We have a variety of sample baby sleep and feeding schedules, but how do you put your baby on a sleep or nap schedule, anyway? Your strategy for implementing a baby’s nap schedule will depend on the age of your baby. Here are some tips:
4 month old baby
Your 4 month old baby will have limited ability to be on a true by-the-clock schedule. The best way to add predictability and structure to your day is to follow more of a routine rather than a schedule. Your routine may be something like eat-play-sleep, like Babywise, or something unique you create for your unique baby.
Predictability not only helps you plan your day, but it can some babies feel more secure, particularly slow-to-adapt babies. Some babies and parents prefer to follow baby’s cues. Find what works for you and, most importantly, your baby.
5, 6, or 7 month old baby
Between 5 and 7 months old, some babies can begin to get on more of a clock schedule. Usually, at this age, it’s best to have some flexibility in this, though. For example, a 5 to 7 month old may routinely take her nap around 9 a.m., but on a day when she’s working on a developmental leap or is more active, she may need to go to sleep earlier than normal. It’s often best to watch the clock AND your baby, in this age group. To put your 5, 6, or 7 month old on a schedule, you want to move slowly to extend their awake period until your baby can comfortably get to your target nap or sleep schedule.
8, 9 or 10 month old baby
Your 8, 9, or 10 month old can often be on a more regular and predictable schedule. Remember this age group is prone to the 8-9-10 month old sleep regression. For babies sensitive to being over-tired, you probably don’t want to be TOO rigid with your baby’s schedule. Being too rigid may land you into a cycle of chronic over-tiredness, which is sometimes hard to break. And, if bedtime is a little too late, the schedule may work wonderfully for weeks and then BAM, one “off” day sets you into a downward spiral. To put your 8, 9 or 10 month old on a schedule, you’ll want to extend their awake period, just like your 5 or 6 month old, but you may be able to go a bit faster.
11 or 12 month old baby
Your 11 or 12 month old will likely have gotten on their own schedule, even if you didn’t mean for it to happen. Most babies will begin to fall into a fairly regular pattern, even if it’s not identical every day. Inconsistent babies tend to start “smoothing” out at this age, even if they aren’t strictly “consistent.”
If you are still napping and setting bedtime based on sleepy cues, you may feel frustrated if your baby/toddler is not napping long enough and still catnapping during the day. Some babies are “good” about sleepy cues and sleeping well based on them, while others need more structure and direction from you. Not enough awake time can wreak havoc in this age group.
To put your baby/toddler on a nap sleep schedule, take one for a test drive to see how your little one responds. Different babies need different schedules. That’s why we offer a wide variety of sample schedules in our Mastering Naps and Schedules book.
Toddlers
Of all age groups, a toddler’s schedule is often one of the easiest to achieve. As long as your toddler is napping independently and can nap long enough, they will fall into a predictable schedule. You can set the schedule based on the clock and, generally, will get a good night’s sleep and a good nap. Granted, over-tiredness can still lead to shorter naps or night-waking or your baby waking too early. But, if you follow a standard 5 hours awake before and after the nap, most toddlers should do pretty well.
Summing Up Schedules
I hope these tips will help you put your baby or toddler on a nap / sleep schedule. All babies are different and some will be able to get on a schedule earlier than others. My first didn’t get “good” at a schedule until 7 months old while his younger brother was on a schedule around 6 months old. I have seen some 6 month olds take just two naps and I’ve seen 11 month olds taking three naps, which is rare. Having a “wrong” schedule for your baby can impact how long their naps are, how well they sleep at night, what time they wake in the morning, whether they are awake a long time at night, and how fussy or happy they are during the day. Even if you don’t believe in rigid schedules, following guidelines can help, if your baby has sleep problems.
Still Struggling?
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 40 sample sleep schedules and planning worksheets,
Mastering Naps and Schedules is a hands-on tool ideal for any parenting style. For those persistent nighttime struggles, check out The 3 Step System to Help Your Baby Sleep. Using the same unique approach and practical tools for success, this e-book helps you and your baby sleep through the night. For those looking for a more customized solution for your unique situation with support along the way, please consider one-on-one baby and toddler sleep consultations, where you will receive a Personalized Sleep Plan® you can feel good about! Sometimes it’s not that you can’t make a plan. Sometimes you’re just too tired to.
Debbye says
@ Aubrey- Thanks for writing! It sounds like you are doing everything right, following cues and keeping awake times short. Here is a link to our recommended schedules for 6 month olds: https://www.babysleepsite.com/schedules/6-month-old-baby-schedule/
It will give you an average idea about how long to go between naps and etc. Some babies can handle a stricter schedule at this age, while others can not quite handle it until they mature a little more and their naps start to lengthen and become more predictable.
I hope it helps! Good luck!
@ Lisa- Thanks for writing! Often managing two different schedules is difficult, and it is hard to sometimes coordinate the two different routines and schedules. I would recommend that your family what watches him continues to try and follow his home schedule as closely as possible, and try to get the 2nd nap. If this has already been tried for a couple of weeks to no avail, then have them try to push the nap a little later, and yes, put him to bed extra early on days that he misses the 2np nap, to combat over tiredness. Here is a link to a schedule that may help as well: https://www.babysleepsite.com/schedules/toddler-schedule/
Lisa says
My 13 month old baby is giving us a hard time with sleeping. He spends 4 days with family and 3 days with me. The days he is with family he only has a morning sleep at about 9:45 for about 2 – 2 1/2 hours. By 6pm he is so tired and wakes 2 a night and up at 5am. How do i get him to nap later in the morning at about 10:30 – 11? When he is with me he has 2 naps – about 1 – 1.5 hrs each nap and to bed at 6:30pm and up at 6:30am. Its just the days when with family that he refuses to sleep in the afternoon so i want to try get him to have a later morning sleep those days so he isn’t so tired by bedtime. Do i put him to sleep earlier at night or just push through in the mornings til naptime???? Please help!
Aubrey says
My 6 month old daughter is a short napper (30-45mins). Although it seems lately she has been having at least 1 hour nap per day. I’ve always put her down for her naps within 1-2 hours of being awake to prevent her from being overtired. I’d like to put her on a schedule now, but the lenght of her naps are still too unpredictable. At this age, how long can a baby stay awake in between naps before being overtired? How can I put her on a schedule when the length of her naps are still erratic? Thanks.
Debbye says
Hi Megan,
I’m sorry you are having such sleep issues, on top of transitioning to going back to work. Your baby will likely get used to the daycare, and begin to nap better there, and many babies sleep much better at daycare than at home, once they get used to it. 🙂
The four month mark can be a difficult one for many babies too, especially since their sleep is becoming more like adult’s sleep. This can lead to more frequent wake ups and shorter naps. Have you read the article Nicole wrote that specifically addresses this 4 month sleep change? Here it is just in case:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/how-we-sleep/4-month-old-sleep-regression/
I hope things improve, and will share the great “when Mom heads back to work” article idea with Nicole.
Best wishes!
Megan says
My son is almost 16 weeks old and was on a decent schedule, going 3 hours between feedings at night, even 4-5 hours a couple of times. He has never been a great daytime sleeper, but he was falling asleep 1-2 hours after each feed for 30-90minutes. Then I went back to work. He stays at a great daycare center, but they can not get him to sleep more than 40 min. 2-3 times per day. They say this is common and he will get used to sleeping there. In the meantime this lack of sleep is causing chaos on his night sleep. He has a bath at 6:30-6:45pm and is asleep by 7:30pm like clockwork. Then he is up every 1-2 hours until 5-5:30am. On top of it all he is getting 4 teeth already! The only way I can get him back to sleep at night is alternating pacifier/rocking and nursing. The only way we get more than 2 hours is co-sleeping, but I am not comfortable with that for safety and I don’t want to create a bad habit. I know I am not the only parent that has to deal with going back to work and working with childcare, but there aren’t many resources out there for me. Any suggestions?
Debbye says
Hi Hanna-
I just answered your email to us, and wanted to post a reply to you here as well. 🙂
It sounds like your daughter has some sleep associations, in that she has not quite mastered the skill of going to sleep on her own and back to sleep when she wakes.She sounds like she will need some help from you to learn this, and as the first few days will be the toughest, i recommend that you choose a method of sleep training, and make a plan and stick to it.
There are different methods of sleep training that you can use to help teach her, including no cry and limited crying methods. Here is an article outlining different methods for helping teach her to sleep: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-training-from-no-cry-to-cry-series-part-1/
And an article about sleep associations:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-association/
For more help, I would recommend that you consider our consultation services. You can read about our services here:https://www.babysleepsite.com/services
Good luck Hanna!
Hanna says
My daughter is 12months next week, we have always had trouble getting her to sleep, resorting to rocking her in the pram but she is to big for that now; she has now decided that she does’nt want to go to sleep at all! she has just started to get up as soon as I put her down to sleep, for her naps and at her bedtime; she sits or stands up in her cot and cries out until I go in and get her. I have tried laying her back down every time she gets up, and also leaving her to settle herself, but this just makes her more upset and she cries hysterically! I am back to rocking her to sleep in my arms, but even then it takes a long time for her to settle down. some days she will have one nap for 1.5hrs, other days she will only sleep for 20 mins, then she is up and down all night!
Debbye says
@ Anne- Thanks for reading, and for writing! Good luck!
@ Lisa- You are right, this nap transition is not always a smooth one, and waiting to tackle one challenge at a time may make everything more manageable for you and your little one. 🙂
Concerning the nap transition, sometimes it takes a few weeks for a baby to “settle into” the transition. Your son may take one nap on one day, and two naps on other days, and that is okay. Once the nap transition has gone well, his sleep may become more predictable and you can work on weaning that last feed.
Just in case you have not read it, here is a link to an article that may be helpful with the nap transition: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-naps-2/12-month-olds-one-nap-transition/
Good luck!
Lori says
Great article! We are having schedule problems as well. My soon-to-be 15-month-old’s predictable schedule went out the window a month or so back. I think he’s ready for one nap, but we are having trouble getting to a predictable time and scheduling lunch around that! Ugh! Nap transitions! He normally wakes at 6am and bedtime is between 5:30 and 6pm. However, lately he has been resisting bedtime and taking a really long time to fall asleep. Two nights ago it was two hours! He didn’t fall asleep until 8pm, but he did sleep in until 8am (which is unusual). I am still nursing, and he still wakes once for a feeding. I probably should night-wean, but I’m not sure how to go about it with all of these other problems.
Anne says
Thanks Nicole for all of your great advice!