How to Drop a Nap

Aug 11

When my kids were newborns, I couldn’t even count how many little snoozes they were taking throughout their day! The naps seem to come quite frequently in the early months, from 6+ naps a day down to 5 and so on. As your baby gets older, stays awake for longer periods of time, you may be wondering how to drop a nap without creating an overtired, fussy baby.

When to drop a nap?

There are 3 main nap transitions to mention: 4-3 nap transition, 3-2 naps, and then 2-1. Some of the signs to drop these naps are similar across all ages, and some are a little more age specific. I’m going to break these transitions down further for you!

4-3 Nap Transition

Around 3 months of age, your baby may be following a flexible pattern of waking and sleeping each day. Wake times are about 90 minutes, with 15-16 hours of total sleep (day plus night). Daytime sleep is roughly 4 hours in naps, although not all naps may be the same length. Usually between 3-5 months old, the wake times stretch enough to accommodate 3 naps, without needing that 4th catnap to make it to bedtime.

Signs to drop the fourth nap:

baby is 3-5 months old
wake times= 2-2.25 hours long
naps are consolidating, and you can get to a decent bedtime (after 6/6:30 pm) on only 3 naps
baby fights the 4th nap no matter what you try (this nap is the shortest/1 sleep cycle)
4th nap pushes bedtime late (later than 8/8:30 pm)
you may be opting for early bedtime over late nap more often
early morning wakings (EMWs) or unusual night wakings indicating that your baby is likely undertired

How to drop the fourth nap

Utilize early bedtime, as early as 6 pm! While the naps and wake windows are still lengthening, early bedtime helps prevent overtiredness.
Work on independent sleep habits. How your baby falls asleep at bedtime will be how they want to get back to sleep during the middle of the night wakings. With the 4 month regression happening around this time, this is the prime age for practicing falling asleep independently.
Extending short naps by holding, rocking, or nursing can help you stretch those short naps to get you to a reasonable bedtime. Short naps are developmentally normal until around 6 months of age!
Add a catnap if you can’t reach bedtime because of short naps! Keep the last wake time lower so your baby doesn’t get too overtired.

3-2 Nap Transition

Between 6-9 months of age your baby should have a pretty predictable schedule for the day, and they may show signs of readiness to drop the third nap. Wake windows are about 2.5 hours before the transition and 2.75-3 hours after. Read about a 3-2 transition here!

Signs to drop the 3rd nap:

baby is 6-9 months old
first two naps are long and consolidated (1-2 hours)
baby takes longer to fall asleep for naps and may spend more time calm but awake in the crib (a sign of being undertired)
baby fights taking the third nap no matter what you try
3rd nap pushes bedtime later (8/8:30 pm)
you often skip the 3rd nap in favor of early bedtime
early morning wakings (EMWs) or unusual night wakings indicating that your baby is likely undertired

How to drop the third nap:

utilize early bedtime, as early as 6-6:30 pm, until wake times and naps lengthen
expect some extra fussiness for a few days from your baby as they adjust
try a cat nap if your baby is on the younger side for this transition (~6 months old). If you can stretch them by 30 min to get to a 6 pm bedtime, go for early bedtime. If you can’t make it to 6 pm by stretching, shorten the last wake windows by 30 min. and give them a catnap of 30-45 min.

2-1 Nap transition

This one is often the trickiest, because your baby has to go from 3-4 hours of wake time to 5-6 hours! One of the main struggles with this nap is transitioning too early from two naps to one. According to Healthy Sleep Habit, Happy Child, only 17% of babies are really ready for one nap at 12 months old. This transition is generally going to happen around 14/15 months or even up to 18/19 months. The main thing to know is that there are several ways to handle this transition, what works for one baby may not work for yours!

Signs to drop the 2nd nap:

Early morning wake ups (unexplained)
Short naps that previously were long
Baby refuses naps (usually the afternoon)
Maxing out wake times for their age (which actually decreases their daily total sleep below recommended amounts)
Naps are getting too late and pushing bedtime too late
Bedtime trouble (taking a long time to fall asleep, not happy going to bed)
Unusual night wakings

How to drop the second nap:

Step 1: cap each nap at one hour-if your baby is still showing signs of transitioning go to step two.
Step 2: push nap 1 to 11/11:30 am. This is just a starting point, when kids are more settled on one nap, wake windows are 5-5.5/5 (or nap at 12 pm, easy peasy!)
Step 3: increase the first wake window in 15 min increments every 5 days or so until that first nap is consistently long (2+ hours, but cap at 3 to not take away from nighttime sleep)
Step 4: take your time! If your baby is giving you a nice nap AND sleeping through the night, don’t push it!
Utilize early bedtime (6/6:30 pm) when nap is short
Create a consistent response to early morning wakings as they are prone to happen during this transition due to the big jump in wake times
Remember this nap transition is the longest one to get through (about a month or so) and rushing your baby will only result in early morning wakings and a fussy baby
ALTERNATIVE: offer cat nap in the morning about 3 hours after morning wake up, and move the afternoon nap a bit earlier. This option is good for aligning baby’s afternoon nap with an older sibling.
- Example: 7 am OOC, 10-10:30 am catnap, 1:30-3:30 pm nap, 7:30 pm bedtime
ALTERNATIVE: Just set naptime at 12/12:30 pm and that’s all. Utilize crib 90 if they wake early, and give them an early bedtime of 6/7 pm.

Last notes about the 2-1 transition

Expect some crankiness, especially in the afternoon! Try to get outside or switch up activities to take your baby’s mind off of being tired. Meal times may need to be adjusted after this transition, consider offering a big snack before their nap so they don’t wake up early out of hunger. Early on in the transition, you can offer a cat nap if their nap ends before 12:30 pm. This is just a short term solution however, not one I’d offer after one or two weeks in.

Here’s our 2-1 transition blog and how I approached it!

Think. your little one is ready to drop their final nap? Read more about that here AND how to implement quiet time here.

Need more help? Sleep tune up support could be what you need to get back on track!

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