When Do Infants Drop to 2 Naps?

Infants drop to 2 naps round 8 months outdated, on common, although it will possibly occur anytime between 5 and 10 months. Listed here are a couple of tricks to transition your child to 2 naps primarily based on my 10+ years of expertise as a child sleep marketing consultant.

New child infants will take 4-5 naps a day however by 5-6 months outdated, most infants are taking 3 naps a day. Nevertheless, the third nap is usually a 30-45-minute catnap that can go away very quickly. Let’s discuss the most effective time to drop the third nap.

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When Do Infants Transition From Three Naps to Two Naps?

Nearly all infants drop to 2 naps by 9 months outdated after they can deal with 2-3-hour wake home windows. A “wake window” is the period of time between sleep intervals. As well as, infants on a 2-nap schedule usually want to remain awake as much as 3 to 4 hours earlier than bedtime. This could make it troublesome for some infants to transition to 2 naps too younger.

In the event you suppose your child could be going by way of the 8 month sleep regression, it’s doable you may merely must drop the third nap.

Indicators to Transition Child to Two Naps

There are a couple of inquiries to ask your self when deciding whether or not to present your child two naps or three:

Has nighttime sleep dropped to beneath 10 hours?
Does your child have a break up night time a number of occasions every week?
Is your child skipping considered one of their three naps at the very least 4 occasions every week?
Are all 3 naps abruptly quick catnaps after they had been over an hour every?

Each scenario is completely different so relying on what particular points you might be having, you might or could not need to drop to 2 naps however these are good indicators it might be time. We don’t anticipate to see ALL of those indicators. It’s extra prone to be only one, perhaps two, of them.

In my expertise, the commonest option to drop the third nap is to easily run out of time earlier than bedtime to slot in one other nap. Your child’s wake home windows earlier within the day have doubtless gotten longer and the naps themselves could also be longer. As soon as that late afternoon nap is at 5:00 or 5:30 PM, or later, it’s often time to drop it.

The way to Change to Two Naps

The massive query is efficiently change to 2 naps that gained’t trigger different sleep issues!

First, be ready that each one nap transitions might be difficult and take 2-3 weeks, on common. In the event you’re having a tough time, it does NOT imply it’s not the suitable factor to do! However, in case your child remains to be struggling after 2-3 weeks, you may need to make some adjustments.

5 Tricks to Drop Child to Two Naps:

Begin growing your child’s wake home windows to 2 to 2 1/2 hours very first thing within the morning after which 2 1/2 to three hours earlier than the second nap. You may enhance their wake window by quarter-hour day by day or each different day.
Maintain your child in mattress for at the very least one hour to assist lengthen the nap. When you transition to 2 naps, every nap ought to be at the very least 1 to 1 1/2 hours lengthy.
If both nap is shorter than one hour, transfer bedtime earlier however no sooner than 6:00 or 6:30 PM to protect in opposition to early waking.
Provide three naps a couple of times every week. Being on a 2-nap schedule for at some point or a couple of days is one factor however day by day is one other. Many infants will begin to get chronically overtired over a interval of a number of days. Catch up for at some point after which get again to the brand new schedule the following day.

Dropping to 2 naps might be difficult so don’t anticipate it to be excellent or easy. As soon as your child has adjusted, they may sleep 11-12 hours at night time and 2-3 hours through the day, on common.

What 2-Nap Schedule Ought to You Use?

The schedule to make use of with a child who takes two naps will rely in your child’s age and the way lengthy they’ll comfortably keep awake between sleep intervals. Except your child is taking a 2-hour morning nap, they may most probably want to remain awake 2 1/2 hours earlier than the morning nap and three hours earlier than the second nap to be on a correct schedule. You should definitely try our 2-nap sleep schedule for concepts.

I hope this submit has helped you resolve when your child ought to drop to 2 naps. Dropping from 3 naps to 2 naps isn’t all the time straightforward however your child will alter with time! When you’ve got any questions, we’re right here to assist!

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