2. 3, 4 nap schedule

[mightym]

Has anyone done this with their DC? If so does it work and at what age? I'm wondering if I need to drop my DD (8months) down to 2 naps a day, and the best way to do it.

Hi - I have a 6mo who was showing signs of needing to drop the afternoon nap (fighting that nap, waking in the night when he wasn't before and waking earlier than usual in the morning) and I've been giving it a go for the past few days. It's working so far.
He wakes at about 7 (generally before but is happy playing in his cot so I leave him and get him up at 7) then naps 9-10.30 and then I've been putting him down at 1/1.15 cos I'm worried he'll be over tired if it's a full 3 hours. He'll sleep till 3 and then have 3.5 hours of awake time before bed at 6.30. He then sleeps all night.
I think my DS is a little young to do it properly 2, 3, 4 in terms of awake time, but am definitely aiming for that in the next month or so.
Here's a useful article from this sleep consultant who I follow - takingcarababies.com/time-to-drop-a-nap/
Good luck!

Ooo thank you that's so helpful! I'm not sure she'll do a 1-3 nap, that's my worry... but she has just done the same first nap of 8.55-10.25...
I'll see how long I can push it before the next nap... 🤞🏼🙏🏼

Yeah I worry about that 1-3 nap too, and sometimes he doesn't make it... My plan is if he wakes before 2.30 I'd try to squeeze in a 15 mins nap in the sling at 5ish but if he wakes after 2.30 keep him up.

234 definately works for when you move to 2-nap days. The more pertinent question would be is baby ready for 2-nap days. Once she us then 234 is the way to go (Or some slight variation within - for example 224 or 2.5/2.5/4)

Whether baby is ready for 2-nap days comes down to nap length. As nap length increases then awake time between naps can increase.

A 1h nap would probably allow for 2h awake time. You'd need a 90m nap (at least) for baby to manage 3h awake.

To manage that longer 4h awake spell before bedtime, you'd want baby having had around 4h sleep total that day. This is arrived at through basic maths - 2+3+4 means 9h awake during the day. If sleeping through the night then you should be getting around 11h sleep at night (in the 10-12h range). So total daytime sleep wants to be in the region of 4h total - less if less night time sleep, more if more night time sleep.

So say baby wakes after a good night's sleep at 7am. I'd expect to keep baby awake until 9am. At this age I would start having first nap at a routined time.

The rest of the day is judged on nap lengths.

If baby naps for 1h (9-10am) then it follows that awake time will be 2h so next nap at 12pm. If that's 1h (12-1) then we would need a 3rd nap at 3pm to get through to bedtime.

If baby naps for 1.5h (9-10.30am) then you could go for 3h awake time so next nap at 1pm. You've then got to see how long that 2nd nap is to judge if you can try for a 2-nap day.

• if baby sleeps 90m (1-2.30pm) then chances are you'll need a teatime power nap.
• if baby has a long nap, say 1-3.30 then defo go through to a 7.30pm bedtime.
• if baby does 2h then see how things go. It might be that you do an early bedtime, for example 1-3pm nap but baby is ready for bed by 6-6.30pm. But this may then have a knock-on effect the following day with wake up time. So it might be better to do a 2.5h awake time, allow for a 5.30pm power nap and a later bedtime.
• if second nap is more like 2h then as above, you might need to either slot in a teatime power nap or do an earlier bedtime.

This transition period from 3-nap days to 2-nap days is always a drawn out thing. They'll be days of long naps, days of shorter naps, days of early bedtime, days of 3 naps and later bedtime. Just follow your baby's lead and work on awake times. As a general rule awake time wants to be around about double the previous nap length (give or take). It will eventually draw out on its own.

Thanks both for the advice / info! This is what we ended up doing today (after an 11 hr nights sleep)

Wake up: 6.55
Nap 1: 8.55-10.25
Nap 2: 1.30-2.45
Bedtime 6.20

She fell asleep very quickly at bedtime m and then woke up after 30mins for about 5 mins of whinging/rolling where I thought we'd made a huge mistake, but she then settled herself.

The reason I've tested the 2 nap day is because she's been starting to sleep longer at nap time and is able to stay awake longer it seems. It meant I was ending up having to try to nap her at 5pm. She was also sometimes taking up to 20 mins to settle (just whinging/rolling about) so I thought maybe she's not been tired enough.

I think what we did today was the most I'd push it. Any earlier wake up/shorter naps would mean I'd do a mini bridging 3rd nap. She's a really good sleeper at the moment and I don't want to do anything to rock the boat too much.

As recommended I'll play it by ear each day and let her lead it. A lot will depend on wake up time and how long her first nap lasts.
Fingers crossed for tonight!! 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

I think what we did today was the most I'd push it. Any earlier wake up/shorter naps would mean I'd do a mini bridging 3rd nap.

I'd agree. There's always a couple of months of a transition period when some days are 3-nap days and others 2-nap days. The same will be true transitioning from 2-nap days to 1-nap days. It's not a straight swap.

Sounds like you made a good call.

Much depends on your family dynamics too. I had school runs to do so needed to manufacture naps so baby wasn't sleeping at 8.45 or 3.30 due to needing to go out.

Also, your bedtime expectations. I have older children so have no expectations of a child-free evening. I'd therefore have no problem with a 5pm nap then knocking baby's bedtime back to 8.30pm. In fact that often made life easier because (a) I could cook dinner while baby napped and (b) later bedtime meant later waking.

You'll soon work out a routine that works for you and baby.

Listen to @FATEdestiny!

She gave me so much advice which WORKED when my baby was small 😃

Good to know!!

She slept until 6.20! So 12 hours straight. It looks like the change in naps didn't affect her night time sleep which is a big relief.

I don't think we'll try for a 2 nap day today unless she pulls a mammoth nap out of the bag this morning!

@FATEdestiny quick question if you don't mind! So far naps have been like this...

Awake 6.20am
Nap 1: 8.10-9.25
Nap 2: 12-1.30
Nap 3: went down at 3.50 but fought the nap until she fell asleep at 4.10

My worry is she's not tired enough for this third nap, but she seemed like she was getting tired/cranky hence why I put her down (she's been fed/changed/grobag/white noise on etc) so I don't think it could be anything else bothering her.

Is this a sign I should push wake windows longer during the day and try to do the 2 nap day, or keep persevering with the 3rd nap even if she fights it..?

@mightym it's hard when they wake early isn't it. I had a similar situation today and wondered if I should just put him in his cot in the dark for a bit of quiet time, as long as he's content and not crying. He wasn't quite tired enough for a nap but was a bit cranky. In the end we went for a walk and he chilled in the buggy which seemed to keep him going until early bed. DH is putting him down now, which will mean he'll be up early again tomorrow! I will be watching to see if @FATEdestiny comes back with any of her wisdom!

My worry is she's not tired enough for this third nap, but she seemed like she was getting tired/cranky hence why I put her down (she's been fed/changed/grobag/white noise on etc) so I don't think it could be anything else bothering her

You're not doing anything wrong, it's just the way things are when dealing with dropping naps. You become expert at having to manage the crankiness.

Naps look good for today, I would be pushing awake times. I'd have tried to keep her going through to 8.30am with the first nap, especially given such a good night's sleep. Then you were probably right with 2.5h second awake time, I'd have tried pushing for 3h but be guided by how cranky baby was.

I would probably keep that 3rd nap for now because if you don't bedtime is going to get really early. While early bedtime isn't a bad thing, it's going to keep perpetuating with early mornings.

3rd naps always need more work at this stage. I also would keep it a short nap and so it would not be a cot nap like the other two main naps. That's why I call it a teatime "power nap".

I used to do the teatime nap in the bouncy chair. Or if not, the pushchair. sometimes snuggling on the sofa. Loads of movement and effort to get baby asleep and keep asleep. But then deliberately wake after 30-45 mins. It establishes that this 3rd nap isn't a proper sleep like the others.

Having that power nap on some days means you can shift bedtime later, so that your day the next day doesn't start too early. That way the next day all naps are pushed later (as a result of waking later), so making it more likely to be a 2-nap day.

I've never heard of 2-3-4 so off to Google it. My 5.5 month old sleeps twice a day, he naps 9.30/10-11 and again 2/3-4.30. He sleeps from 7-9.30pm, wakes for a feed and is back asleep by 10pm until 7am but I do count myself very lucky with his sleep. Until recently his day time naps were all over the place, he would often only nap for 45 mins to an hour a day, sleeping on me. Last week I introduced naps in his cot and he has taken to it like a duck to water.

@bloodywhitecat that's great he took to cot napping so easily! I think the 2.3.4 nap is a good guideline, but all babies are different and most people I speak to tend to slightly adapt it for their own babies.

@FATEdestiny thank you for the advice! I think you're absolutely right about the 3rd nap needing to be an "on the move" nap. The reason I usually opt for cot naps is because for the first 5months my DD would only sleep ON me day and night, I was doing 4-5 sling/pram walks a day and getting a couple of hours sleep a night.. i was so close to full blown PND but then saw a sleep consultant and it changed our lives! It's why my DD sleeps as well as she does now! I still find it amazing my DD sleeps on her own in her cot.. so always opt for it!

However, I think from now on I'll use the last nap as my walk for the day and pop her in the sling for a 30 min snooze... it'll be less arduous than the cot! I also agree that if she has early nights, she'll wake earlier and then I'm in a viscous circle of it being too early to even attempt a 2 nap day.

(I do appreciate in the grand scheme of things if she sleeps 2 or 3 naps it really doesn't matter!! But I just want to make sure I don't do anything wrong / she doesn't regress!)

Thanks again!

@Gabbbbbbby oh fingers crossed it's not too early for you tomorrow!
I agree taking them out for a walk can help extend their wake period! I have a little SmarTrike that i pop DD in and it kills 20 mins and she's always happy because there's so much for her to look at and she's quite low to the ground!