How many naps does my child need?

Naps are another topic that always come up when we are talking about sleep. Newborns can seem to be constantly napping and naps can be sporadic and all different lengths. This is totally normal and expected for newborns. 

When do babies start to get more consistent naps though? Usually around six months old, naps will start to be more predictable. Just like with everything, each child is an individual and has different needs. So while your friend’s child may be the same age and taking a certain number of naps, that doesn’t mean that your child should be doing the same exact thing.

In the post about how much sleep we need, we learned that some of us need more sleep and some of us need less sleep. This also impacts how many naps our children take and how long they will nap for. 

When we are born, we need the most sleep and as we grow the amount of sleep we need each day decreases. This impacts how many naps our children need.

(at the bottom of this post there’s an image of this table that you can screenshot for easy reference!)

How long should naps be?

Short naps are very common for newborns, their naps may just be 30 minutes long. Ideally one or two naps a day will be longer and reach 1-1.5 hours. As our babies grow, their sleep patterns will continue to change and they will have more consolidated sleep, which means we will start to see longer naps. A 45 minute nap is considered a full sleep cycle.

At 4-6 months, our babies typically are getting about 3-5 hours of sleep during the day broken up over 3-4 naps. 

From 7-9 months, many babies will start the transition to two naps a day. They should be getting about 3-4.5 hours of day sleep each day.

The last nap of the day may be a short ‘cat nap’ which helps your child make it to bedtime, and this is absolutely fine. Often the first nap of the day is the longest, which can be surprising if they’ve had a full night of sleep, but it is how our bodies generally work.

Around 10 months, when many babies have fully transitioned to two naps a day, we will start to see their schedule become more consistent. At this stage, babies need about 2.5-4 hours of day sleep over the course of those two naps.

By 18 months, many babies are now on a one nap schedule and will nap for about 1.5-2.5 hours during that nap.

How do we know when it’s time to drop a nap?

• There isn’t enough time for all of the naps in the day
• Your child is getting enough day sleep with fewer naps
• The last nap is getting in the way of bedtime – either pushing bedtime too late or making it hard for baby to stay or fall asleep
• Nap has been rejected for at least ten days
• Sudden night wakings or early risings can also be a sign
• It is takes a long time for your child to fall asleep for their last nap

When will my child be ready to completely stop napping?

This really varies from child to child. Some kids will stop napping as early as 2/2.5 and others will keep napping through 5. I suggest continuing to offer a nap unless you are consistently seeing some of the signs above. Sometimes we may see things like fighting bedtime, night wakings, or early risings due to other reasons so you want to think about all aspects of their day, their routines, and if there is anything else going on that can impact sleep such as illness or major life changes.

Also, before dropping nap completely, you can try capping nap to see if your child does better with a shorter nap. You can also try moving nap up a little earlier in the day, so that there is more time between nap and bedtime to see if that makes a difference.

What can we do instead of nap time?

When transitioning entirely away from nap, I recommend putting quiet time in place. There are a few reasons I suggest quiet time. One is that the transition to no naps can take time for some kids. You may find that there will be days your child needs a nap and other days that they don’t, and this is okay. Having quiet time still allows the opportunity for the child to take a nap if they really do need it. It also helps keep a rhythm to the day and I know a lot of parents use their child’s nap time either to rest themselves or get things done and quiet time lets you do that.

How to do quiet time

• Make sure your child’s room is safe and child proofed
• Offer quiet time at the same time you would usually offer nap
• Do your usual nap time routine before quiet time
• Set clear boundaries and expectations for what quiet time means
• You can use a timer or an okay-to-wake clock so your child knows when quiet time is done
• Have quiet time in your child’s bedroom with the lights dimmed
• You can offer quiet, calming activities like reading books, coloring, or playing with stuffed animals
• Avoid screen time or other stimulating activities during quiet time

If you would like support around improving naps, or anything discussed in this post, then you should schedule a free discovery call today by clicking the link below.