Nap transitioning from 3 naps to 2 naps is a rite of passage for parents. (So is transitioning from 2 naps to 1 nap, but that’s for another post!) If your child is trained using the the Baby Sleep Trainer method, they are likely napping at 8:30am, 11:30am, and 3:00pm. They are also 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. This is 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 between 6-7 months old, 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
Other important how-to’s
- Naps can start as early as 9:00 am, and as late as 10:00 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. However, 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. As children grow older, you may also find that one or both naps need to start a bit later. Again, you can move naps to start as late as 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.
Milk & Solids
- Wake time in the morning is still typically around 6:30 am or 7:00 am, but even if baby wakes earlier than this time, feed them milk when you get them up.
- Around the time your child is ready for two naps, they are generally also taking solids. Feel free to follow the solids feeding schedule shown above 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 yet eating dinner solids, you’ll want to give them another small milk feeding around 5:00 pm. Again, make 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.
Wow!!did you sleep train him?
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,
My son will be 7 months in a week. We are at the point where his third nap is usually starting at 5pm or sometimes later. He wakes early in the morning now (5am) every day. I try to leave him but he cries only after 5 minutes. I find it would be a stretch to make him go to 9am for his first nap. Is he too young to transition? Should he be napping at 5pm? His bedtime is then pretty late but then he wakes up at 5am anyway, so he’s cranky because he doesn’t get a lot of sleep if his bedtime is late? This blog has really helped me. Thank you so much!
Hi Kirsta,
He’s definitely ready for the transition to 2 naps. Assume/be prepared that it will be hard and stick with it for two weeks. Hang in there!
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
I transitioned to 2 naps about a month ago but I’m still dealing with early wake ups between 5:30-5:45. She sleep through the night independently from 7pm and use to be 6-6:30am. I’m not sure if she’s going through a sleep regression cause she’s been rocking and all fours and taking awhile to fall asleep some days for naps. Will this eventually stop or am I stuck with an early riser? It been going on for 2 weeks or so. I don’t take her out of the crib until after 6:30am. She will atleast rest or play around by herself until I come to get her. Naps are a 9 and between 1-1:30
This is so so common!! One thing you could try is moving her bedtime slightly later, close to 7;30, and give that some time. She may still be suffering some issues due to Daylight Saving Time ending as well.
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 8mo has always been an early riser 5-6am. He’s currently on 3 naps as wakes so early 1st around 7.30 to 8.15, 2nd 10.00 to 11.30 and 3rd around 2.30. He usually goes to be around 6-6.30. Recently the 3rd nap has been a struggle so think he’s ready to drop it. however I’m unsure how to fit two decent naps in around our schedule (school drop off 9.15 and pick up 3.30). If he wakes at 5 should I keep him up till 9.30 for his first nap? Thanks
Hi Toni,
If baby can stay awake, just do first nap after drop off and second nap starting around 2, ending when you need to leave for school.
Yes, even if he wakes at 5, keep him up til 9:15. Accept that it will be a struggle and stick with it for about two weeks. Baby will adjust.
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.
Hello. My son is 7.5 months. I have switched to 2 naps and it’s great! He is still adjusting to the times, etc. but overall is doing really well. He has also dropped a nighttime feeding and is only waking up once. He is waking up earlier, this morning at 6. I know that is part of the adjustment. My question is, when he wakes up at 6:00, should we just start our day as normal? Also, I’ve been trying to do the second nap at 9:30. On days he wakes up at 6, do I move the nap earlier? He does really well with consistency. I’m torn between keeping the times the same no matter what (within reason) or adjusting them based on his needs. I feel guilty to keep the times the same because he gets SO tired, but am concerned he will want a3rd nap?
Hi Anna,
If you’d like, sure, start your day at 6 am. Keep nap one at the same time. Your gut instinct is right – keep baby on the same start time for nap one.
Hello Natalie, I am starting to transition my my 8.5 month old daughter on to 2 naps a day as the third is just becoming too late in the day however she only ever takes a 30 minute nap in the afternoon even though she knows how to settle herself to sleep etc sometimes this means she is awake again at 2pm, is it ok for her to go from 2pm-7pm as that will be 5 hours awake following only a 30 minute nap. Her morning nap is generally around 1 hr 15-2 hours xx
Hi Amy,
I think that’s fine, and you can also move nap two so it starts a bit later as well. It can start as late as 2:30 pm.
Hello Natalie,
I think my 7 month old is ready to transition from 3 – 2 naps. She is starting to fight her nap times as she appears so be able to stay up a bit longer these days. I am currently breastfeeding her 5 times a day and giving her 3 meals a day as well. I was thinking of transitioning her to 4 feeds of milk per day as right now she feeds every 3.5 hours but maybe I should focus on transitioning her from her naps first and then transitioning her from 5 -4 feeds of breastmilk per day. What do you think is best?
Hi Olivia,
Sure! You can just do a milk feed at noon and then remove that once your doctor says that’s ok.
Hi Natalie,
I think my 7 month old is ready to transition from 3 -2 naps. She is starting to stay up longer and her 3rd nap seems to go pretty late sometimes starting at 4pm (only sleeps for 30 mins each nap). She is also sleeping throughout the night.
I was also thinking on transitioning her from 5 feeds of breastmilk to 4 feeds (every 4 hours) as she sometimes doesn’t seem too hungry when I’m feeding her every 3.5 hours during the day. Should i focus on one thing at a time or can I tackle both these things right away? She is also eating 3 meals a day.
I think I answered your previous comment 🙂
Hi Natalie,
My 7 month old is now sleeping through the night and she is on 3 solids a day and 5 milk feedings a day. I’ve been wanting to eliminate the 5th feeding as I feel she isn’t really hungry every 3.5 hours and more like ever 4 hours. Now I also want to go from 3-2 naps but I’m not sure if I should tackle both at the same time or one at a time?
Hi Natalie,
Sorry my comments are posting duplicates. Thanks for your help.
Hi Olivia,
No worries!
Hi Natalie,
My baby is just over 8 months old and I think he’s ready to transition to 2 naps, as they’ve suddenly got much shorter and his awake time has got longer/our old schedule doesn’t work. Should I worry if he has only had 20 minutes for his first nap? Or stick with the routine and they will lengthen out? He’s been a dream sleeper since he was 4 months (asleep 7pm-6:30am) but I don’t want him to get overtired during the day…
Look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
Isabel
Hello Isabel,
Regardless of the length of nap one, stick to nap two starting between 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm.
Hi there! My baby is 7,5 months and a couple of days ago she dropped her third nap. She usually wakes up at 7am ish, takes her first nap at 9.30-10am and second one 12.30/12.45-14.30/14.45pm. Third nap occured around 4.30-5pm. I thought that she is ready to drop the third nap, since she started to shorten the second nap and instead of two hours, she slept only 90 minutes. She had also difficulties to fell asleep at bedtime. I have removed the third nap now, but she still sleeps only 12.45-14.15pm! I put her to bed at 6.30pm and she sleeps 12,5 hours… What to do in order to get that second nap longer?
That’s a great length nap. Don’t move bedtime any earlier than 7 pm, and don’t allow nap two to begin before 1:30 pm.
Hi Natalie,
I started to take away my daughters 3rd nap last week. I usually put her down around 9:30am as she wakes up around 6:30am each morning. I usually do her second nap at 1:30 or 1:45pm however for each nap she is still only sleeping a half hour. Sometimes she doesn’t make it until 7pm at night and will only last until 6:30pm. How do I get her to nap longer? Although she sleeps through the night around 11 – 11.5 hours its been difficult to get her to sleep longer than half hour.
Hi Olivia,
Short naps are the norm at first. Don’t give up. With time, her naps should lengthen.
Hi There! I am a mom of twins and I have a question about their schedules. If one wake up at 6:30 and the other at 7, I usually leave them in the crib until they’re both awake then feed them at the same time. When transitioning into naps, should we transition when the first baby is ready or wait for them both to be ready? One baby sleeps a solid 90 minutes for both naps and 30 minutes for the third, while the other is struggling to get anything more than 30 minutes per nap.
Thank you!
Hi! I’m grateful my 7-month-old is a good sleeper; he sleeps from 7 to 7 without waking in between and currently takes three naps (45 min-1,5 h) according to your suggested schedule. He has started taking longer to fall asleep for each nap so I’m thinking he’s ready to transition to 2 naps. He’s also starting daycare in less than two weeks, so it seems a good time! I’ve read this post and while it’s very helpful, I wonder how to best do the actual transition? Is it to go cold turkey, or to take away the third nap but pushing each of the other two gradually later, little by little? Thanks!
Hi Linda,
I’d follow exactly the advice in the blog post and go to two cold turkey to two naps.
Hi! Just came across your blog post and absolutely loved it! My baby is 7mo old, and has 3 naps a day as per your post. This has been working really well, but over the last few days she has been waking more in the night even though her naps are solid. She’d usually go to sleep at 6.45-7pm, dream feed around 10, then up once in the night before a 6.45-7am wake up. Now she is unsettled at 8pm-ish, not that interested in a dream feed, up around midnight, then again at 4am. Does this sound like she is ready for 2 naps?
Hi Lucy,
I think so!! I’d also discuss with your pediatrician how and when to drop the night feeds, esp the dream feed, as one or both of those may also be contributing to her overnight waking.
I transitioned to 2 naps about a month ago but I’m still dealing with early wake ups between 5:30-5:45. She sleep through the night independently from 7pm and use to be 6-6:30am. I’m not sure if she’s going through a sleep regression cause she’s been rocking and all fours and taking awhile to fall asleep some days for naps. Will this eventually stop or am I stuck with an early riser? It been going on for 2 weeks or so. I don’t take her out of the crib until after 6:30am. She will atleast rest or play around by herself until I come to get her. Naps are a 9 and between 1-1:30
Hi! Is 5.5 months too young to transition to 2 naps? My baby had been doing great on your 3-nap schedule, but yesterday he refused the 11:3o nap and ended up napping from 2:15-3:30, and today he napped at 11:30 but only for 45 minutes (he usually naps 90 at that one) but then skipped the third nap.
He’s been going to bed at 6 PM on 3 naps — super early, but seems to have been working well (falls asleep easily and sleeps until 6:30/7 AM). Yesterday (the day that ended up having 2 naps) he was an overtired mess at bedtime, which makes me think he either isn’t ready for 2 naps, or needs a temporary obscenely early bedtime (5:30 PM or so). Any advice?
Should you bring bedtime sooner than 7pm if second nap ends before 3.30pm if baba goes down at 1.30pm?
Transitioning to 2 naps
Hi Leah,
I’d keep it at close to 7 pm as possible. Work on inching nap two close to 2 instead of opting for an earlier bedtime.
My son will be 7 months next week and we’ve landed on a slightly weird 3 nap schedule. He sleeps 6:30-6:30 and we had been doing 8:30/11:30/3 for naps but found we had to shift the naps later so he would nap well. Now we’re having naps at 9 AM (usually 90 minutes), 1 PM (70-80 minutes), and 3:30 PM (30 minutes). We don’t want to move the 3:30 PM nap later because we don’t let him nap past 4 PM, but he keeps taking that nap even though it’s now less than an hour and a half after nap 2!
Given that he happily falls asleep at 3:30, should we keep offering that nap, or just drop it? His morning wakeup has gotten earlier — it was previously 6:30 but lately has been around 5:50 or so. Not sure if that’s a hint he’s ready for 2 naps.
Thanks! The info on your blog is super helpful! 🙂
Hi Lillian!!
If he keeps taking it, no sense in cutting nap three. He’ll get there eventually – sounds like he’s in a good pattern right now. If morning gets any earlier, you can switch to just two naps.
Natalie
Hi Natalie,
My son will be 7 months in a week. We are at the point where his third nap is usually starting at 5pm or sometimes later. He wakes early in the morning now (5am) every day. I try to leave him but he cries only after 5 minutes. I find it would be a stretch to make him go to 9am for his first nap. Is he too young to transition? Should he be napping at 5pm? His bedtime is then pretty late but then he wakes up at 5am anyway, so he’s cranky because he doesn’t get a lot of sleep if his bedtime is late? This blog has really helped me. Thank you so much!
Hi Krista,
He’s definitely ready for the transition to 2 naps. Assume/be prepared that it will be hard and stick with it for two weeks. Hang in there!
I feel like I must be the only mum out there who can’t work with these schedules. I have a daughter who is 8yrs old and needs to be picked up from school. There is no way I can have a baby sleeping past 2:30pm for this to happen. Also no way I can stretch my 8month old from 2:30pm to 7pm he barely makes it to 6pm.
When we do three naps he sleeps great and I have to wake him to stay on schedule and not push bedtime past 8pm although he wakes at 5:30am sometime in the night to play for an hour even though he only get 2.5hrs day sleep, but as soon as we do 2 naps he wakes after 30mins and his bedtime would end up being 5:30-6pm but wakes at 6-630am
I feel like I’m ion trouble no matter what but especially with school pick up! I can’t find anywhere on any site that talks about how to handle sleep and school pick ups
He just won’t sleep past 2pm which works for pick up but he will definitely not stretch to even 6pm for bedtime without being overtired. Yet if I stay on 3 naps he’s bedtime is 8pm and he sleeps less in a 24hr period
Hi Gillian,
Absolutely school pick up makes the schedule tricky. I think the only option is to accept that a 6 am to 6 pm schedule is necessary in order to be able to pick your older child up from school <3 There is not always a perfect solution to every problem, sadly, but as baby grows older they should be less fussy as they day goes on and you should be able to more comfortable get him to a 6 pm bedtime.
Hi Natalie,
I think my almost 8 months is ready to transitioning to 2 naps. It has been a couple of days but he refuses to go down for 2nd and 3rd naps. He wakes p 6am sharp and I take him down for the first nap at around 2.25-2.5 hour mark depending on his sleep cue. He sleeps really quickly without resisting but he only sleeps for 30-40m. Is this nap happening too early? Your sample schedule doesn’t say the wake up time but should he still go for his first nap at 9am?
HI Rika!!
He’s ready. I wouldn’t use wake times to determine when he should nap. Stick with the guide above, nap one starting anytime from 9 – 10 am, nap two starting anytime from 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm (regardless of how short nap one is).
Hello! Thank you for the helpful article. My baby is 6.5 months old and gets 3-3.5 hours of sleep a day between two naps, so we’d like to get him down to two naps. He also wakes early around 5:30am but we don’t get him up until 6:00am. Yesterday was the first day on a 2 nap schedule and he uncharacteristically woke up at 9:30pm and cried hysterically for almost 2 hours. Is this normal while transitioning? Do you still think he is ready to go down to 2 naps? Should we keep bedtime at 7pm no matter what time he is waking in the morning and wakes from his last nap or do you suggest moving bedtime up ever?
Hi Sarah,
As long as you’re certain the wake up wasn’t due to illness, it’s possible it was in response to the change in schedule. If it wasn’t illness related and you didn’t assist him back to sleep when he woke, you can expect it to resolve it just a few nights. Yes, keep 7 pm beditime and yes I do think he was ready for just 2 naps.
Hi Natalie! My baby is 7 month now and transitioning from 3-2 naps. and we started following this schedule . It is day 4 and for 4 days she is waking every 10-15 min after the bedtime screaming. And every 2-3 hours after 10 pm. She is sleep trained and falls asleep on her own. Worried if she is overtired. Will this go away. No medical issues. Thank you!
Hi Seva,
As long as you’re certain she’s healthy, I’d assume this is just a side effect of her changing sleep patterns. Give it a few days (perhaps up to a week) and it should resolve.
Hello Natalie,
Its been day 6 of my almost 7 month old transitioning and i think we are doing ok. your post def helped to get some insight on nap/bed timing. Thank you! Im just not sure as she gets older how to adjust the schedule. currently she wakes up around 6am and i keep her up till 9, then 1:30 and 6:30pm(awake after last nap almost 4hrs) bed time since I’m terrified of her getting overtired and whatever comes with it. But i also don’t want her to be under tired. Total she’s been staying awake around 9-10hrs throughout the day and naps 2.5-3 hrs on average and night sleep 11.5 hrs. As she gets older how to adjust nap times and bed times? Naps still 9-10 am and 1:30-2:30 pm window? Do i still keep them within same range up until she’s 12 months? when to extend the bed time?
Hi Olga,
I wouldn’t worried about “overtiredness”. It’s kind of a myth. I would stick to a 7 pm bedtime, or as close to that as you feel is reasonable for baby. You can adjust nap times as she grows older/as is needed as described in the blog post (moving either or both naps as needed as late as 10 am and 2:30 pm). You just kind of have to feel her out – some days if her first nap is unusually long, you can push nap two a bit later than normal. It’s ok to be flexible 🙂
Thank you so much:) Today she decided to take a 2nd nap a bit later at 1:50pm. her 1st nap was 1h11mins and she still fussed a bit before nap 2 but finally went down at 1:50pm. I think 7 pm bed time is going to be just fine from now on. One more question how long do i keep 7pm as a bed time? Im sure the older she gets the more she’d want to stay up.
Also she went down to sleep last night @ 7:15pm after tossing and turning and huffing and puffing for a bit (not sure if she wanted to be up or what?) but still woke up @ 5:30 am. we started the day at 6 am and went for 1st nap around 8:30 am. Hopefully the early waking will work itself out in a few weeks or should i do something different? Baby’s sleep situation can be so confusing
As she gets older you can move her bedtime later as you feel is appropriate based on what she demonstrates she can tolerate. I
Thank you so much for your help!:)
You are so very welcome!!
I have started sleep training for my 7-month-old both for night and day naps. We are on the 11th day, she is able to fall asleep on her own for every nap now. She is using pacifiers on her own to soothe herself. The problem is her nap time is reducing day by day. She is taking really short naps like 14-30 mint max. So in a day, she would only sleep for an hour to an hour n a half max. My question is should I leave it the way it is or be there to extend those short naps? At night she is sleeping through the night most of the time.
Hi Prajakta,
Using a paci means she is not truly falling asleep on her own, so once the pediatrician approves no longer using the pacifier for sleep, you can restart training and it will like help her lengthen her naps.
We recently transitioned our 7.5 month old from 3 to 2 naps. Since the transition, his total sleep for the day has contracted to just 12 hours – 2.5 hours in the day and 9.5 hours at night. He is waking at 5 am,. We put him down for nap 1 at 9 AM to 10:45 AM. Nap 2 is 2:15 to 3:30 PM and bedtime of 7:15/7:30 AM. I feel like he isn’t getting enough sleep in a day and clearly the 5 AM waking are not fun. Is there something we need to change?
Sorry that 9:15 AM to 10:45 AM and nap 2 is 2:30 to 3:30 PM. Bedtime is 7:15/730 PM
Assuming your little one knows how to fall asleep 100% on their own, then you essentially have to assume he’s getting as much sleep as his body needs. If he needed more sleep, his body would just remain asleep longer overnight or for naps.
Thank you Natalie! Yes, he sleeps completely unassisted. He was sleeping more earlier, so can’t tell if we transitioned him to 2 naps too soon. He wasn’t struggling for long before we decided to cut back the 3rd nap. Also we’re keeping him awake for 4 hours for all naps and bedtime. He does look tired, but we are able to distract him. He’s happy for the most part. Should we put him to bes before 7 PM?
Part of the reason kids go from 3 naps to 2 is precisely because they need less sleep as they grow older.
No, don’t move bedtime earlier or else he’ll wake even earlier the next day.
Hang in there <3
Thanks for your help Natalie! Hoping his early morning wakings stop soon.
Thanks for the info Natalie. I am following your schedule and it has been going pretty good. What if some days you can only make it to 1/1:15pm my daughter gets so tired and yesterday had to put her down at 1pm cause she was so tired, but woke up at 6:20am. Today she woke up at 6:45am and had to put her down at 1:05pm she has a little cold. Just inquiring! Thanks
Hi Michelle,
There’s nothing you can do but continue to try to make it as close as possible to 1:30 pm each day. The older she gets, the easier it will be.
Thank you for responding Natalie. I will keep trying. I made it to 1:20pm yesterday. So it is getting better.
Hi Natalie!
I am the father of a just turned 8 month old. Our son is completely sleep trained and used zero props to sleep – naps and bedtime. His first nap is at 9 am and second at 2 pm. Both naps combined are anywhere between 2.5 to 3 hours. My son used to earlier rise at 5/5:30 AM. But the past few days he is now waking at 4:30 AM. Sometimes after waking at 4:30, he will go back to sleep at 6/6:15 am. We wake him at 6:30 AM to keep him on schedule. Not sure why he is waking this early. Also, what can we do? At our wits end!!
Hi Anuj,
This article may help.
https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/toddler-baby-waking-up-too-early/
Hi Natalie, I’m thinking my (just barely) 7 mo daughter is ready to drop her third nap. She has been sleep trained, and used to sleep 730-730, but is now consistently waking anywhere from 4-5AM and has trouble going back to sleep. She is a great napper, and rarely takes short naps, so my thought is that she is actually getting too much daytime sleep. This is my first day of switching her to two naps. She went down at 10 and it is now almost 12. I don’t want to exceed her daytime sleep…if she consistently tries to take a two hour nap in the morning, should I try to wake her earlier and get two consistent 1.5 hour naps? Or just let her sleep 2 hours and then force a shorter afternoon nap?
Hi Emma,
I’d aim for no more than 3.5 hours total across both naps. If she gets two hours for the first nap, limit the second one to just 90 minutes.
Natalie
Hi Natalie,
I find the post very helpful and interesting; our son is almost 9.5 months old and I think he is more than ready for 2 naps (or could it be that he isn’t yet?) – he is a completely independent sleeper; we haven’t had a set daily schedule yet, but I have tried to create a structure based on fixed points and waking times (similar rise times, etc.), but it’s not always the case. Bedtime is unfortunately inconsistent as he is often overtired and if I put him to bed later it can be that he cries 3 hours into the night and even hyperventilates as he is so overtired or he wakes up at 4 and cries and cries and can’t sleep even though he wants to – sometimes it worked when he felt a bit more rested overall). right now we are so extremely dealing with overtiredness that I despair and don’t know how to stay at 2 naps and have him be happy; the little one is so hyperactive and looks totally wrecked; should we just keep going with the structure anyway even though he is so tired? I’m so scared that he won’t sleep at all anymore; already had days like that 🙁 it is just Horror for me to see him like this and in the evening he always cries himself to sleep until at some point he can’t anymore and collapses; I’ve just been sad for weeks. We have already had 2 sleep consultations.
Lovely greetings from Germany
Hi Marie,
I do think sticking two naps may help your overcome the cycle you’re stuck in now. Of course you’ll want to make sure your baby is cleared as 100% healthy by his pediatrician before you make any changes to his schedule, but once you get clearance from the doctor that baby is healthy and that s/he approves the guidance in this blog post, I’d suggest you stick to it vey consistently two weeks to see if it resolves your issues. Best of luck!!
Natalie