A newborn naps 4-6 (or even more!) times per day, and over the course of the first year drops all the way down to 2 naps. Each time Baby drops a nap, it’s called a “nap transition.” Even after Baby turns one, she still has two nap transitions left.
Basically, nap transitions will come into your life many times over the first few years of Baby’s life!
If you’ve never heard the term “nap transitions” before, you’re certainly not alone. Nap transitions are one of those difficulties that you didn’t even know you would worry about before having a child!
But never fear! This blog post gives a quick overview of when to expect these nap transitions to occur, along with links to full blog posts on each transition.
Keep in mind that any nap transition can fluctuate from day to day for a couple weeks as Baby fully makes the transition. In other words, Baby can have four naps one day, three naps the next, and four the next. Or Baby can have two naps one day, one the next day, and two naps the next (depending on which transition you’re working on).
Early Transitions
For babies 0-3 months, napping schedules can be drastically different from day to day. Sometimes they’ll take fewer longer naps, while other times they’ll take many shorter naps. Any “transitions” that occur during this time shouldn’t cause you any trouble at all.
4-3 Transition
For babies 4-6 months, I use waketimes (WTs) to determine when naps and bedtime will be. If Baby hasn’t already dropped down to 3 naps, she’ll do so sometime around 4-5 months old. The transition is still pretty simple at this age because the fourth nap drops off as soon as Baby’s next “nap” falls into the bedtime range. So for instance, if Baby was going down well for a fourth nap around 4:30pm but then starts fighting that nap or not falling asleep for it, it’s time to increase the waketime. However, an increased waketime will push sleep into the bedtime zone, so now instead of a fourth nap, we have 3 naps and an earlier bedtime.
For more information on this transition, check out this blog post.
3-2 Transition
Babies typically drop the third nap sometime between 7 and 9 months old.
Around 6-8 months old, I switch to using the circadian rhythm method for naps 1 and 2. This means that naps 1 and 2 always begin at the same times, regardless of when Baby woke up for the day or when she woke up from nap 1. However, I still calculate nap 3 and bedtime using waketimes, so again, the final nap drops off when there is no longer time to fit it.
Nap 3 should begin no later than 4:15pm (to give Baby time to fall asleep [by 4:30] and fit in a catnap [~30 minutes] before 5pm), so whenever Baby’s WT pushes the start of nap 3 past 4:15/30pm consistently, it’s time to drop that third nap and replace it with an early bedtime for several weeks (laying Baby down at 4:45pm at the earliest). Again, Baby may alternate between 2- and 3-nap days for a few weeks before being fully established on a 2-nap schedule.
For more information on this transition, check out this blog post.
2-1 Transition
Babies typically drop to one nap sometime between 14 and 20 months old.
Of all the nap transitions, I would say this is the one people are most likely to drop a nap prematurely. As soon as sleep issues begin to manifest, most people quickly make the jump to one nap. However, as with all nap transitions, I recommend holding off as long as you can! The longer you can keep your child on more naps, the easier it will be to transition to fewer naps.
To briefly explain, the way to hold onto two naps for longer is to limit one or both naps (i.e. wake Baby up) in order to fit both naps. This tactic can help you hold onto two naps for several more months! For more detailed information, check out this blog post.
1-0 Transition
Babies typically drop naps completely sometime between 3 and 5 years old.
The 1-0 transition is another big transition, because we go from asking Baby to stay awake 6-7 hours at a time to asking her to stay awake for 11-12 hours at a time! My recommendations for this transition are similar to my 2-1 tips — cut back the nap before cutting it out completely! When you do drop the nap completely, make sure to implement “quiet time”!
Don’t let nap transitions make you too crazy — simply be aware of when they typically occur and how to handle them! For a quick reference on the timeframes for these transitions (as well as links to each transition blog post), grab my free schedule guide!