Baby Naps: How To Transition Baby from 3 Naps to 2

Most babies drop their 3rd nap between 6-12 months. Is your baby ready to drop their nap? Maybe your baby is napping too much and won't fall asleep at bedtime.

How can you get your baby used to their new nap schedule? Find out the BEST tips for when and how to transition your baby from 3 to 2 naps!

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Transcription:

We’re going to go over the 3-to-2 Nap Transition today: when the best time to transition is, whether your baby is ready and how you can master this nap transition.

In general, the age for this nap transition is between 6-12 months. Usually we see most babies transition between 6-9 months.


What are the signs that your baby is ready to drop the third nap?

Sign 1: Your baby refuses the third nap
If your baby is suddenly and consistently refusing that nap. Shes crying more, taking longer to fall asleep or taking a shorter nap.


Sign 2: The third nap pushes bedtime too late
Your baby has been happy going to bed at bedtime for many weeks or months. Suddenly, you’re seeing bedtime get pushed later and later every night. If bedtime is becoming 9pm or later, it’s better to just drop that third catnap and adjust your bedtime.


Sign 3: Your baby is sleeping too much during the day
This sign can be more subtle. If your baby is sleeping 3 hours or more during naps, it's too much.

Your baby might start waking up in the night happy and wanting to play, where they have been previously sleeping well at night. They’re not crying or tired.

Another sign is if they start waking early, around 5-6am. They’re not cranky or tired. They want to play, giggle, laugh.


When not to drop the third nap:
If your baby’s day and night sleep have recently been disrupted, I would say it’s better to wait. Don’t go through any sort of transitions in your baby’s routine or schedule right now.

Your baby may be teething, sick, or going through a sleep regression. Give it a few days or up to a week.

There are so many sleep regressions around this age. If your baby is in this age range and suddenly they are really restless when they’re trying to sleep, that’s usually a big sign that your baby is going through a sleep regression. They’re harder to settle and they’re waking more often. If you suspect your little one is going through a sleep regression, give it up to a week or so and then re-assess to see whether it’s the right time to drop the third nap.

If your baby's going through a big development, physical or social (engaging more, learning to speak), wait a few days.

Before you transition from 3 to 2 naps:
Your baby’s 2 naps have to be long – each should be 1 hour or more.
If your baby is taking short catnaps in the day, you need to work on first extending those naps to be an hour or more each, before you work on dropping the third nap.

In my naps program, Getting Downtime in the Daytime, we get these short catnappers to extend their naps. So that they have long, restful naps of 1 hour or more.

Your baby’s daytime sleep should be 2-3 hours for this age range.

It’s better if your baby’s afternoon nap is the longer one because this will help them make it until bedtime. The morning nap should be 45 minutes – 1 hour. The afternoon nap should be 1-2 hours long.

When you drop the third nap, pay attention to the awake times and move bedtime earlier. The Ideal Bedtime for a baby who has dropped down to 2 naps/day is between 6-7pm.

Keep track of awake times!
• 6-8 month old: 2-3 hours
• 9-12 month old: 2.5-3.5 hours

Babies are programmed to only be awake for a short amount of time before they get tired.


When you’re ready to transition:
Some parents drop the catnap straight away. But if you’re not ready for that, what I suggest you do is just wean off that catnap over the next few weeks.

Wean off it:
• Week 1: Drop to 30 minutes – wake baby after this time
• Week 2: Drop to a 20 minute nap
• Week 3: Drop to a 10-15 minute nap

Use motion naps, naps on the go in the stroller, car or carrier.

As you trim down the nap, just move bedtime a little bit earlier over several days. And watch your awake times!

My last tip for nap transitions: Move slowly!
The nap transition will take a few weeks. But we’re going to get there, slowly and surely!

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