The 3-2 Nap Transition
Deciding when to drop your baby’s third nap can be confusing! In a perfect world this transition happens naturally as the result of longer naps and longer wake windows… but it’s not always this straightforward! Here are some tips for how to recognize its time for the 3-2 nap transition, and how to make it as smooth as possible.
Signs of readiness to drop the third nap:
Your baby is 6-8 months old
Your baby’s first two naps are longer than an hour (If this isn’t happening yet it’s best to work on this first, before making the transition!)
The third nap is falling later and later, pushing bedtime later than 8pm (night is sneaking shorter than 10.5-11h)
Your baby is consistently refusing the third nap of the day.
You are seeing new early morning wake ups, increased night waking, or naps have recently gotten shorter.
Its important to see signs for at LEAST a week- don’t rush into the transition after a rough day! The longer you hold off on dropping the 3rd nap, the easier the transition will be. Try extending wake windows first, or offering that 3rd nap on the go to see if you can keep it around a little longer!
Your baby is ready! Here’s how to transition:
INCREASE YOUR BABY”S WAKE WINDOWS! That’s the first step. Its absolutely SO key that you stretch all of their wake windows, because we are essentially eliminating an entire wake period in baby’s day when we drop a nap. Here’s what this looks like:
A 7 month old baby was previously taking three naps on the following wake window based schedule: 2.25/2.5/2.5/2.75h. To transition this baby to a 2 nap day the first thing we need to do is push morning nap later: no earlier than 9:00am, and at LEAST 2.75h after waking up for the day. Subsequent wake windows need to be 3-3.5h. This is a stretch at first! Here are some example schedules:
Brand new to two naps- wake windows 2.75-3h/3/3.25h
Wake up: between 6-7am
Nap 1: 9:15– 10:45am
Nap 2: 1:45 – 3:15pm
Bedtime: 6:30pm
Moving towards wake windows 3/3/3.5h
Wake: 6:30am wake up
Nap 1: 9:30 – 11:00am
Nap 2: 2:00pm – 3:30pm
Bedtime: 7:00pm
A 6 month old making this transition may be able to balance 3-3.5h of total daytime sleep and a 10-12h night, whereas a 7-8 month old may only be able to manage 3h of daytime sleep. There is no need to aim for a specific distribution of nap sleep, some babies on two naps do 2h in the morning and an hour long afternoon nap, others do a more even split.
What if my baby has a short nap?
Short naps are bound to happen! Especially during nap transitions, where overtiredness is common. Your baby may bounce back and forth between a 2 and 3 nap day while they figure this out- that’s okay. If your baby has a short morning nap here are some tips:
If your baby is content after waking up leave them in their crib for 15 minutes before ending the nap. This will give them a chance to fall back asleep, and at the very least will be restful time.
Bring up nap 2 earlier! See if your baby can stretch to no earlier than 1:30 on the clock- this will help you maintain a two nap day.
Use an early bedtime- as early as 6-6:30pm is totally fine during a nap transition. Think of this early bedtime as making up for lost daytime sleep!
If the second nap ends early its okay to add a short third nap back in! I like to use a time cut off of 2:30pm- if nap 2 ends before this time, a third nap is necessary.
Is it time for a set schedule?
A set schedule is when we set baby’s nap and bedtime on the clock, rather than adjusting naps and bedtime each day using wake windows. Once your baby has FULLY transitioned to two naps you can absolutely move to a set schedule! Though a set schedule is totally optional, there are a number of benefits to using one:
A set schedule can help babies overcome cycles of nap length inconsistencies or early morning wake ups.
Its easier to schedule activities and outings around predictable nap times.
A set schedule takes the math out of the equation- no more wake window calculations!
Here are some examples of a two nap set schedule:
7-9m old
7:00am latest wake up
9:30-11:00am nap 1
2:00-3:30pm nap 2
7:00pm bedtime
10-12m old
7:00am latest wake up
10:00-11:30am nap 1
2:45/3:00-4:00pm nap 2
7:30pm bedtime
You may get some temporary overtiredness as you move from a wake window based schedule to set nap times! This is normal, and worth it (I promise!). When using a set schedule I like to allow for only 30 minutes of “adjustment” due to a short nap- this is going to feel very different than adjusting the next nap based on wake windows. For example, your 9m old usually takes a 1.5h nap in the morning but only slept for 30 minutes. Instead of bringing up their next nap by a whole hour, only shift it 30 minutes earlier. Same story with bedtime, only bring it 30 minutes early to compensate for a short afternoon nap. This will help things stay consistent!
What to expect as my baby ages?
Once your baby has successfully made the transition to a 2 nap schedule they will have a fairly predictable schedule for the next few months. This is the best part of the 3-2 nap transition- being on two naps makes life as a parent so much easier! More flexibility, and more stability to your little ones schedule.
You may find that as the months tick by your little one begins to take longer to fall asleep, or starts to have shorter naps. This is a sign that more awake time is needed! It’s common for 11-13m old’s to need wake windows of 3.5-4h, or a stretched out two nap schedule before transitioning to one nap.
Are you struggling with your baby’s 2-1 transition? I now offer 30 Minute consultation calls, which are perfect for families needing some help with nap transitions! If your sleep challenges go beyond dropping a nap, we can always help with that too! The first step is for us to connect on a sleep evaluation call so we can discuss the sleep challenges you are having, and determine how we can best support you!