3 to 2 Nap Transition

44 Comments

  1. Karen Guillen

    Hi,

    This article was very helpful in understanding a transition nap from 3- 2. I have a 6 1/2 month old she seems to fight her after noon at times and doesn’t wake at the same time anymore. The last few days she has been waking up at 6 or 6:30 or 6:45 and the past 2 days waking at 5:45am. I’m not sure if she is ready to drop a nap or lengthen awake windows. I loved the sample nap schedule and would love to accomplish that if she is ready

    Reply
  2. Rylie

    Hi

    im stuck, HELP! I have a 8m21d who is into 5th day of 3-2nap transition the past 2 days she’s been waking very early 5am and yesterday was 430am. it was on and off during the night since 430am. Is this temporary ? She currently on 2.45/3.30/3.30 take her out from the crib at 730am. Really need some guidance, thanks!!!!!

    Reply
    • Artemis

      Hello, Rylie!

      So sorry to hear about your struggles.

      The best place for us to truly help you with your baby’s sleep is in our program, 21 Days to Peace and Quiet. The link is here:
      https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/baby-sleep-consultant

      In the program, we can help you deal with every single aspect of your baby’s sleep. If you choose the support option, we can have daily contact to make sure we’ve covered all the details and we’ve got you and your baby on track for amazing sleep.

      I hope to see you in the program soon. If you’ve got any questions about it, reach out to us on support@babysleepmadesimple.com

      Artemis, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  3. Sherry

    Hi there. Can you explain how to adjust bedtime if baby misses his cat nap. My LO is on a 2.25/2.5/2.5/2.75 wake window. Let’s say he wakes up from nap 2 at 1:30, then at 4:00 I try to offer him a cat nap, but he fights it. When will bedtime be? If his longest wake window is 2.75 hrs and he’s been awake since 1:30, is he supposed to be in bed by 4:15? I’m just not sure what it mean to adjust bedtime according to appropriate wake time. Thank you!

    Reply
  4. mandy

    Hi there!! thanks for the article. I’m confused on when to move my 7months 23 days old baby girl to 2 naps. Some days miight have long stretches of nap from 1h30mins to – 2 hours. Some days she might only sleep for 1 hour for Nap 1 and 40 mins for Nap 2.

    Not sure shes actually shes ready to drop it. If i move awake windows to 2h45mins she might be a little to tired.

    Regular schdule
    730am up
    1000am-1130 Nap 1
    200pm-345pm Nap 2
    615pm catnap for 15mins
    845pm bedtime

    for those days she has shorter nap 1 and 2 we will let nap a bit longer 30-45mins.

    Reply
    • Artemis

      Hi Mandy!

      Her schedule looks great. Your baby is definitely ready to drop to 2 naps as she checks everything listed in the article!

      Apart from that, though, you don’t have to transition her yet if you’re happy with the way things are. Whatever works, works! If you do want to transition her though, just follow the tips in the article 🙂

      Sounds like you’re doing good, don’t worry!
      /Artemis, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  5. Trish

    Hey, thanks for this article! We are realizing our 9 month old has been showing signs of wanting to drop his 3rd “nap” (mostly fighting it) for a while now. I’m excited to try the things you recommend! However, my oldest just started preschool 4 days a week, and dropoff occurs right around when his first nap usually falls… any tips for navigating that? I’m worried that if we start doing earlier bed times leading to earlier morning wake times that his first nap is just going to fall in this impossible time where I need to get older brother out the door to preschool. I should say that dropoff only takes about 20 minutes, but my 9 month old can get very grumpy within those 20 minutes if it really starts pushing back his nap. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Artemis

      Hi!

      I understand the struggle. It’s hard when your kids have completely different schedules.

      Perhaps your eldest could carpool with another mom and you could take turns every other day? If this is not possible, you can try to plan the nap around drop-off. So either have it be before or after. Hopefully, your LO will adjust to the new schedule, even if they will be initially grumpy.

      We actually help parents navigate issues like these every day in our nap program. You can choose the ‘support’ plan and we can help you with everything naps related, so that your baby can sleep well for years to come.

      The program is here:
      https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/naps-getting-downtime-in-the-daytime/

      We hope to help you in the program soon!
      /Artemis, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  6. Sarah

    Hi! Thank you so much for this article! My 7 month old has recently dropped to one nap. Her schedule is typically to wake at 7am and go down for first nap around 9:15-9:30am and sleep until 11 or 11:30am. The she naps again around 2 and wakes anywhere from 3 to 3:45. If she wakes at 3, I do like a 6:15pm bedtime and adjust accordingly, but anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour after going to bed, she wakes up. I feel like I don’t know what to do! The other day when she woke at 3:45, we put her down at 7:20 and she didn’t do her wake up, but she’s also been waking at night (which before she was sleeping through the night)! I don’t know what to do!
    Any advice?
    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Alyssa Taft

      Hello Sarah,

      Check out our 7 month old sleep guide here. It will provide you with a ton of helpful tips and timings for awake windows 🙂 If you are looking for more step by step guidance, definitely check out our 21 Days to Peace and Quiet program. We would love to help you figure out what is going on and get your LO’s sleep back on track!

      https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/7-month-sleep-regression

      Best,
      Alyssa, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  7. Tara Evans

    Hi my little guy is about to be 8 months (7 months adjusted) and we are on day 6 of 3 to 2 nap transition. We decided to drop the 3rd catnap as he was fighting it, and it was getting later and later, plus his first 2 naps were shortening and he had consistently been waking early in the morning. Since transitioning his first 2 naps have gotten way better, both around 1.5 hours long, but we are STILL dealing with early wakes and now even earlier some days. Our schedule is 2.5/3/3.5 DTW is 7 bedtime is 630/7. He was waking at 615 on the dot for a month and a half and now sometimes earlier. Is this normal for this transition? He falls asleep independently for all sleeps, and does not wake.

    Reply
    • Micaela

      Hello Tara,
      7mo is a bit early to transition to 2 naps but if your baby is already an independent sleeper and is STTN then it’s not that uncommon. Any transition takes a while to be completed. At least a week but potentially up to 10 days. Your awake times seem appropriate for a baby on two naps and their length is perfect!

      Also, it can happen that during any transition there are some days where your baby needs to go back to the previous schedule. If he keeps waking earlier try to go back to three naps. Give him a few days of good rest and then he’ll show you if he is truly ready to drop the third nap 🙂

      Micaela BSMS Seupport Team

      Reply
  8. Bianca

    Hi Jilly 🙂

    So many helpful tips! I read through everything but have not found someone dealing with this problem – my son is 9mo and is ready to drop the 3rd nap otherwise bedtime would be 9-10pm. However, when i put him down to bed earlier (around 6:30) he wakes up after 30-45mins thinking it was the 3rd nap and doesn’t want to go back to sleep? is this a normal adjustment to dropping that nap?

    thank you!

    Reply
    • Alyssa Taft

      Hello Bianca,

      For a 9 month old, I would aim for 2.5/3/3.5 hours of awake time on 2 naps. It can be normal for your LO to wake up thinking its a 3rd nap, but continue to follow your steps and have your LO work on falling asleep independently. 🙂

      Best,
      Alyssa, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  9. Daniella

    Hi, thanks for this again. My almost 9 mo generally seems content with three naps still (one of them usually 30 mins). I’m wondering though- on some days he has had two naps and we end up putting him to bed earlier… but then he seems to have a split night and is up for 1-2 hours in the middle of the night. How do I avoid that when he’s in bed at like 6:15? I feel stuck. Thanks 🙂

    Reply
    • Alyssa Taft

      Hello Daniella,

      Are you trying to transition to 2 naps completely? If so, I would really try to keep a consistent schedule if you can with the earlier bedtime. Even with 3 naps, try and keep that third nap to be a really short cat nap to allow your LO to have a bedtime that is within a 30 minute range. Keeping a consistent bedtime can be helpful. 🙂

      Best,
      Alyssa, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  10. Caroline P

    Hi! My LO is 7 Months and we are in the process of dropping from 3 to 2 naps. It’s rough! Right now she is often fighting her third nap, yesterday we did only two naps, about 40 min and then about an hour long each…she was then up from 2:15-6:15 pm (eek, too long!) and fought bed time crying in her crib until 7 pm! She then woke up every single hour of the night, after two months of sleeping 11-12 hours. Is it common for dropping a nap to lead to bad night time sleep?

    Reply
    • Micaela

      Hi Caroline, you don’t tell us why you decided to drop the third nap. If your baby girl was not fighting it, not having nighttime issues there is no need to drop the third nap yet. We would encourage you to wait until she shows those kinds of signs for at least a week before dropping the catnap. This usually happens when the first two nap total at least 2h.
      Micaela BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  11. Piper

    This article is so helpful, thank you! My 8 month old recently dropped the 3rd nap and is on a schedule close to the one above. He is in his crib by 7pm and usually falls asleep within 10 minutes. But he is now starting to wake up earlier than before, at around 6am instead of 7am. He is sleeping through the night, just waking up earlier. Is this related to the new nap schedule? Anything I can do to get him back to 12 hours – would you push his bedtime to later?

    Reply
    • Alyssa Taft

      Hi! It is normal for some early wakings to occur during a transition. I would just gradually keep your LO in the crib longer. Try keeping him in an extra 15 minutes every 2 days until your LO is back to the 7am waking 🙂 Alyssa, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  12. Michelle

    Hello and thank you so much for the helpful article! I have a 9.5 month old who has been stuck in this 3-2 transition for a while now. After a decent two nap day (usually 1.5 hrs and 45-1hr) I try for an early bedtime (6ish) instead of a 3rd nap and she regularly wakes up 45 mins later. Then she is awake until 9pm. She is exploding with teeth and waking once in the night to feed. She had a couple weeks of sleeping 11hrs straight but has started waking for a feed again. I typically aim for 2.5 – 3 – 3.5 wake times and she falls asleep independently for naps and bedtimes but then needs help after that false start. Ive just been trying to persevere, hoping its a short lived regression or teething or separation anxiety related but maybe Im missing something! Any thoughts? Thank you so very much!

    Reply
    • Alyssa Taft

      Hi Michelle,

      I actually think your schedule looks great. It sounds like a combination of teething and the nap transition. Continue to have your LO fall asleep for for all naps and bedtime and any night wakings and you should see things become more consistent soon! Also, aim for some cold teething toys/wet washcloths during your bedtime routine to help with the teething discomfort!

      Best,
      Alyssa, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  13. Rabia

    Hi, Jill
    I have a 6 and a half month old he has started sleeping through the night only wakes up once sometimes twice for a feed, he cab stay awake for 2.5 to 3 hours, he takes 3 naps but I have to limit his nap times because there is no time to fit the 3rd nap. His first and second naps are 2 hours in total and if I don’t wake him up they will be 3 hours in total. Can you please help me should I put him on 2 naps or keep 3 naps, as the 3rd nap sometimes pushes bedtime because he can saty awake for 3 plus hours aswell before bedtime on days we had to do 2naps.

    Reply
    • Micaela

      Hi Rabia, to be able to drop the third nap your LO should be able to handle awake times of 2.5/3.5h. 6mo is usually too early but we have seen sleep trained baby being ready for this transition at 6mo so it’s not that rare. If you feel like he is ready to you can proceed.
      Have a nice day!
      Micaela BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  14. Angela Brown

    Hi Jilly

    Thank you for this. I love your website and all your helpful tips. It really is one of the best!

    Just a question about the awake times between the 2nd nap and bedtime. It’s 4 hours?? I am a ‘serial researcher’, and have looked at multiple websites, and it often comes up with a 4 hour awake time between the 2nd nap and bedtime. Can a 7 month old do 4 hours of awake time? My baby is 6 months and not ready to drop the 3rd nap just yet… but just want to be prepared for when the time does come!
    Thanks again

    Reply
    • Micaela

      Hi Angela, I’m just like you! I prefer to plan beforehand 😉 An awake time of 4h before bedtime is fine for babies older than 1y. Potentially for babies after 11mo if they are having great naps. At 7mo (and 6mo too) the longest awake should be 3h. It could be 3.5h if on 2 naps but generally speaking babies drop their third nap around 8/9mo. Micaela BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  15. Morgane Mantia

    Hi! Thank you for all the good tips!
    My son (8 months) is sleeping pretty badly at night (we started the program 21 Days to Peace and Quiet only a few days ago – falling asleep is a problem and he wakes up A LOT – but sleeps until 7.30-8.00). I am currently working on moving the bedtime earlier but that is conflicting with the 3rd nap. I would like to drop it but in your article it is said that the night should work first. I don’t really know what to do then (he would never fall asleep for the 3rd nap before 17.30-45 – and I try to put him to sleep at 7.30)…
    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Alyssa Taft

      Hi Morgane!

      Have you joined our private FB group? This is the best place to ask questions so members of our support team can help you daily! 🙂

      Best,
      Alyssa, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  16. Kripa

    Hello
    Your article has lots of helpful information. My LO is 10months old. He’s sleeps around 12 hrs( night sleep for 8.5 hrs and day naps *3 for 3.5 hrs). Recently I do feel he’s ready to drop his 3 nap. But I’m too worried to drop his 3 naps as he might wake up too early if he sleeps early. Currently he sleeps at 10 – 10:30pm and wakes up 6 – 6:30am sometimes around 7am. How can I make him sleep till 7am even if he goes to be earlier then 10pm. TIA

    Reply
    • Micaela

      Hi Kripa, when dropping a nap, bedtime needs to be earlier to respect awake times but you can expect your baby to sleep 11-12h during the night plus 2/3h of daytime sleep. We have plenty of clients who have a 6.30 pm bedtime for their LO and wake up time is 6/6.30am. In our sleep training program, we treat any waking before 6 pm as a night waking. If you’d ever need help achieving this check out our sleep training program 21 Days to Peace and Quiet https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/21-days-to-peace-quiet-program/
      Micaela BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  17. Silvana

    Hi! Super helpful article!
    I have a 8.5 month old baby and I am trying to transition to 2 naps because I have seen his wake times increase. My question is – with earlier bedtime, how to avoid earlier wake times if baby only sleeps 11 hours at night? With 3 naps – he was waking up at 7am, with a 7.30 to 8pm bedtime depending on naps. Yesterday, I dropped the 3rd nap and had a 6.30 bedtime… but he woke up at 6.20 am. So today’s schedule shifted and I had to do 3 naps again to avoid a 5.15pm bedtime (afraid of a 4 or 5am wake time). Can you please advise how to manage? Thanks in advance!

    Reply
    • panagiota

      Hi there Silvana.

      You could move bedtime a bit earlier than 8pm, like 7 to 7.30 gradually, and your LO’s sleep won’t be affected. Please check out our 8 month old sleep guide that has many age based tips, on awake times, appropriate bedtime, etc. Here’s the link –> https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/how-to-beat-the-8-month-sleep-regression
      Good luck. Panagiota, BSMS Support Team.

      Reply
  18. Aysha

    Hi, I have a 6 month old cat napper (each nap 30-40mins). However, as his wake times have increased to 2.5hrs, 4th nap was running too late so we dropped it to 3 naps and give him an early bedtime cuz he’s still cat napping. The problem is he’s waking up pretty early in the morning after about 11hrs of sleep and barely sleeping 2hrs during the day in 3 cat naps. What should I do to make him sleep longer for naps, have an appropriate bed time and prevent early morning wake up. Should I extend wake times more and make him have 2 naps ? Won’t a jump from 4-2 naps be too big ? Please help !

    Reply
    • Leena

      Hi Aysha! Thanks for your comment! I think that a jump from 4 to 2 naps would be a little bit too much, every baby is different, but usually babies transition to 2 naps around 13-18 months. If these changes to your baby’s sleep are recent, it could be the 6 month sleep regression. I will link that guide for you to check out and implement for 1-2 weeks and you should see a change for the better 🙂

      https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/sleep-training-6-month-old

      We recommend fixing night sleep first and usually that itself can help with bedtime and early waking struggle.When night time sleep is “in order” we can work on naps. Until then you simply follow awake times and help your baby get at least 2 hours total daytime sleep. Our program, 21 Days to Peace&Quiet will walk you through all the steps in fixing both night time and daytime sleep. We offer 4 different step-by-step methods for you to choose from (from super gentle & gradual to quick & efficient.) Each step of the way you get advice based on your baby’s developmental stage, energy levels, and temperament. I’d happy to answer any questions about the program!

      You enroll on this page: https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/21-days-to-peace-quiet-program

      Good luck and let us know if we can be of any additional help 🙂 / Leena, BSMS Support Team

      Reply
  19. Emily

    Hi!
    This article is super helpful!
    My daughter is just past 7 months and has been sleeping through the night for just over a month. When she started she was waking about 6.30 most days which was fine with me. Lately though it’s been anywhere from 5.15-5.45 and I’m losing it. With an almost four year old my exhaustion hits hard in the afternoon.
    Her typical day was up 6.30 and nurse, solids at 7.45 and nap 8.15-9.50. Nurse when up, solids 11.45 and nap 2 at about 12.30/12.45 until 1.45 ish. Nurse when up, catnap from about 3.30-4.15, dinner (recently introduced, was nursing previously) at 5.45 and bath at 6.30 followed by bottle and bed (story/prayers/song after bottle) around 7. She’s usually be asleep within 10 minutes.
    Bedtimes are still pretty smooth, but for some reason she keeps waking earlier. I’m trying to stick to the routine but with the early mornings everything gets thrown off. Help please!!!

    Reply
    • Jilly Blankenship

      Hi Emily,

      I’m so happy you enjoyed this article.

      Once babies start sleeping through the night, they often want to consolidate naps. Plus your LO is right at the age when many babies want to transition to 2 naps.

      I would start making the switch. The 3rd cat nap can often lead to early mornings once baby is developmentally ready to drop it, but hasn’t.

      Start extending her awake times slowly so that her naps move a little bit later, especially the afternoon nap. And you’ll probably have to move bedtime earlier too, to around 6:30 pm for a while. That should help her settle into 2 naps / day and sleep later in the morning.

      Good luck!
      Jilly

      Reply
  20. Dan Myers

    Hi Jilly,

    Thanks for the helpful article and video. I have a question about navigating the 2-3 nap transition for almost 7 month old.

    He currently takes two long naps of about 1 to 1.5 hours and we usually end up waking him to fit in a third nap. This nap is a cat nap in the evening of up to 30 minutes, but it usually takes some time for him to fall asleep in our arms. The problem is that this last nap has been getting later, which makes his bedtime quite late. Sometimes he doesn’t fall asleep until 5:45 or 6 PM, which puts his bedtime around 8:45 PM. He typically wakes up between 7 and 7:30 AM.

    How would you suggest transitioning to two naps while gradually adjusting the bedtime earlier? His longest awake time is about 2:45, so if we drop the last nap it would move his bedtime to 6:30 or 7 PM, which seems like too big of a change all at once. We tried two naps a couple of times about a month ago, but he didn’t react well to the earlier bedtime. Should we try to gradually extend his awake times at the same time? We can try shortening his evening nap, but he sometimes takes so long to fall asleep that the schedule wouldn’t end up being any earlier.

    Thanks for your help!

    Reply
    • Jilly Blankenship

      Hi Dan,

      I would let him sleep 1.5 hours for the first 2 naps and work on dropping the 3rd nap.

      You can extend awake times by 15 minutes to help push naps a bit later, and you’ll have to move bedtime earlier. A bedtime of 6:30-7 pm is perfect for his age.

      It may take a few days to get used to the earlier bedtime, but he should be sleepy at that time. Start your bedtime routine 30 mins before bedtime to help him unwind and understand it’s time for night sleep. This article explains how to create a peaceful bedtime routine, in detail: https://www.babysleepmadesimple.com/how-to-start-bedtime-routine-baby-toddler-2

      A month is a long time in “baby years” and by now he could be more ready for an earlier bedtime.

      I hope this helps,
      Jilly

      Reply
  21. Nicole Massa

    Hi Jilly,

    I’m following your reply to Meghan Frys comment because I’m in the same situation with my almost 9-month. As of two days ago I have dropped his third nap and everything was going great Except today his naps have been shorter than an hour so do I add the third nap back in today or do I put him to bed early?
    His schedule is: 530 wake. 830 first nap for about an hour. 1250 second nap for about an hour. 600 bedtime. I am trying to get him to stop waking up at 5:30. If I put him to bed at five today and don’t give him that third nap is this going to be too much sleep and will it cause him to wake up even earlier than 530?

    Thanks,
    Nicole

    Reply
    • Jilly Blankenship

      Hi Nicole,

      On short, crappy nap days I’d offer a 3rd nap IF he needs to sleep before 6 pm. If the 3rd nap would run into 6 pm, I’d skip it and go for an early bedtime.

      Yes, a 5 pm bedtime would make for a very early morning! He can only be expected to sleep 11-12 hours at night.

      I hope this helps,
      Jilly

      Reply
  22. Meghan Fry

    Hi there! This article explains the 3-2 Nap transition very well. I’ve currently got an almost 9 month old and I need to drop the 3rd nap, but I’m stuck with a 5:40 am wake time from the third nap causing too late of a bedtime. She is capable of sleeping 12 hours (until 7:30 am), like she was last week, but we had one bad nap and now we are stuck on 3 naps again. I’m going to try the things you mentioned about pushing naps 1 and 2 further apart and only letting the 3rd nap be 15 minutes and then 10 minutes in a few days. Does decreasing the 3rd nap length ultimately lengthen the two naps the next day? I just feel I’m in a viscous cycle. Wake 5:40 am, Nap 1- 8:30-9:40, Nap 2- 12:40- 1:25, Nap 3- 4:15-4:30, Bedtime 7:45. Any other helpful tips to get that second nap to lengthen?

    Reply
    • Jilly Blankenship

      Hi Meghan,

      I’m glad you enjoyed this article.

      Yes the third nap can often push bedtime later, resulting in early wake ups. I’d drop it now and try awake times of 3/3.5/3.5-4 for 1-2 weeks and see how baby adapts. I’d also limit TOTAL nap hours to 3 hours.

      This should help extend naps and result in later morning wake ups.

      All the best,
      Jilly

      Reply

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