How many naps each day?

Ireland05 · August 2013

With our first kiddo, daycare pretty much dictated the number or naps and when he transitioned from 3 to 2, etc. I don't remember when those transitions were though. DS2 is home with DH instead of daycare. We have a very loose schedule, and mostly follow his sleepy cues. Today he took two long naps where he usually has three short naps. He's typically not a great napper. Anyway, he woke at 3pm, and bedtime (7:15) seems so long for him to be up, but too short for another nap. We will see how he does, but I'm curious how many naps others have at this age. He's 6.5 mo for mobile users.

alysie89 · August 2013

My DD at 8.5 months really varies her naps based on how busy she is during the day and if she's doing any teething. Today she's had 2 solid naps but yesterday she had 3 medium length (about an hour each). If my girl has only 2 naps she goes down to bed a bit sooner, by about a half hour.

kjsmith9 · August 2013

We also do 2 or 3 depending on how long they are, and what time she wakes up from her early-mid afternoon nap. If she wakes up after 3ish, I typically try to keep her up until bathtime/bedtime (which usually starts between 6 and 6:30pm.

milesfromthesun · August 2013

DS will wake up about 9, eat play a little then go back down around noon for a one hour nap or so. He then takes another longer nap some time around 4-5, then bed time is about 9 or 10.
He's 7 months old, and sleeps 10-12 hours a night.

AimeeL85 · August 2013

We're at an in-between phase where sometimes she's good with 2, and sometimes needs a 3rd depending on what time she woke up from the second nap. My DS had this in-between phase too and it lasted quite awhile. The timing of that 3rd nap is difficult - it's usually too short of a span to fit a nap in well, but too long of a span to make it until bedtime.

hmontty · August 2013

DS is 7 months. He does two "major" naps. Gets up around 7:30, short nap from about 10:30 to 11 or 11:15, then a long nap in the afternoon, from about 4 to maybe 5:30. He does little catnaps in between....little dozes, especially in the car.

His bedtime is 7:15, and I have to say, there have been times when he napped until 6:45 then woke up, and I still put him down again at 7:15 -- with zero problems.

JJ_13 · August 2013

I would say it was between 6 and 7 months that DD dropped the third nap. We loosely follow the 2-3-4- rule. First nap is 2 hours after she wakes up for the day, second nap is 3 hours after she wakes up from first nap, and bedtime is 4 hours after she wakes up from second nap. There are days she doesn't make it the full 3 hours in between 1st and 2nd nap, and she's usually up a little longer than 2 hours after she wakes up for the day. Bedtime is routinely between 7 and 8 depending on when her last nap ended. Every once in a while, if her naps are really crappy, we will try for a third, but it rarely happens anymore. DD is almost 8 months.

Cellis · August 2013

JJ_13 said:

I would say it was between 6 and 7 months that DD dropped the third nap. We loosely follow the 2-3-4- rule. First nap is 2 hours after she wakes up for the day, second nap is 3 hours after she wakes up from first nap, and bedtime is 4 hours after she wakes up from second nap. There are days she doesn't make it the full 3 hours in between 1st and 2nd nap, and she's usually up a little longer than 2 hours after she wakes up for the day. Bedtime is routinely between 7 and 8 depending on when her last nap ended. Every once in a while, if her naps are really crappy, we will try for a third, but it rarely happens anymore. DD is almost 8 months.

This is what I try to do. DS's bedtime is between 6 and 7. If his naps are really short, then we end up with 3 naps. He usually naps for an hour to two hours.

honeydew01 · August 2013

my DD is a little over 5 months old and she has been refusing the 3rd nap for the last 2 days. I'm wondering if this means she is in the process of dropping it but then her other 2 naps were not that long, maybe an hour. I thought 3 to 2 nap transition happened later. I posted about this a few days ago but didn't get any response.

Also, she gets really cranky after only an hour from being up in the morning so I can't keep her up longer between her morning wake up and nap one so what happens is that she is done with her second nap by 1 or 2 and bedtime isn't til 6 (or 7 when she used to nap later in the day). I'm not sure what to do really...

ashcody2 · August 2013

DS is 7 months today and he naps 3 times a day at pretty predictable times. Morning nap, usually an hr. or 2 after waking, noonish nap, & a late afternoon nap between 2-4.

pb_bride · August 2013

DS was doing 3 naps a day until around 7 months. One day he woke up a little later than usual so I tried extending his morning wake period. That day, he switched to 2naps, and we haven't looked back since. He's now 9 months and I can count on one hand how many days in the past 2 months he needed 3 naps.

Want a personalized experience?

How many naps each day?

Re: How many naps each day?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards