Before you have a baby, naps (and how long they should be) can seem pretty basic. It’s daytime. My baby seems tired. I will put them in the crib and they will fall asleep. Right?….Right?!?!? Ummm…no.
Once you become a new mom, naps are suddenly more complicated than deciding whether or not to pull your starting pitcher, who’s throwing a no-hitter in the bottom of the seventh…..ya, my point exactly.
I mean, how many naps is my baby supposed to be taking, anyway?! When do I “drop” a nap? (whatever that means!) And how long are naps supposed to be?? You would think that the hospital would give you some sort of manual on this. Actually, it’s quite possible that they did, but I was so overwhelmed and already exhausted from labor that I could have misplaced it. Forgot it there. Deliriously told them I didn’t need it. It’s anyone’s guess, really.
But now that I’ve had years to muddle through the naps of my four babies, and read *every* book on baby sleep, I can now pass on all my nap wisdom to YOU! Here is everything you need to know about baby nap lengths, and when your baby should be taking a nap.
Baby Nap Length and Number of Naps
When your baby is an itty bitty newborn, all sleep is a total dumpster fire. Who can possibly tell the difference between a nap and nighttime sleep. It all just melds together (or not, for that matter). The best thing you can do is to try and orient day and night, so your baby can understand the difference.
For newborn naps, you can expect anywhere between 4-7 a day, and ideally we want them to be 45-60 minutes.
Now, don’t stress too much about this, because it’s likely going to be all over the place. You can’t spoil a newborn, so do whatever you need to do to get those naps in and prevent overtiredness. But do make sure your newborn is not napping for longer than 3 hours at a time, or else you might find yourself with an annoying flatmate who starts the party back up at 3am.
PS- Learn all about 3 month old wake windows here.
Number of Naps and Length for 4 Months Old
Once your newborn is around 4 months, they should be having 4 naps a day. Each nap should ideally be longer than an hour (but again, not longer than 3 hours). Now this is also when the 4 month sleep regression hits, so you’re probably thinking, “Naps longer than an hour?!? Who are you trying to kid?!?” However, it IS possible! And the way to make it happen is…… sleep train!
My Sleep Training Essentials Course walks you through FOUR different methods AND teaches you how to tailor each method to best fit YOUR baby. Or, if you want to make sleep training as fun as a girl’s night out, join our monthly Group Sleep Training. We will spend the weekend sleep training everyone’s baby, making individual sleep plans, and by the end of the weekend you will have a solid sleep foundation. Not to mention the support you will get from other like-minded parents going through the exact same thing as you. Either way, sleep training also teaches your little one to lengthen their naps, so you can have your baby taking 3-4 solid naps a day.
Number of Naps and Length for 5 Months Old- When to Drop Fourth Nap
Around 5 months, your baby will drop to 3 naps a day. These naps should continue to be at least an hour long. If you have sleep trained, then this shouldn’t be an issue! If your little one wakes up from a crap nap, then give them some time to try and put themselves back to sleep. Ideally, you would let them chill in the crib for the rest of the hour. This is a not-so-subtle signal that naps are supposed to be longer than it takes a moderately educated person to do the daily Wordle. It’s totally normal to have days where squeezing in a fourth cat nap works best to keep babe from getting overtired and to make it to bedtime.
Number of Naps and Length for 6-10 Months Old
Between 6 months old and 9 months you will find that the third nap of the day gets tricky and is often just a cat nap, and by 9-10 months that third nap should drop completely, and your baby should be having 2 solid naps a day. Like, solid enough that you can clean the house AND workout fine, fine, I mean binge Netflix. If this isn’t the case, and you HAVE sleep trained, then it could be that your schedule is off, or there is something else going on; grab a consultation, we would love to help!
Number of Naps and Length for 12-16 Months Old
Somewhere around 12-16 months (but closer to 16 months) you will find that your baby is fighting naps, or nighttime sleep has become less than ideal. This means you are entering the transition from 2 to 1 naps a day. I’m not going to lie, it can be a long and rocky transition. It’s best to expect it to take about a month to shake out. You can offer 2 naps a few days a week when you feel your little one needs to catch up on some sleep. That 1 nap a day should ideally be around 2 hours.
Once you have made the transition, you are going to want to hang on real tight to that 1 nap a day. Trust me, it is in BOTH of your interests. Once they are 3 years old, you can transition the nap into more of a “quiet time”. Stay consistent, set boundaries, and have the expectation that this quiet time is for an hour a day. Your little one still needs that rest in order to reset their little body and make it to bedtime. (And there will ALWAYS be Netflix shows, demanding your binging attention).
Dropping Naps
Dropping a nap means removing the nap from your baby’s schedule and having them move most of that “sleep time” to the other nap(s) and/or nighttime. Some babies do not do this naturally, and there can be a bit of growing pains while they adjust and figure out their new sleep schedule. Hang in there! You’ve got your caffeine, your wine, and our amazing community of parents going through the exact same things as you here, ready to problem-solve and support you. We’ve got you! (If you haven’t joined us yet, you can find everyone here!)
How to Drop a Nap
I find the easiest way to drop a nap, is to lengthen the wake window before the last nap you are keeping. So if you are transitioning from 3 to 2 naps, the first nap will be at the same time, and then extend the next wake window before the second nap. So your baby will be adjusting to a longer wake window before nap 2 and before bed.
Generally, babies do best when their wake windows get longer throughout the day, which is where the 2-3-4 schedule comes in. This schedule is a framework for wake windows while you are on 2 naps a day.
- So the first wake window (when they get up for the day) is 2 hours
- The next wake window (after nap 1) is 3 hours
- The last wake window before bed is 4 hours
Remember, this is a general rule, which means it doesn’t work for every baby. Some babies do best with 3-3-3. So use 2-3-4 as a guide and play around with it until you find the schedule that works best for YOUR baby. Need help making tweaks and reading your baby’s cues? Our amazing Sleep Consultants are always here to help!
When to Drop a Nap
Now, in case you haven’t been told yet, your baby was born with an impressive trickster skill. Which they love to use, just to confuse the heck out of you. What I am referring to, is when they trick you in to thinking it is time to drop a nap, when in reality, that’s about as poor of a decision as those 3am “end of the night” McDonald’s trips always were.
So allow me to arm you with the information you need to outsmart your little one. Don’t drop to 2 naps until at least 7 months, and don’t drop to 1 nap until around 14 months. This means at the 10-month regression AND the 12-month regression you are going to think your smart little monkey is ready for 1 nap, however DON’T DO IT! Stay strong and power through, and they will go back to happily taking 2 naps until much closer to 14 months.
Recap of Nap Length & Number of Naps
There you have it. The “Naps 101” crash course that really should have come as an instruction manual with your baby. I hope you feel confident in knowing how many naps your baby should be having, and how long they should be.
Of course, babies are not robots, so there are going to be ups and downs, as well as questions that come up along the way. So for ALL the information you need on dropping naps and troubleshooting the hiccups, I have a troubleshooting guide called “Dropping Naps” which you can find in my 4-24 Month Guide Pack and my Toddler Guide Pack. And of course, we are always here to work one-on-one with you, to get you fast and effective help. Click here to schedule a consultation now!
Happy Napping!
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