Build a nap schedule.
Nap schedules work better when they're built from this morning's wake-up than from fixed clock times. Enter your baby's age and when they woke, and you'll get today's naps and a likely bedtime.
- 7:00 AMWake up
- 8:30 AMNap 1 until 9:50 AM
- 11:45 AMNap 2 until 1:10 PM
- 3:15 PMNap 3 until 4:00 PM
- 6:30 PMBedtime
3
naps
3h 30m
day sleep
2h 30m
before bed
Wake windows grow through the day — 1h 30m before the first nap, 2h 30m before bed. Real days rarely run to the minute, so treat every time as a window of about 30 minutes either side, and let a short nap pull everything after it earlier rather than holding the clock.
Why the wake-up time drives everything
A schedule anchored to the clock breaks the moment a nap runs short or the morning starts at 5:40 instead of 7:00. A schedule anchored to wake windows just shifts, which is why most sleep guidance builds the day forward from waking rather than backward from bedtime.
Treat every time here as a window of roughly 30 minutes either side, and let a short nap pull the rest of the day earlier rather than holding the line.
Naps by age
Wake windows are the range spanned by published sources; total sleep is the AASM recommendation where one exists.
| Age | Naps / day | Wake window | Sleep in 24h |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–4 weeks | 4–6+ | 35m – 1h | No recommendation |
| 1–2 months | 4–5 | 45m – 1h 15m | No recommendation |
| 2–3 months | 4 | 1h – 1h 30m | No recommendation |
| 3–4 months | 3–4 | 1h 15m – 2h | No recommendation |
| 4–5 months | 3–4 | 1h 30m – 2h 15m | 12–16 hours |
| 5–6 months | 3 | 2h – 2h 30m | 12–16 hours |
| 6–7 months | 3 | 2h – 2h 45m | 12–16 hours |
| 7–9 months | 2–3 | 2h 30m – 3h 15m | 12–16 hours |
| 9–12 months | 2 | 2h 45m – 4h | 12–16 hours |
| 12–18 months | 1–2 | 3h – 4h 30m | 11–14 hours |
| 18–24 months | 1 | 4h – 6h | 11–14 hours |
Signs a nap transition is
coming.
- 1The last nap of the day is refused repeatedly
- 2Naps start taking much longer to settle into
- 3Bedtime is being pushed later and later
- 4Early morning wake-ups appear out of nowhere
- 5Your baby is cheerful through a window that used to be too long
One rough week is usually just a rough week. A pattern holding for two weeks or more is usually the transition. When it comes, lengthening wake windows gradually tends to work better than dropping a nap overnight.
A typical day, by age
2–3 months
4 napsThe first hints of a pattern. Night sleep starts consolidating into longer stretches for some babies, though it is normal for it not to yet.
3–4 months
3–4 napsSleep architecture changes around this point, which is what parents recognize as the 4-month sleep regression. Wake windows lengthen while naps often get shorter and less predictable.
4–5 months
3–4 napsThe first age with a formal sleep-duration recommendation behind it. Naps usually begin settling into a rough three-nap shape.
5–6 months
3 napsThree reasonably predictable naps is typical. The window before bedtime is often slightly longer than the earlier ones.
6–7 months
3 napsMany babies are on the edge of dropping to two naps. A third nap that starts refusing to happen is usually the signal.
7–9 months
2–3 napsThe two-nap schedule usually lands here. Expect the transition itself to be messy for a couple of weeks before it settles.
9–12 months
2 napsTwo solid naps, with a noticeably longer window before bedtime than before the first nap.
12–18 months
1–2 napsThe one-nap transition. It rarely happens cleanly — most toddlers need two naps on some days and one on others for several weeks.
18–24 months
1 napA single midday nap, with long windows either side of it.
A schedule is a guess until you check it.
The fastest way to find your baby's real pattern is a week of logged naps. Cradle Log records each one in a tap and shows where the day actually lands, not where the chart says it should.
Free on iPhone. No account, works offline.
Common questions
How many naps should my baby take?
Nap counts fall with age. Newborns sleep on demand with no fixed pattern. Around 2 to 4 months most babies take 3 to 4 naps, dropping to 3 by about 5 months, 2 by around 7 to 9 months, and a single midday nap somewhere between 12 and 18 months.
How do I build a nap schedule?
Start from the morning wake-up rather than the clock. Add your baby's wake window to get the first nap, add the nap length and the next wake window to get the second, and continue through the day. Bedtime falls after the final wake window, which is usually slightly longer than the earlier ones.
What if a nap is short?
Shift everything after it earlier rather than holding the original times. A 30-minute nap means the next wake window starts sooner, so the following nap comes sooner too. Rigidly holding clock times after a short nap is the most common way days fall apart.
When do babies drop to two naps?
Most babies move from three naps to two somewhere between 7 and 9 months. The usual signal is the third nap becoming difficult to get or pushing bedtime unacceptably late. Transitions are typically messy for a couple of weeks before the new pattern settles.
Should naps be at the same time every day?
Not in the early months. Under about 5 months, wake windows are more reliable than clock times because the day shifts with the morning wake-up. From around 6 months, many babies do settle into fairly consistent nap times, and a loose clock-based routine starts to work.
How long should a nap be?
Nap lengths vary widely. In the early months many naps run 30 to 45 minutes, lengthening to roughly an hour or more as babies get older, with one longer midday nap becoming common in the second year. Total sleep across 24 hours matters more than the length of any single nap.
Sources
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine — Child Sleep Duration Health Advisory
Total sleep recommendations for ages 4 months and up, endorsed by the AAP.
- Sleep.com — wake windows and nap counts by age
One of two published range sets used for the chart.
- The Baby Sleep Site — wake windows by age
The second published range set.