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We’ve written quite a bit about baby and toddler naps here on the blog, so if you’ve been following our site for a while, you’ve had the chance to read a lot of baby and toddler nap tips and tidbits. But, some of you are new moms or new to The Baby Sleep Site® and we strive to educate all of our parents on the importance of good sleep and how to achieve it!
Today, we’re presenting you with 5 must-know facts about your baby’s or toddler’s naps. Think of it as your nap “cheat sheet”. 😉 And we’re not stopping here. Look for another post in the near future with 5 additional baby and toddler nap tips.
5 Things You Need To Know About Baby and Toddler Naps
- The first nap of the day is the most important. This isn’t to say that other naps aren’t also important. But the first nap of the day tends to be the most restorative, setting the tone for the day, and it’s generally the one that produces the best sleep for babies and young toddlers. (Note the generally there — this isn’t true for everyone!) So, make that first nap a priority. If you have errands to run, run them in the afternoon, if possible. Schedule appointments for the afternoon, if you can.
- Most babies don’t transition to one nap at 12 months. Most transition to one nap between 15-18 months. There seems to be a prevailing opinion out there that at the one year mark, babies should suddenly transition from two naps to one. And some will, with no problem. But we’re here to tell you that making the 2-to-1 nap transition at 12 months isn’t the norm for most babies. In fact, most babies aren’t ready to move to one nap a day until 15-18 months. While it’s possible that your baby will be ready to make the transition at 12 months, we usually urge families to wait until closer to the 15-18 month window before making this shift.
- Most 6 month old babies aren’t ready for just 2 naps per day. Most still need 3 (or even 4). Just as there’s a misconception that all 12 month old babies are ready to transition to one nap per day, there’s also a misconception that 6 month old babies are ready to transition to just 2 naps each day. We think this misconception is at least party due to a recommendation that Weissbluth makes in his book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. In the book, Weissbluth states that only 16% of babies need a third nap after 5 months. Keep in mind this statistic came from a study of a limited number of children.
We are not discounting Weissbluth’s studies. But we do take it with a grain of salt, since all babies vary in their ability (particularly mood-wise) to stay awake for long periods of time. In our extensive work with families, we’ve found that far more than 16% of babies appear to need 3 naps at 6, 7, even 8 months of age. Therefore, we usually tell parents not to rush into a 2 nap schedule with their 6 month old babies. Doing that increases the chances that their 6 month olds will become overtired, which will in turn affect their night sleep. We’ve found it’s better to stick to a 3 nap schedule (or even a 4 nap schedule) and then gradually transition to a 2 nap schedule around 8 months.
- Your child’s nap needs will change greatly between birth and 18 months. Greatly. This just makes sense if you think about it! Newborns nap pretty much constantly during the day, while an 18 month old needs just 1 nap. That’s a lot of change during a relatively short period of time!
So, how many naps does your baby or toddler need in the first 18 months of life? You can read this article for detailed information, but here’s the short version:
*1-3 MONTHS — 4-5 naps per day, depending on how long his naps are and how long he can stay up between naps.
*3-4 MONTHS — 4 naps.
*5-8 MONTHS — probably 3 naps (though some will need 4 until after 7 months). A few babies will only have 2 naps at a very young age, but those naps are usually long.
*9-15 MONTHS — 2 naps. Some babies will transition to 1 nap at 12 months, but that’s not common.
*15-18 MONTHS — 1-2 naps. A transition from 2 naps to 1 usually happens in this window of time.
*18 MONTHS-4 YEARS — 1 nap. The age to transition away from all napping varies a lot, from 2 to 5+ years old, but the average age is between 3 and 4 years old.
- If your baby or toddler sleeps well at night, that doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll nap well during the day. Remember, nap sleep is different than night sleep. Naps happen during daylight hours, when the sun’s up and when it tends to be noisy and busy. External factors like that can make it hard for a baby or toddler to nap well. And many families struggle with keeping a consistent daily nap routine in place. Life tends to get in the way! That, too, can make it hard for a baby or toddler to nap consistently. Contrast that with nights — it’s dark, it’s (usually) quiet, and everyone is (usually) at home. That at least partly explains why many babies and toddlers who sleep just fine at night struggle with their naps.
Nicole’s Note:
“But, of course, my son was very NON-textbook. He had 4 naps until 7 months old, because he simply could not stay awake longer than 1 hour 15 to 30 minutes without turning into Mister Cranky Pants! It was simply NOT fun to even try. So, I rolled with it and he stayed home all day pretty much until he seemed to change overnight, taking 3 naps at 7 1/2 months old. He then dropped to two naps a short month later at 8 1/2 months. It happened so fast! He also transitioned to one nap early and away from napping early. I would never have guessed that based on our first 7 months. So, if your baby is struggling with staying awake for long periods, he’s not alone and it could change fast for you, too! :)”
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Special VIP Members-Only Nap Resources
Mastering Naps & Schedules — For starters, all Baby Sleep Site® members receive unlimited access to all our e-Books. That’s right – for the price of your membership, you can read all our e-Books at no additional cost! That includes Mastering Naps & Schedules. With over 45 sample schedules (all available for you to view in the VIP Members Area), Mastering Naps & Schedules is THE e-Book for tired parents of non-napping kiddos! We tackle all your top napping issues, including how to get your baby or toddler to take longer naps, how to get your child’s naps to be more consistent and predictable, how to manage nap transitions, how to encourage good napping while traveling – and more! Become a VIP member today, and access the e-Book instantly – no download necessary!
Nap Tele-Seminars — Another great VIP members-only resource? Our tele-seminars. Hosted by Nicole herself, these awesome audio tele-seminars offer you insider-information and our trademark sleep coaching methods and techniques. We have several awesome nap-focused tele-seminars, including one on managing nap transitions, and one on lengthening short naps! Listening to these seminars is like getting a coaching session from Nicole! She’ll walk you through the basics of dealing with common nap problems and give you tried-and-true strategies you can implement at home.
VIP Members-Only Nap Articles — And now, we’ve recently added a special members-only article on the hot topic of nap transitions: 5 Practical, Hands-On Tips For Managing Common Nap Transitions. Learn our 5 top secrets for how to gently and painlessly navigate nap transitions, and help them happen in a way that preserves your child’s sleep while also preserving your own sanity! 😉
For more details about all our VIP member benefits (including weekly chats with a trained sleep consultant and our “Ask the Author” feature), visit our membership page, and consider becoming a VIP member today!
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Don’t feel up to working on your baby or toddler’s nap challenges on your own? While our Members Area is great for DIY moms who prefer to tackle sleep challenges on their own, we know that other moms much prefer to go straight to one-on-one help. Well, good news! We offer that, and you can start getting the personal help you need TODAY!
Browse our list of consultation package options here.
Once you make your choice and purchase, you will immediately receive an e-mail with your Helpdesk login information. You’ll be able to login and start your Family Sleep History form right away – it’s that simple!
Which of these 5 things are you currently working through in your house? Any nap-related info you’d like to contribute to our “cheat sheet”? Add your voice to the conversation by commenting below!
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If you’re looking for ways to get your baby or toddler into a healthy sleeping routine during the day, I encourage you to explore Mastering Naps and Schedules, a comprehensive guide to napping routines, nap transitions, and all the other important “how-tos” of good baby sleep. With over 45 sample sleep schedules and planning worksheets, Mastering Naps and Schedules is a hands-on tool ideal for any parenting style.
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Emily DeJeu says
@ Kate — so glad you find the site’s info useful! Positive feedback like that is encouraging to our whole team.
Regarding your baby’s naps: erratic naps at this age are very, very normal. Remember, your baby’s still quite young, at 4.5 months. It’s completely normal for young infants to have erratic schedules; many babies don’t sort out a good daytime schedule until they’re a bit older (maybe 6 or 7 months). So really, I think what you’re experiencing is more about age than it is about napping habits.
In terms of what to do about this, I’d suggest continuing to try and follow a general schedule during the day, but don’t stress yourself out if things go well one day but not the next. Wait another month or so before trying to really push the daytime schedule. Make sense?
Thanks for commenting, Kate! And keep us posted on how it’s going with your little one. 🙂
Kate says
First off, I love this site. It offers such great, REALISTIC information. If only my baby could read it!
My 4.5 month old is a great night sleeper and a “struggling” napper, just like you wrote about in the article. We have been working on naps for a few weeks now (cry it out for a max of 20 minutes) with pretty variable success. I think he’s wavering between 3 and 4 naps, but I really “need” him to start napping regularly (I’m a nanny and he comes to work with me and summer is starting and the schedule is crazy! Napping on the run doesn’t work so well for him.)
Time to get to the point: Is it normal for his daytime sleep to be so erratic?
He usually naps 35-45 minutes, but sometimes naps 60-90 minutes. He almost always wakes up crying (not well-rested?) but stops as soon as I pick him up (does he just want to play?). He used to get cranky after being awake for 1.5 hours, but now he seems to be able to stay up for 2+ hours (which most people seem to think is too long). The kicker for me is that sleepy cues don’t seem to work: oftentimes, when I put him down after a few yawns and eye-rubs, he won’t sleep. But putting him down earlier doesn’t always work either. And other times, he’ll be up for three hours (skipping a nap) with no sleepy signs whatsoever! (For what it’s worth, he doesn’t seem to give very clear hungry signals either–or maybe I just can’t read him.)
So if it’s not normal, what can I do? And even if it IS normal, what can I do? (I’ve read Mastering Naps and Schedules, but I just keep experiencing the “Oh, you thought you had me figured out, Mom? Well, now I’ll change everything!” phenomenon.)
Thanks! I’ll definitely read your next article, too 🙂
Emily DeJeu says
@ Karina Roman — so glad to hear the site has been helpful to you, Karina!
@ Cassie — for both of my boys, the dropping of the last nap took awhile. They started by simply not sleeping when I put them down for their afternoon nap; they’d do that for a few days in a row, and then nap, and then refuse to nap for a few days in a row, and then nap, etc. Slowly, the days they didn’t nap began to outnumber the days they did nap, until we got to the point where it was the norm for them to have a rest time in the afternoon (instead of a real nap) and rare for them to actually sleep.
I’d suggest continuing to put your 3 year old down for naptime, in her bed, but consider giving her some toys and books. That way, if she needs to sleep, she can, but if she refuses to nap, you can encourage her to stay in bed and play quietly for a bit, and have a rest time. We’re releasing another napping article in a week or two, in which I’ll explain the idea of rest time in more detail; stay tuned for that!
Thanks for commenting, Cassie, and keep us posted on what happens with your daughter!
Cassie says
What r the signs of dropping the last nap, other than the obvious nap refusal?
My 3yo ( just turned 3 in April) is only sleeping around 9 hours at night and around 2 hours for nap. Nap is 7 hours after morning wake up. She also has been having night wakings where she has odd requests which she never had before.
Karina Roman says
Thanks for the feedback!!!!!! Love this site, by the way. The articles have been super helpful.
Emily DeJeu says
@ Karina Roman — I’d say that, since your little girl is one now, cutting down to one nap is probably fine (provided that’s what she seems to be signaling to you that she’s ready for.) Worst case scenario, the transition is terrible and you go back to two naps. No harm done there. 🙂 I’d suggest trying one big afternoon nap for a few days and seeing how it goes; then, make your decision about whether it should be a permanent change or not.
Best of luck to you, Karina! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Karina Roman says
My baby just turned one but from about 11 months on started fighting her afternoon nap (she could sleep forever in the morning). So I shortened her morning nap and that seemed to work. But a month later now she’s taking forever to fall asleep again in the afternoon…sometimes 45 minutes or more, so I’m wondering whether to shorten morning nap or just give it up all together? It’s already down to 40 minutes. If we gave it up altogether, I would, of course move her afternoon nap earlier. But don’t know whether just to try a 20 minute catnap in the morning to see if that would work. Anyone else gone through this?
Emily DeJeu says
@ Melissa — good point! Thanks for this reminder. 🙂
Melissa says
I think you just have to follow your child’s lead. My son transitioned himself to one nap around 11 months and I would love to have him still taking two naps, but he would just not have it haha.
Emily DeJeu says
@ Elena — congrats on your pregnancy! And yes, I totally get the need for a “refresher” in how things are going to be once your second is born. I remember having total amnesia with the birth of my second and third; I found I couldn’t remember much of anything about sleep schedules!
Glad this was a timely and helpful article for you, Elena. Thanks for commenting!
@ kahtja — sounds like a little regression to me. There’s one that happens around 7/8/9 months and tends to be linked to all the increased mobility that babies are starting to get around this age (sitting, pulling up to standing, crawling, etc.) And teeth — can’t forget about teeth! I’ll bet that this will resolve itself with some time. Hopefully, it doesn’t take too long!
Thanks for commenting, Kahtja! 🙂