Nap troubleshooting could be a ten part series. I’ll do my best to cover the most common issues that plague naps for every age. Before we go any further, please take a look at this blog post that discusses how to know how many naps your child should have by age.
Short Naps
There is no more common nap issue than short naps. Over 85% of the clients I work with struggle with short naps at some time or another. Many of them struggle through short naps for weeks or months before seeing improvement. For babies 7 months of age and younger, short naps are the norm. Not the exception. Short naps should be expected to occur regularly through month 7.
Why? It appears that in most younger infants the brain is not capable of linking sleep cycles consistently during the day. Thus resulting in short naps. Some think adding a fourth nap (for babies 4-7 months) will help. However, this typically results in increased night waking. This is because the brain is falling asleep too many times during the day to sleep soundly at night. Also, parents often find that it is impossible for their child to fall asleep four times in a day. So they end up spending one of their naps crying instead of sleeping.
So what if you choose to sleep train your child and they are short napping? It’s best to keep them at the appropriate number of naps per age. Then look towards when they can transition from 3 naps to 2. Short naps almost always resolve once a child is…
1) over 7 months of age,
2) able to fall asleep completely unassisted,
3) and once the child is only allowed to nap twice per day.
Once these milestones are reached, daytime sleep typically consolidates and naps become longer. This process can take about 2+ weeks.
Nap Interruptions
If your child is woken up by a dog or sibling, it’s best to give them 10-15 minutes to fall back to sleep on their own without your intervention. (This is assuming they already know how to fall asleep on their own at naps and bedtime.) But what if they are unable to get themselves back to sleep? Then you would get them up, and do everything you can to keep them awake until their next scheduled nap.
This may be challenging! But it will be more challenging to have all naps occur earlier that day, and then end up with a very lengthy gap between the end of the last nap and bedtime. Adding an additional nap will very likely affect your child’s ability to sleep soundly through the night. (As mentioned above, the brain struggles to sleep well overnight when it’s fallen asleep too many times during the day.)
There is no need to enter into the room and “help” them fall back asleep. Unless your child is not already sleep trained. In that case, assisting them in falling back asleep would make sense. If your child is not able to fall asleep totally unassisted, it is likely you’re facing other sleep issues that can all be resolved with sleep training. (AKA your child learning how to fall asleep on their own.)
Protested or Skipped Naps
This is another somewhat common issue, though much less common than short naps. If you find your child is regularly skipping naps, it’s likely they’re ready to transition from 3 naps to 2. Or from 2 naps to 1. What if your child is simply protesting falling asleep, but they do eventually fall asleep? You may find that they need their naps to begin later. Try to push all of their naps forward by 15 minutes, but wake them up around the same time they currently wake from naps.
For example… Let’s say your child takes naps at 8:30 am/11:30 am/3:00 pm, and they’re normally awake from nap one by 9:45 am. However, they’re also fighting falling asleep at 8:30 am. Move nap 1 to 8:45 am, but don’t let them sleep past 9:45 am. Then, make sure their next nap starts at 11:45 am instead of 11:30 am. The idea is that you are putting them down later, but having them up at the same time. They way they’re having more time awake, and less time asleep for naps throughout the day.
Limit Naps to 2 Hours
Unless your child is taking only one nap per day, limit their naps to no more than 2 hours for any single nap. Generally speaking, from age 4 months to when they go down to a single daily nap, nap sleep should range from 2-3.5 total hours of sleep per day. If you find your child is still napping at the two hour mark, wake them up. Allowing them to sleep longer than 2 hours at a stretch (unless they’re down to a single nap) is likely to cause nighttime sleep disruptions. If your child is down to one nap, capping that nap at about 3 hours is usually a good idea.
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How about nap training a 10.5 month old who has yet to fall asleep on his own. He’s sleep trained at night since he was 7 months old and sleeps 7-7 with no waking most nights, but to get there I nurse-napped him on my lap to make sure he wasn’t over tired at bedtime. He never slept deeply enough to transfer, so I held him the whole time.
I started nap training 4 days ago and he protests through every nap. He has taken a few 15-20 minute naps in the car when we have had to go somewhere, but that’s it. I know this can take a while… but is there any hope? I worry I waited too long and now it’s impossible.
His schedule is up at 7, down for nap at 10 and 2, bed at 7.
Cranky second nap.
I have a 15month old who is sleep trained. His bedtime is from 7pm – 6/6:30am. He is on 2 naps: morning nap start around 9:45-10am and naps anywhere from 45mins-1hr; second nap starts 2:30ish which he will protest and then end up sleeping for up to 1 hour. But this second nap is the big issue! Yesterday for example he went to his second nap at 2:40pm, and woke up at 3:40pm. He initially woke up and was clapping and then he started crying. I went in like probably 1-2 mins after and he just kept crying hysterically resisting me to pick him up (but if I didn’t he would fall and hit his head). I try to distract him with other things and he just flails around in my arms, I then just set him on the ground and he just cries as if he is soooo angry and is just trashing around kicking and crying. He throws his bottle of milk and eventually later takes it and will calm him down..
This has been happening at every single 2nd nap when he wakes up. I don’t know if I should just leave him in the crib until he stops crying but im afraid he might just get more angry? or if this is just a phase or am I going to him too quickly? is there such a thing as a night terror but at naptime??
he wakes up happy after bedtime and morning nap! just this second nap is the most draining once he wakes.
Hi Jo! You should definitely check out my blog post on the 2 to 1 nap transition. Also, I do Lives twice a month on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/babysleeptrainer where I answer questions just like this – come and join in!
I’ve just started sleep training my 4 month old. She’s doing great at night and falls asleep unassisted for naps but only sleeps for 30 mins on the dot. This makes for veeeery long wake times between naps. Stick with the three naps even though her wake times are too long for her age? Thanks Natalie!
Hi Kate, yes! Those long wait times can be brutal. And yet, over time babies tend to learn how to tolerate being awake for longer periods of time. I would stick with it if you can. <3
I have a 19 weeks (almost 5 months) old baby who naps between 8:30-9am, 12 noon, and 3pm, in bed by 7pm. Following the 2hr max and last nap to conclude no later than 4pm , how would that work for the 3rd nap if she were to sleep from 12-2pm? I am afraid there is not enough time to put her down for another nap, but concerned that she may not also make it to 7pm without being overly tired/fussy. Any advice? Thanks Natalie!
Hey there Silvia! You could trying putting her down at 3:30pm and capping this final nap at around 4:15pm. And then if she doesn’t seem tired by 7, you can push bedtime to 7:30 as well. If you have other questions, please join one of my upcoming Facebook live Q&A’s! They happen every 1st and 3rd Tuesday at 7pm Pacific on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/babysleeptrainer. <3
Hi Natalie!
HELP! We came back from vacation a week and a half ago, and since coming back my 20 month old JUST WON’T NAP! My husband and I shared a room with her (she was in crib) while on vacation. Furthermore, my husband and 20 month old would often sleep in the same bed (i.e. bed share) just for naps. I’m thinking it’s the room and bed sharing that has led to her becoming very difficult to put down at naps.
I’m basically letting her cry it out, while checking in here and there. But often, she’ll go an entire hour just crying and end up not napping. Is there anything else I could do?
Thank you!
Hi!! The checks may be what’s stopping things up. Try putting her down, leaving the room, giving her the amount of time you did in the training program, then returning to the room and trying again in 30 mins if she doesn’t fall asleep. Do this 2-3 times in a row, and make sure to check in on her immediately if you think something is wrong. Don’t do this without a video monitor so you can watch her closely the whole time!
Hi Natalie! My 9 month old used to be a champion sleeper – napping twice a day around 9 and 2 for an hour and a half to two hours. Bed at 7:30 and sleeping until around 6:30. About two weeks ago something happened and his sleep took a nose dive. He started waking at night for an hour or two at 1 or 2am and taking short naps. We’ve gotten night sleep back but naps are still only 45 min and he wakes up so fussy, I know he needs more sleep. He falls asleep well still unassisted but obviously tired. Could it be just a regression that will sort itself out? I miss my happy baby!
Hi Amy! I would first try moving nap 2 back to 2:30pm and see if that helps. Also, if you feel baby is safe, I would try giving him some time (when he wakes at the 45 min mark) to try falling back asleep. Some kiddos need 10-30 minutes to start snoozing again.
Hi Natalie! we are having difficulty with our 9 month baby’s short naps;after following your sleep training tips, he is able to fall asleep on his own and sleeps 9-10 hours at night (not 12hrs but still yay!) However he wakes up at 5.30am and only does two 30-40min naps until his 7.30pm/8pm bedtim. We have him on a 9/10am and 1/2pm naptimes for a week or so but no improvement! Should he be doing three naps? What time should his naps be? and how do i get him to take longer naps! Can we assist him in extending his naps by picking him up to rock when he wakes at the 30min mark?
It can take much longer than a week – stick with it mama!! I wouldn’t move to three naps, and without having you in the BST+Support program I can’t evaluate what’s going on enough to help you figure out how to work through this issue <3 Feel free to check out the program and use the code BSTinsta15 for 15% off any online program. https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/my-program/
Just wondering if this resolved for y’all and how long it took for yours to take longer naps or if you ended up adding another back in temporarily. I’ve gone down to 2 naps for my 9 month old but still no luck yet on him extending on his own. He’s been sleep trained per Natalie’s book since he was 4 months old and falls asleep unassisted but still hasn’t ever napped longer than 45 mins unless, very rarely, he napped longer on a car ride when we were traveling.
Hi Amanda,
Just wanted to chime in and let you know many babies don’t nap longer than your little one. He may just not need more sleep than he’s getting right now for his naps. It’s still possible his naps will lengthen as he grows older.
Hi Natalie!
Firstly, thank you for all your advice so far, my 4.5 month old went from taking 30mins to settle (and only napping for that same amount), to self settling within 5mins and having to be woken from naps.
My question is, how would you recommend breaking up naps for a baby that’s napping too long? For example, 3.5hours should be enough daytime sleep for her (she’s 5 months now), but yesterday I had to wake her from 2 of her naps which means she’s already at 4 hours sleep but too young to cut out the 3rd nap?
I’m so glad to hear this!! I would do longest nap first (1.5 hrs) then the remainder split up between the other two naps.
This is awesome info! My baby is 7months and has his third nap at 3pm and wakes up around 4:30pm and is awake from them until 7pm- isnnt that too long of a wake time for a 7 month old? His first and second naps are at 8:30 and 11:30
Sounds great to me!!
Hi Natalie I have a 7 month old baby who is on 2 naps a day the first one around 9am and the second at 1pm. I usually wake him up after an hour in the morning, so that he is more likely to sleep for longer in the afternoon (2 hours) Is this necessary or does it not really affect the second nap?
Hi Natalie!! If you find that it works, it’s fine to keep doing it. I would maybe move that nap a bit later, to 1:30, and also see if that results in a longer nap.
Hi Natalie, we bought your book and started using your method when she was at four months. She is now 4.5months and sleeps 12 hrs from 6:30-anywhere between 6:30-7am. She naps 8:30, 11:30, and 3pm. But for the first naps she’s starting to only sleep for 40-50mins very often and not able to fall back asleep even after giving her 30mins to try to go back to sleep. Her first nap used to be longer sometimes 2hrs. When we started training her at the beginning we would not get her until her scheduled wake time but now we’ve changed to getting her after 15mins of waking. How do we get her to nap longer again or is it not necessary seeing that’s she gets 14. 5-15hours of sleep every day?
Hi Lily! That’s actually a great nap length for a three nap baby. You’re right to get her after 15 mins (it’s not necessary to leave her longer than that). You can’t get her to nap longer <3 If she's falling asleep on her own and you're following the training guidelines, assume she's doing the best she can.
Hi Natalie, I’m so happy to see your response!
Our concern is that when she only naps for 40mins in a two hour nap window (for example the second nap according to your schedule – which we have adopted), she’s forced to stay up for about two hours until her next scheduled nap at 3pm. (naps at 8:30, wakes at 9:15, next nap is 11:30).
When this happens for her 8:30nap and 11:30 nap and 3pm nap.. Which it does.. She’s so tired for the whole day until her bedtime 🙁 as the book says, we let her stay up till scheduled nap and sometimes just 10-20mins earlier, but it’s still a big gap from the two naps. What do you suggest?
Yes, this is simply how things are at this stage. With time her naps will get longer and she’ll be more accustomed to staying awake longer periods. Give her time – this is just part of the process.
Hi Natalie, We just used the BST program to sleep train our 4 month old baby. We are about 4 days in, so still working on it, but the change so far has been drastic – in an amazing way! My question is about naps- he is currently on 3 naps, which makes up for a large part of the day and I feel slightly trapped within our home. Do you support babies sleeping on the go for at least one of their naps? If so, do you have any recommendations for this? Or do you urge parents to only have their babies sleep in their cribs, dark, white noise, etc except when traveling? Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear this!! This totally gets better with time, especially when babies go from 3 naps to 2.
https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/nap-transitioning-made-easy-part-one-3-naps-to-2/
I would say after the first two weeks of training, on the go naps are fine 1-3 times each week on non-consecutive days. Try to always keep nap one at home as that nap can set the tone for how the whole day goes <3
Very helpful – thank you Natalie! And just as an update, we are now 6 days in and have gone from waking up every 2 hours during the night to waking up just ONCE 7pm – 6:30am to feed our baby. I am finally starting to feel human again…Thank you!!
YAAAAAASSSSSSS I’m so thrilled to read this!!! Good job mama, and baby!
My 7 mo is on 2 naps, one at 9 the other around 2. Awake at 6am and down by 7pm. Is starting to take short first nap. I was told that she is awake too long in the morning. How can I adjust this routine. I don’t know how to fit in a cat nap again if I need to.
I think she’s actually doing great! I’d move the first nap later by 15 minutes later.
Hi Natalie, just moving from three to two naps, little one is managing fairly well but seems to be struggling with doing nighttime blocks & is waking around 11pm/12am for perhaps an hour or more. Some of this is staring into space & some is him clearly trying to go back to sleep. His daytime naps don’t exceed 3hours. He is asleep for around 6:30pm. Do you have any advice ? We are 5days in to two naps & this night waking is not giving me an easy time. Thank you !
Assuming you’re not interacting with him when he wakes, this should resolve on its own by the end of two weeks from when you made the transition. I would move bedtime to 7 pm, as well.
Hi Natalie! I literally just found you from googling! Thought I’d just see if you have any different advice other than what I’ve heard from other sleep programs. My 6mo old puts herself to sleep easily. She has since about 3mos. She sleeps 9-10 hours a night. We cannot get naps down. I’ve let her cry it out a few times but she still wakes after 30 minutes. I’ve let her stay in her crib after waking and she’s only put herself back to sleep once. So I resort to holding her so she’ll get some sleep. Do I just continue to let her cry when I put her down? I know she can do it because she does it at night… but I also don’t want her to miss a nap because she’s crying 🙁 Thanks for any advice!
1. Short naps are normal until 7 months, 2. They will persist indefinitely if you rescue and assist her to sleep, so 3. Just let her take the three short naps and she’ll likely sleep 12 hours overnight, but 4. you may need more help than this so check out the BST + Support program so I can answer more of your questions as I’m sure this advice will cause you to have more questions lol.
Hi Natalie! I found you through Susan Yara a few weeks ago and I just finished your book. It’s so refreshing to have clear advise – thank you! I have one question though – if we put our son down for his last nap at 3 pm and he doesn’t fall asleep within the hour, do you just skip the last nap all together? If we were to try to keep him up for 30 min after getting him out of his crib, it would be 4:30 pm and past the 4:00 no sleep rule. Alternatively keeping him up until bedtime sounds impossible! Any advise? Thanks!
Yep, if he skips nap three just keep him up til bedtime.
When your baby cuts a nap short, what do you do in terms of milk and solids? Do you reduce the amount because bedtime is earlier? Or do you keep the food amount the same regardless of less awake time?
For ex: my little one is 9 months old and she cut her second nap short. So instead of 2:30-3:45 for ex she did 2:30-3:00. Would I still feed her her 4oz bottle, 8oz of solids and 6oz bottle but just each earlier to account for the earlier bedtime? Or do I drop or reduce the amount in the 4oz bottle, because it’s too much food in less amount of time?
Hi Hala,
I don’t think bedtime has to be earlier. Feel free to aim for bedtime to be at the same time if possible, even if nap is cut short, and only do a slightly earlier bedtime if you feel you absolutely must. Just feed baby as normal after their nap and before bedtime. Yes, you’d still do that exact pattern of feeds you wrote out. If you feel she won’t accept a full bedtime milk feed because it’s too close to dinner solids, then I’d reduce the amount of solids in order to ensure she still takes all of her bedtime bottle.
Thank you so much! I will try that!
Good luck!!
Hi Natalie, my 15 month old has been refusing her 2nd nap even though she’s exhausted. She has also been waking up earlier than normal. 5-530am. How do I get her to sleep until 6:30/7. Ideally the 7-7 works best ! I know 6-8 is there natural wake up time but the early waking is killing me.
When she is waking up early, i try to let her stay in her crib until 6 but she;ll jsut cry and cry so i usually just take her to bed with me and nurse her until im ready to get up.
What time should i put her down for her first nap if she wakes up at 5-5:30am?
No matter what time bedtime is, she always wake up at 5-6am. 🙁
I have tried moving bedtime up, and using wake time 4-6 hours…..
whats the earliest i can put her down without her waking up so early because if she is on one nap and up by 5:30am she is exhausted comes bedtime. We been putting her down at 6:30pm.
HELP !
-One tired mama
It’s probably the nursing in bed that is gumming things up. I’d just get her up and start your day at your desired wake time (assuming she’s safe in her crib before that). Keep her first nap no earlier than 9 am, second nap attempt anytime starting between 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm. Regardless of if 2nd nap happens or not, bedtime no earlier than 7. If she skips her second nap for two weeks, then you can switch to 1 nap. This will only work if you set a firm start time to each day and just begin your day at that time, instead of nursing in bed in the early AM <3 Remember to only allow her to stay in her crib if she's awake if you're certain she's safe.
https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/nap-transitioning-made-easy-part-two-2-naps-to-1
Hi Natalie, I have a 3 month old who is taking 45 mins naps. She is now able to sleep independently whereas before she would sleep longer stretches before she was sleep trained. She sleeps well at night from 8pm to 6am waking up few times to feed.
When she wakes up from naps she is tired and yawns alot within the next hour of being awake.
My question is how many naps should she take at this age/ho much daytime sleep and max awake periods ok for her?
Many thanks. Your blog is amazing
Hi AaliyahI
Until she’s about four months, I’d give her 4 + naps a day. And thank you for your kind words <3
Hi Natalie,
I have an almost 9 month old who is sleep training as we speak. He goes down perfectly for the night… no wakings. His first nap he does not bad (only sleeps 1 hour 15 min tops tops cant seem to get him to do more than that) but the second just isn’t consolidating.
He usually wakes up at around 6:40am and goes down for his first nap 2.5 hrs later, eats lunch plays and goes down for his second nap again 2.5 hours later. But he is constantly waking up at the 25/28/30 minute mark hysterical. We don´t know what to do anymore. Almost already 2 weeks into sleep training.
I am at my whits end … any thoughts?
He goes down for bed at around 6pm due to the bad naps.
Hi Estela,
I’d follow the schedule on this blog post:
https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/nap-transitioning-made-easy-part-one-3-naps-to-2/
Hi Natalie my 7.5mo self settles at night but is reliant on a dummy for naps. How can I teach him to self settle for naps too? He currently has 3 naps a day but wake time before bed is only 2hr 15mins as 3rd nap finishes at 4.45pm. I think we .at need to drop a nap soon. Thanks
Hi Laura!!
This blog post should help.
https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/how-does-baby-sleep-training-work/
Hi Natalie! As if on que a week before my sons first birthday he’s refusing both naps! We’ve been doing the check ins every 15 minutes for an hour then 30 minute quiet time in his dimly lit room reading and singing lullabies before attempting another nap. After 2 hours, we get him out of the crib and try again during his 2nd nap time.
We’re now on day 8 of no naps. He just cries! Sometimes he will stop and act like he’s about to fall asleep but pops right back up in his crib and babbles or cries again.
Help!!! Is there anything to do differently other than the training?! He knows when we’re about to go down for a nap and balls and clings onto us. At night he usually cries for 5-15 minutes. He now hates bathes because he knows next is a book and bed or just bed.
Hi Angela!!
I’m not sure which training you’re using, but the BST+Support course will provide all the guidance you need to overcome this issue.
https://www.babysleeptrainer.com/purchase/
Natalie
Hi Natalie ,
We have just begun the nap and sleep training program from your book , my baby is settling quickly for the naps but is only sleeping 17 mins or so at a time. Before he was self settling but taking 30 min naps and 4 of them a day. Should I change the scheduled times around for him ? 17 mins makes me feel as though something is waking him up and has made his total daytime sleep today less than an hour!
My grandson is turning 4 soon. I give him a 3 hour nap, now all of a sudden he’s not sleeping at night. What can I do to help him sleep at night?