When did you drop to 2 naps?

[Anonymous]

We sleep trained our almost 6 month baby right at 5 months (about 4 weeks ago) and he's doing great, sleeping 11 hours at night on average (with 3 hours of nap sleep). We are now working on trying to apply training to naps (previously was being held or worn to get long naps) and experimenting with dropping to 2 naps because his night sleep is fantastic now and it seems his drive to sleep for an AM nap is no longer there as early. I know that naps typically consolidate later than nights, but did anyone else have to drop to 2 naps to get good, long independent naps?

For context, we did 3 days of nap training on his 3 nap schedule and only got 30-40 minute naps in the crib. We then tried 2 naps yesterday and got a 50 minute nap and a 1 hr 20 minute nap in the crib (with some intervention both times around 35 minutes to help him connect sleep cycles). I'm inclined to think we should carry on and continue trying this until he figures it out, but I'm worried we will create an overtired baby if he has some days of crappy 30-40 minute naps. For what it's worth, we are not scared of putting him to bed super early on bad nap days and he will sleep 13 hours overnight.

Anyone else drop to 2 naps right at 6 months and did it help baby take longer naps on their own?

[Anonymous]

Both of my kids naturally dropped to 2 naps at around 6 or 7 months.

[Anonymous]

I think 6 months is a little early - mine dropped the third nap at 8 months, which I think is more typical.

I'd especially be nervous about dropping one during the training process.

What I would do is focus on that first nap. How long of a wake window gives you the best results? If it's two hours, yeah, he might be ready for two naps. But if it's more like an hour and a half (which is more typical at that age), you'll probably at least need a third "cat nap" in the evening. And what about that middle wake window?

Find his ideal wake windows, and you'll have your answer.

[Anonymous]

We dropped the third nap naturally, also around 7 months. Before it was dropped, the third nap was a 30 minute cat-nap around 5pm. For a while we were taking him on drives to get him to fall asleep for that nap, and then he eventually stopped falling asleep at that time. Dropping it did result in a longer second nap. We did Taking Cara Babies and found it very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think 6 months is a little early - mine dropped the third nap at 8 months, which I think is more typical.

I'd especially be nervous about dropping one during the training process.

What I would do is focus on that first nap. How long of a wake window gives you the best results? If it's two hours, yeah, he might be ready for two naps. But if it's more like an hour and a half (which is more typical at that age), you'll probably at least need a third "cat nap" in the evening. And what about that middle wake window?

Find his ideal wake windows, and you'll have your answer.

Thanks! Yeah it's over 2 hours now for his first nap to be anything longer than 25 minutes, so we're at the point where there isn't enough time in the day to have a 3rd nap I think without having too late a bedtime. It just feels early to drop it because he's not napping consistently, but we are probably just going to have a few weeks of 6-6:30pm bedtime and slowly get back to 7pm. We got another 1.5 hour nap today after a 3 hour afternoon wake window, so I think we are heading in the right direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think 6 months is a little early - mine dropped the third nap at 8 months, which I think is more typical.

I'd especially be nervous about dropping one during the training process.

What I would do is focus on that first nap. How long of a wake window gives you the best results? If it's two hours, yeah, he might be ready for two naps. But if it's more like an hour and a half (which is more typical at that age), you'll probably at least need a third "cat nap" in the evening. And what about that middle wake window?

Find his ideal wake windows, and you'll have your answer.

Thanks! Yeah it's over 2 hours now for his first nap to be anything longer than 25 minutes, so we're at the point where there isn't enough time in the day to have a 3rd nap I think without having too late a bedtime. It just feels early to drop it because he's not napping consistently, but we are probably just going to have a few weeks of 6-6:30pm bedtime and slowly get back to 7pm. We got another 1.5 hour nap today after a 3 hour afternoon wake window, so I think we are heading in the right direction.

PP here - oh yeah, in that case, 2 naps is probably the answer for your little guy. We definitely had an early bedtime for at least a week after we switched to 2 naps, and even occasionally for probably the next month (whenever he woke up a smidge on the early side from that second nap). You can also throw in the occasional catnap if he has a really bad nap day.

[Anonymous]

My first dropped to 2 naps around six months (a month after we started nighttime sleep training) and my second, who is now almost 8 months, dropped to two naps at 5 months, also a month after starting nighttime sleep training.

Our nap schedule for my second has now consistently been for the past two months:
- Early morning wake up that we can't seem to get rid of around 5am for a small bottle, back to sleep until 6:30
- Morning nap 9-10:30/45
- Afternoon nap 2-3:30
- Bed at 7

Sounds like that's where you're headed, and it worked for us at that age.

I agree with the PP who said to focus on that first nap first. Once mine could fall asleep on their own at night consistently for about a week, I put them down fully awake for morning nap and immediately saw morning nap get longer. Watch for early sleep cues, institute a short version of bedtime routine (diaper, book), make sure baby is well fed, and put them in the crib 5-10 mins before they normally fall asleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My first dropped to 2 naps around six months (a month after we started nighttime sleep training) and my second, who is now almost 8 months, dropped to two naps at 5 months, also a month after starting nighttime sleep training.

Our nap schedule for my second has now consistently been for the past two months:
- Early morning wake up that we can't seem to get rid of around 5am for a small bottle, back to sleep until 6:30
- Morning nap 9-10:30/45
- Afternoon nap 2-3:30
- Bed at 7

Sounds like that's where you're headed, and it worked for us at that age.

I agree with the PP who said to focus on that first nap first. Once mine could fall asleep on their own at night consistently for about a week, I put them down fully awake for morning nap and immediately saw morning nap get longer. Watch for early sleep cues, institute a short version of bedtime routine (diaper, book), make sure baby is well fed, and put them in the crib 5-10 mins before they normally fall asleep.

Thanks for the reassurance! It feels early, but I've also read that with sleep training and night sleep consolidating, it's common for their wake windows to need to expand. We went with it and it seems to be helping. Thankfully have done a nap routine all along (even when I just sat in the glider and held him) so he knows his sleep cues. We've had some good days and some bad days this week, but I think we're heading toward a very similar schedule. Appreciate your input!

[Anonymous]

A little before 6 months 2-3-4 method

[Anonymous]

7 months (but was prob ready sooner) for first kid, 5.5 months for second