“What’s the best nap schedule for my baby?” is a question I get asked by clients and during my weekly Instagram Q&A all the time. I get it - trying to figure out when a baby should nap can be confusing being that sleep and hunger cues are very similar. Also, is a baby taking short naps because they are under-tired or over-tired? It’s top of mind for most moms.
I’m going to break it down by age, but feel free to screenshot this graphic so that you have a cheat sheet handy for the next several years.
For the first 6-7 months of your baby’s life, there isn’t a schedule. It’s more about implementing routines and creating a little structure. The schedule comes later.
Newborns
Newborn sleep can feel a little messy. They often have their days and nights confused. Luckily, what you do during the daytime with your newborn can help with nighttime sleep. They also need a lot of help falling asleep and staying asleep. They do not have the ability to self-soothe, so rocking, bouncing, pacifiers, etc., are going to be helpful during this time. Focus on establishing good feeds and a 20-30 minute bedtime routine. This is also a good time to implement an eat/play/sleep structure to the day so that baby isn’t always relying on the feed to drift off to sleep.
4-5-Month Olds
Babies this age still aren’t quite ready for a schedule but have more developed circadian rhythms, which is why you hear a lot about the dreaded 4-month sleep regression.
Pay attention to your baby’s wake window. At this age, they can handle an hour and 45 minutes to 2.5 hours of wake time. They also need 3-4 naps a day with about 3.5-4 hours of total daytime sleep. Babies this age should also be getting 11-12 hours of nighttime sleep.
6-13-Month Olds
You’ve made it! Your baby is finally ready for a nap schedule. It’s glorious because it takes out a lot of guesswork and you actually have a lot more predictability to your day. Two other HUGE perks to this age are that you’ll be on this schedule until a baby is about 14 months old AND most babies can sleep all night long without a feed.
Transitioning to a 2 nap schedule means naps happen at the same time every day. Aim for 2.5-3 hours of total daytime sleep with 11-12 hours at night.
14-Months to 3 Years Old
This is when your babe will be on a 1 nap schedule. While any adjustment to sleep can take a few weeks, the one nap schedule seems to be a bit tricky for most babies to get. Be patient and consistent and it will happen. Then, you’ll have a baby who naps 1.5-3 hours during the day. Although some parents feel anxious about “giving up” that first nap of the day, it’s so nice to have big chunks of time before and after nap to be out and about. Nighttime sleep is still about 11-12 hours.
3 Years Old and Up
If your little one hasn’t dropped the nap yet, it’s definitely coming. Most kiddos drop the nap between 3-4 years old, but some do it as young as 2.5 years of age. A lot of kids this age will still fall asleep during the day, but a sure sign it’s time to drop the nap is if daytime sleep is negatively impacting nighttime sleep. At this age, kids still need 11-12 hours of nighttime sleep. When they nap, they often can’t fall asleep until 9 or 10 o’clock and now they aren’t getting the amount of sleep they need at night.
If you still have questions about naps after reading this, hop on to my IG stories on Tuesdays and send a question my way.