DS is 5 months old and is still taking 4 naps a day - usually 30 to 45 minutes each with about 2 hours of awake time between each. Based on my obsessive reading about sleep most babes his age go to 3 naps by now or 6 months.
When did you go to 3 naps?
What did your nap schedule look like?
Did dropping a nap make the remaining naps longer?
clementine / 856 posts
When did you go to 3 naps? Around 4-4.5months
What did your nap schedule look like? Now, at 5.5 months, he's up 1hr, 45min- 2hr between naps. Nap lengths vary widely but nowadays the first nap is around 1.5hrs, second one 50-60min, and third is 30-45min. Sometimes I have to keep him up a lot longer than "recommended" between the last nap and bedtime, though. He gets a little cranky sometimes but there's no way I can get a 4th nap and not have it mess with his night sleep.
Did dropping a nap make the remaining naps longer? While his naps have gotten longer (at 4 naps he was usually sleeping 45minutes per nap), I'm not sure if it was dropping the 4th nap or if it was him consolidating the naps on his own. If that makes sense. I didn't drop the 4th nap for him, in other words. As he slept longer for the first and second naps, there was no need for a 4th nap. Some days he doesn't nap well all day, and he might need a 4th nap but usually I just keep him up (see answer above).
I just have to say it: naps suck!
pear / 1657 posts
@BabyTsMom: Naps do suck!
I was thinking that the 4th nap might be (at least partially) the culprit for his terrible night sleep, so maybe I need to figure out how to help him get to a three nap schedule.
clementine / 856 posts
@CakeLady: maybe there isn't enough time between the 4th nap and bedtime? but then again, if his total nap time for 3 naps is not enough, I can see why you'd want to get that 4th nap..... like I said, naps suck!!!
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22276 posts
I think she started on 3 naps around 6 months, maybe 5? I honestly can't remember exactly. Her day looks like this:
8:00am wake up
10:15am morning nap
11:00-11:30am wake up from morning nap
1:30pm afternoon nap
2:15-3:30 wake up afternoon nap
If she wakes up closer to 2:15/30 she will nap again around 4:30 only until about 5:00pm then bed around 6:00-6:30pm.
She is kind of all over the place but it really just depends on how long she naps for as to what the next nap looks like.
papaya / 10343 posts
So I'm currently really struggling with this! LO is 5.5mo and I feel like her sleep needs are sort of absurd honestly lol. Even at 5.5 mo her max (happy) awake time is basically 1.5 hours. And it is actually only 1 hour (or sometimes 45 min!!) between wakeup and nap 1, and between last nap and bed (yes really-- my baby canNOT make it more than 1 hour between her last nap and bed time. so crazy). And her nap times are all over the time (anywhere from 30 min to 3 hours) so it's so unpredictable how many naps she'll have or when because her morning wake time is unpredictable and our whole day runs around getting her down for naps 1.5 hours after she woke up last.
Most days she is still doing 4 naps and it looks something like (just a sample bc it really varies):
5:30am - up
7-8:15 nap 1
10:15-12:15 nap 2
2:15-3:00 nap 3
5:00-6:30 nap 4
8:30 asleep (actually asleep-- we started bedtime at 7:30).
But some days she sleeps a bit longer in the morning and has longer naps so it makes our schedule hard because after nap 2 she has too much time for just 1 more nap but not enough time for 2 more naps. And I hate to let her get overtired before bed because then she fights bed SO hard and is up a ton overnight. So what I do then is just work hard to keep her up long mid-afternoon before her 3rd nap and hope that the 3rd nap is a really good one then. This was today.
6:30- up
7:45-9 nap 1
11:15-1:30 nap 2
(serious efforts on keeping kid awake until..)
4:10-6:45 nap 3
8:20 asleep (started bedtime at 7:40-- she fell asleep fast tonight!)
I'm really looking forward to when she can be up (happily) for 2+ hrs but that doesn't seem to be anywhere close.
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
When did you go to 3 naps? I want to say 3.5 months. We went to 2 naps at 5.5 months.
What did your nap schedule look like? Most days, 9-10:30 / 12-1:30 / 3-4:30 / bedtime at 7. When we were on 3 naps her ideal wake time was still 1.5-2 hours. We pushed it a little further at bedtime.
Did dropping a nap make the remaining naps longer? Nope, we went to 3 naps per day when she was napping 1.5 hours consistently. I worked really hard with her to get there! Research nap extensions.
pear / 1657 posts
@Mae: baby sleep is so hard! my guy is taking 4 mini naps and still not getting enough sleep during the day, and night sleep is a mess too. hopefully these kids will get sorted out sooner rather than later!
pear / 1657 posts
@daniellemybelle: thanks. I will definitely look in to nap extensions - we need to get more sleep time during the day!
kiwi / 728 posts
Soooo we are on 3 naps. We started around 4.5-5 months? She just stopped napping the 4th nap so it had to go. Her schedule is pretty unpredictable, but I try to stay close to these times. But, as you know babies often have other plans, lol!
Wake up: usually 7-730
Nap 1: put down between 9-930
Nap 2: put down between 1230-1
Nap 3: put down between 415-5
Bedtime: 730-8
She is usually good with 2 hrs awake time between naps. I will say though if she wakes up early from nap 2-anytime before 2, I stretch her to 2.5 hours because I want to maintain her bedtime. Also she is awake closer to 2.5 hours before bed. Sometimes 3 hours if she had had a really crappy nap day. Dropping the nap hasn't helped extend naps. Some naps are 30 min some are 2 hours, she likes to keep me on my toes! Naps suck. She's 6 months old and I still struggle with what she wants sleep wise. I think longer naps will come as they get holder, hopefully!! What time is bedtime and what time does he normally wake up?
pear / 1657 posts
@ellewoods84: Thanks!
Bedtime (when we aim for him to be asleep) is usually 7-7:30 and wake up is 6:15-6:45. He has also been waking up in the night 3-4 times. Naps are usually 30-45 minutes. I suspect he is not getting enough sleep during the day, so we need to work on lengthening naps. On the rare occasion he naps longer it definitely throws off the 4 nap schedule... so trying to figure out what 3 would look like.
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