How many naps does my baby need? A guide by age

Nap schedules change fast in the first two years. A baby taking four short naps at 4 months will be down to one long nap somewhere around 15 to 18 months, and each drop along the way can throw off the whole day for a week or two.

Here is the typical shape by age, the signs a nap is ready to go, and how to make the switch smoothly. These ranges are the same ones the Sleep Sanity plan uses.

Naps by age

• 4 months. About 4 naps, totalling 4 to 5 hours of day sleep. Wake windows of roughly 1 hour 15 minutes to 2 hours.
• 5 to 6 months. About 3 naps, totalling 3 to 3 and a half hours. Wake windows of roughly 2 to 3 hours.
• 7 to 11 months. 2 naps, totalling 2 and a half to 3 hours. Wake windows of roughly 3 to 4 hours.
• 12 to 17 months. 2 naps for most, totalling 2 to 3 hours. Wake windows of roughly 3 to 5 hours. The move to one nap usually happens near the end of this range.
• 18 to 24 months. 1 nap, totalling 2 to 3 hours. Wake windows of roughly 4 to 6 hours.
• 2 years and up. 1 nap of 1 to 2 hours, until it starts to fade, often between 3 and 4 years.

Every baby is different. Use these as a starting point and adjust to the baby in front of you. Our wake window calculator turns them into a sample day for your baby's age.

Signs your baby is ready to drop a nap

Look for a pattern that lasts at least one to two weeks, not a couple of off days.

• Taking a long time to fall asleep for one nap, or refusing it altogether
• The last nap pushing bedtime later and later
• Short naps that used to be long
• New early morning wakes or more night wakes, often a sign of too much day sleep
• Happily staying awake well past the usual wake window

How to make the switch

• Drop the last nap first. In most transitions it is the late afternoon nap that goes.
• Stretch wake windows gradually. Move naps 10 to 15 minutes later every few days rather than jumping to the new schedule overnight.
• Use an earlier bedtime as a buffer. For the first week or two after dropping a nap, bedtime 30 to 60 minutes earlier than usual covers the extra awake time.
• Expect a bumpy week. Tired afternoons and the odd skipped nap are normal while the day rearranges itself.

The 2 to 1 transition

This is the one that catches most parents off guard, because it often looks like a sleep regression. Around 15 to 18 months, the morning nap starts getting pushed later until it lands around midday. A common bridge is a single nap around 11:30am to 12:30pm, with an earlier bedtime while your toddler adjusts.

Tracking it in Sleep Sanity

The 24 hour sleep clock on the Progress screen shows exactly how the day splits between night sleep, naps and awake time. When total day sleep keeps landing above the range for your baby's age, or bedtime keeps creeping later, it is often time to look at the nap count.

Sources

• American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org: Sleep
• Canadian Paediatric Society, Caring for Kids: Healthy sleep for your baby and child
• NHS: Helping your baby to sleep