 6 or 6:30. I’ve noticed he can stay awake longer and I think he’s probably ready to drop from 3 to 2 naps. My question is….should the first nap happen 2-2.5 hours after his 5am wake up and shift the whole schedule up? I don’t want to solidify this early morning wake time as our new routine!!! Should I keep him up longer (and risk him being overtired) before nap 1? That way his nap time will be consistent for when he hopefully goes back to waking up at 6/6:30?
Hi Stefanie! I think you would really enjoy my Baby Sleep Trainer Program + Support (https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/purchase/)! In it I talk about how to handle these early morning wakings and the how and why of my schedules! He definitely sounds like he’s ready for the 3 to 2 transition though, which should help the early morning waking! <3
Hi Natalie! Thanks for this post! My daughter is just 7 months and she has been on an off taking short second/third naps the past couple weeks – sometimes just 30 minutes long. I always give her another 15-20 minutes to resettle but she rarely does. Also, her first nap seldom goes past an hour. Does she need to transition to 2 naps? I am dreaming of having longer naps so I can get something done!
It’s your call! If she falls asleep quickly for all three naps, even if they’re short, there’s no reason to stop them. She is also ready to go to 2, but, it may be a bit of a bumpy transition if she still happily takes (3) shorter naps.
Hi Natalie, we followed he baby sleep trainer plan so we’ve been getting our son up at 4 pm from his last nap. As we transition to two naps and if we put him down at 2:30 do we let him sleep for 2 hours (until 4:30) or continue to get him up at 4pm?
Hi Lisa! Continue to get him up at 4pm so it doesn’t effect his nighttime sleep! <3
Hi Natalie! Our daughter is 9 months, still taking 3 naps and in the past few days her naps have taken a turn for the worst so I feel pretty confident she is ready to move to two naps. She’s fighting falling asleep for naps and fighting her 3rd nap completely. Her nighttime sleep has been pretty great though lately! Do you have a guide for how to actually transition from 3 to 2 or is that something you need to work one on one with parents? I worry about how to figure out the timing of the naps and not make her too overtired, and how to adjust her bedtime in order to work with the transition? Because I figure you adjust it all gradually….Thank you for your help!
As a matter of fact, I do have a guide <3 https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/nap-transitioning-made-easy-part-one-3-naps-to-2/
Hi Natalie, this is a great resource! Thank you so much. What do you suggest for a baby who does 7-5? (I know, way too early wake up but I tried everything and nothing seems to work) my 8mo totally wants to do 2 naps now but how do I work that in for such an early riser?
I would simply start your day at 6:30 am and get them out of bed then (as long as they’re safe in your crib prior to that) and still do just two naps.
Hi. My 8 mo this is fully transitioned to 2 naps but occasionally she wakes up at 5am. Should I still put her at 9am for the first nap or she will become overtired? In other worlds, do I stop fully following wake windows and just follow a set schedule regardless of wake time and length of naps? Thank you very much. Great post.
Hi Perla,
Yep! Keep her up til 9 am regardless of when she wakes in the morning.
The early morning waking should hopefully resolve after a few weeks of only allowing two naps.
Thanks for the advice! My baby cries if nobody comes to get her after 30-40min though. So do I let her cry for an hour potentially to 6;30?
Most babies doe <3 If you feel comfortable with that approach you can implement it.
What are your thoughts on a 630 bedtime and 6 am wake up?
So….nap 1 at 830 and nap 2 at 1:00?
Sure, that’s just fine.
That works!
Hi Nathalie,
I stumbled upon your website on google. My husband and I has been considering sleep training our LO for a while now. He’s a week away from being 7 months old and he was never a good sleeper. Still wakes up 3-4 times at night and needs to be breast fed, held and rocked for his naps. I’m wondering if there’s an effective sleep training method besides. IO. Thank you
Hi Natalie! This is one of the most helpful 3-2 transition posts I have found! But I have a quick follow up question on how *not* to go back and forth between 3 and 2 naps. Our almost 8-month old is deep into the 3-2 transition and has been sleeping better all around, but bedtime has been all over the place (anywhere from 545 to 8pm!) because we have been using wake times to determine whether she needs a third nap or not to make it to a reasonable bedtime (after 5:45). In your schedule above would you keep a set 7pm bedtime even if both naps are short? What would be the longest amount of awake time between nap 2 and bedtime you would recommend? I think the bedtime issue is the missing piece to finally being on a good schedule, as we seem to keep messing her up even after an awesome nap day. Thanks!
This is why BST doesn’t use wake times 😉 Just do two naps, last one starting between 1:30 and 2:30, lasting no later than about 3:30/4 pm, then bedtime no earlier than 7/7:30 pm.
Hi Natalie…
Really this is one of the most helpful 3-2 transition posts..
I have a question..
My 8.5 months old daughter gets up at 6:30 in the morning and go to bed at 8:30 at night in order to have some qyality time with her after work between 6 and 8 in the evening.. she is currently on a 3 naps schedule (+/-1.5 hrs @ 8:30am, +/-2.5 hrs @ 12:15pm and a cat nap for +/-30 minutes at 5:45pm) and am thinking to transition the naps into two naps as she is becoming older and seems ready to this change however, how it could work with 6:30am – 8:30pm Day Schedule?
I’m so glad to hear you found it helpful <3 In your case, just make sure nap two starts as close to 2/2:30 pm as possible, in order to keep that later bedtime.
Hi my 9 month old usually wake between 5 and 6:00 with a bed time of 7. And sleep thought the night with the odd wake up about 3:30am, He can settle his self to sleep. At the moment he has 3 naps sometimes the last night he won’t take and he just lays in his cot talking . 1st nap usually about 1 or 1.5 hours long 2nd nap usually about 40 mins to 1.hr 20 mins and last nap is sometimes nothing to 1hr. Do I drag him out to get two naps in He usually gets grumpy about 2.5 to 3 hrs after waking up.i been told that’s if they over tired they won’t sleep? Please help
I’d stick with just two naps. This might help too: https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/toddler-baby-waking-up-too-early/
Great thanks, what sort of times for naps if he’s wakes up at 5 t0 5:30 Will we be looking at if only two naps
Thank you only think if he wakes between 5 and 5:30 what sort of nap times will be looking as staying on two naps
Hi there, my 6.5 month old seems ready to transition to 2 naps. She refuses the 3rd nap entirely and will only sleep for this nap if she nurses and falls asleep on me. Is she too young to transition to 2 naps? My concern is the wake time between nap 2 and bedtime is 4-5 hours. Is that concerning? She sleeps without waking from 7pmish to 6:30am. Thank you
Hi Jennette,
She’s not too young!! I’d follow the guide above.
Hi Natalie!
My 8.5 mo daughter is happily on 3 naps (8/12/3:30), 7pm bedtime, but since starting to sleep through the night 3 weeks ago, she has been waking up early (around 5:30am).
Which approach to return to a decent wakeup time would you recommend we try?
1) keeping her on 3 naps, but waking her at 4:00 from her cat nap to avoid exceeding 3 hrs daytime sleep. (Naps 1+2=2.5 hours usually)
2) 3-2 nap transition (starting by gradually stretching her awake time before naps 1 and 2 to get her used to later naps that could carry her to bedtime)
Thanks!
I’d say once you transition to two naps and stick with it for two weeks, the early morning waking should resolve. Follow the guidelines above.
https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/toddler-baby-waking-up-too-early/
We’ve just transitioned our 7 month old from 3 to 2 naps after reading this post (so helpful!) and for the first couple days said goodbye to early wake times and hello to 2 solid long naps. Which was great! But then today she only took a 40 min nap for nap #2, so we’re planning on an earlier bedtime (maybe 5:45/6 instead of 6:30 as planned). Just curious if it’s normal to have some good days AND some bad days as kids get used to 2 naps?
Hello Emily,
I would not move bedtime earlier, that will just encourage her to wake early the next day.
It is 100% normal for naps to be up and down, especially for the first two weeks of the 3 to 2 transition. In general, it’s normal for babies to short nap sometimes for no discernible reason. Hang in there!!
Hi Natalie! Your website is SUPER helpful! Thank you! My almost 7 month old has been cosleeping and nursing to sleep and she sleeps great and goes down easy and sleeps 7/7:30-5:30/6am with 3 naps. The second nap is getting shorter so she’s ready to have 2 naps. But I need guidance on how to stop nursing to sleep. I have such anxiety about taking that away from her. Once I nurse her to sleep I slip away and she sleeps alone on a mattress on the floor and I have a baby monitor on so she’s safe. But she’s not learning to put herself to sleep and stay asleep so she stirs 4-5 times a night and passes right back out with nursing in bed. I am not getting much sleep though and it’s affecting me greatly. Thoughts?
Hi Erica,
I’m glad you find the information helpful.
Nursing her to sleep is just like all other sleep props. She’ll simply need to learn the skill of falling asleep on her own (AKA sleep training). This blog post will give you more info.
https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/what-is-baby-sleep-training/
Hi Natalie,
Thanks for your information, it’s very helpful! My 7 1/2 month old daughter is 4 days in to the 3-2 nap transition. She can be sensitive to getting overtired. She’s always had a wake up time closer to 530 or 545 after 10.5-11 hours of sleep. What would your recommended nap start times be in that case? Also, do you think babies can better handle a longer wake time before the 1st or 2nd nap? Thanks!
Hi AnnMarie,
I would simply move the hours 1 hour earlier, so between 8 and 9 am for nap one, 12:30 and 1:30 for nap two, and bedtime around 6 pm.
Regarding longer wake times, usually after nap two but it can vary from child to child.
Thanks so much, Natalie! One follow up question…my daughter had a night waking for over an hour last night and we haven’t seen that for months. She only had 9 hours night sleep. I hypothesize it had something to do with the longer wake time before bedtime, as she did have two 90-minute naps yesterday. Would your recommendation be to plow through and stick with the nap times or make any adjustments? Thanks!
You are so welcome. Yes, stick with the same nap times in cases like this assuming she is totally healthy and illness was not the cause of her overnight wake up. If she were ill, you’d want to let her nap whenever she wanted and for however long.
Hi. I don’t know if I understood this part of the post: Wake time in the morning is typically around 6:30 am or 7:00 am, but even if it’s earlier than this time, feed your baby milk when they wake.
If she wakes up at 5am do I feed her at that time and leave her in the crib until 6:30-7am as long as she is safe not crying in the crib? Sometimes when she wakes up at 5am she will stay calmly in he crib for like 30 minutes but when she starts to cry I change the white noise to a lullaby and turn on the dim hatch blue light and she calms down for another while until I get her. Do I feed her at 6:30-7am which is the normal wake time? I am a little confused. Thank you very much.
Hi Perla,
This should help.
If she wakes up at 5am do I feed her at that time and leave her in the crib until 6:30-7am as long as she is safe not crying in the crib?
Sorry Perla!! Here is it.
https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/toddler-baby-waking-up-too-early/
Ooh I really am interested in the answer to Perla’s question! Is there an answer but I just don’t see it? My baby also wakes between 4-5 or sometimes 545 and I need to know if I should put back down til desired wake time after feeding or start the day and not put down til 830-9?
It was my fault, it didn’t cut and paste. Here it is:
https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/toddler-baby-waking-up-too-early/
I’m not sure I follow – it says to limit the interaction with baby from 4-6 so I’m assuming that means don’t feed? I’m just wondering if he is actually hungry at 4 or 5 Am if he went down at 630pm – And last night we had two night wakings and one the night before so I’m wondering if he’s going through a growth spurt because he hasn’t had one in 6+ weeks minus his early mornings – that or he’s having a hard time with the transition. I don’t want to ruin my progress of no night wakes but also don’t want to deprive if he’s actually hungry on a growth spurt. Thank you in advance!
This is something to discuss with your pediatrician. Ask if baby can go 12 hours overnight without eating, and if they say yes, you can wait to feed until the morning when you start your day. You can also ask if growth spurts necessitate an overnight feed.
I am wondering the same thing! We’re now about 10 days into the transition and we had a several day stretch of awesome sleep (even some 11+ hr nights!). She must have overloaded her sleep tank because the past 2 days she shorted herself on day sleep with both naps just over an hour and early wakings the past 2 mornings (5:12 and 4:52). She only stays in her crib about 30 minutes before she fusses and potentially wakes up my other kids. I’ve been putting her down between 815-845 during this transition but that seems like this dumpster fire will continue if I continue to stretch out the morning wake time and she gets more and more overtired. Suggestions for this? Also, when they have days of awesome sleep and sleep more than 30+minutes after their typical wake up time, should we bump their nap time later too? If so, by how long? Thanks so much.
I don’t know that she overloaded her sleep tank (or that that is actually a thing <3) but she just may need more or less sleep on certain days. Overtiredness isn't real either ;). I would stick to 9 am or later for nap one, and no earlier than 1:30 pm for nap two. Make sure bedtime isn't earlier than 7, or that will promote early morning waking.