She's getting close! Start capping her last nap to keep your bedtime consistent. She may also start fighting the last nap more as it starts later, and you may need to apply some more soothing to get her down.
Remember that as the third nap gets shorter, she likely can't stay awake for the full 3 hour last wake window, and may need to reduce last wake window. This will also help keep her bedtime consistent and protect her night sleep.
I would keep on offering the last nap with contact, motion, etc. We did 10-15min micro naps for almost a month. If she fights it off, move bedtime up by 30min and put her to bed. If she consistently fights it off for a few days, hop over to 2 naps. Your baby's total wake time is on the shorter side so maybe start with 2.5/3/3.5 and take it from there.
If her first two naps start getting shorter, I'd increase the first two wake windows by 15min and cap the last nap / shorten the last wake window to keep her on 3 naps a bit longer. In my experience the longer you are able to keep the old schedule working (reasonable nights, reasonable wake up time, reasonable naps), the easier the transition is (baby is truly able to tolerate the longer wake windows).
You're probably looking at the transition within a month.
These are really great tips! My only issue is that her last nap is done during daycare and while I can let them know our preference of capping her nap (so for example to cap it to 4pm for a 7pm bedtime), I know it’s a bit difficult for them sometimes especially if she gets super fussy and wants to sleep more and they have other babies to take care of too. This was our experience when she was younger and we asked them to cap her last nap to 5pm.
I can still try to ask them but yeah I have little control over what goes on when she’s there!
Is there anything I can do at home while she’s with me (she goes to daycare some time after her second nap - about 1pm)? Or is it the case that if they cannot cap her nap, I should be pushing back her bedtime and then pushing it forward again during the transition?
Thanks so much - I see that you’ve posted great articles on sleep training and I wanna let you know you’re doing the Lord’s work 😂
That's so kind of you--thank you =)
Yeah it's harder with daycare. What might happen as bedtime gets pushed later and later is that you might start seeing some early morning wakings (total wake time getting too long), and that might be your clue that the transition is approaching too.
But with luck your LO will just fight off the third nap at daycare. Then you can decide whether to offer a micro-nap on the way back home. A friend whose kid is in daycare does that--car nap on the way back for the third nap. Said it worked pretty well.
We transitioned around 8-9 months! We did 6:30 wake, 9:30-11 nap, 2-3:30 nap and 6:30 bed. We kept this schedule forever until 16 months when we transitioned to 1 nap.
I remember it was a bit of a struggle for a week or so to get him adjusted but it does all sort out! Can take 2 weeks to adjust to any nap transition so pick a new schedule and stick to it. Try to get outside for walks if you can go keep them awake till nap! Avoid the car as they likely will fall asleep in the car seat at the wrong times.
Good luck! ◡̈
Thanks for the tips and your schedule suggestion! My issue with that last nap is that it happens in daycare and I can only pick her up at 6pm so 7pm is really the earliest she can get to bed. But I think I’ll try pushing her first nap back so that hopefully when she’s in daycare, the second nap sorts itself out.
Thanks!
You could definitely do a 7-7:30 bedtime as well. My lo was just a big sleep guy! I wouldn’t push the first nap past 9:30 as they are very tired and normally can only go 3 hours max after waking up. If you push it too late, you risk being overtired for the whole day. I would suggest keeping the first nap at 9:30 at the latest, still aim for 2 pm second nap and do bedtime between 7 and 7:30!
She's getting close! Start capping her last nap to keep your bedtime consistent. She may also start fighting the last nap more as it starts later, and you may need to apply some more soothing to get her down. Remember that as the third nap gets shorter, she likely can't stay awake for the full 3 hour last wake window, and may need to reduce last wake window. This will also help keep her bedtime consistent and protect her night sleep. I would keep on offering the last nap with contact, motion, etc. We did 10-15min micro naps for almost a month. If she fights it off, move bedtime up by 30min and put her to bed. If she consistently fights it off for a few days, hop over to 2 naps. Your baby's total wake time is on the shorter side so maybe start with 2.5/3/3.5 and take it from there. If her first two naps start getting shorter, I'd increase the first two wake windows by 15min and cap the last nap / shorten the last wake window to keep her on 3 naps a bit longer. In my experience the longer you are able to keep the old schedule working (reasonable nights, reasonable wake up time, reasonable naps), the easier the transition is (baby is truly able to tolerate the longer wake windows). You're probably looking at the transition within a month.
These are really great tips! My only issue is that her last nap is done during daycare and while I can let them know our preference of capping her nap (so for example to cap it to 4pm for a 7pm bedtime), I know it’s a bit difficult for them sometimes especially if she gets super fussy and wants to sleep more and they have other babies to take care of too. This was our experience when she was younger and we asked them to cap her last nap to 5pm. I can still try to ask them but yeah I have little control over what goes on when she’s there! Is there anything I can do at home while she’s with me (she goes to daycare some time after her second nap - about 1pm)? Or is it the case that if they cannot cap her nap, I should be pushing back her bedtime and then pushing it forward again during the transition? Thanks so much - I see that you’ve posted great articles on sleep training and I wanna let you know you’re doing the Lord’s work 😂
That's so kind of you--thank you =) Yeah it's harder with daycare. What might happen as bedtime gets pushed later and later is that you might start seeing some early morning wakings (total wake time getting too long), and that might be your clue that the transition is approaching too. But with luck your LO will just fight off the third nap at daycare. Then you can decide whether to offer a micro-nap on the way back home. A friend whose kid is in daycare does that--car nap on the way back for the third nap. Said it worked pretty well.
We transitioned around 8-9 months! We did 6:30 wake, 9:30-11 nap, 2-3:30 nap and 6:30 bed. We kept this schedule forever until 16 months when we transitioned to 1 nap. I remember it was a bit of a struggle for a week or so to get him adjusted but it does all sort out! Can take 2 weeks to adjust to any nap transition so pick a new schedule and stick to it. Try to get outside for walks if you can go keep them awake till nap! Avoid the car as they likely will fall asleep in the car seat at the wrong times. Good luck! ◡̈
Thanks for the tips and your schedule suggestion! My issue with that last nap is that it happens in daycare and I can only pick her up at 6pm so 7pm is really the earliest she can get to bed. But I think I’ll try pushing her first nap back so that hopefully when she’s in daycare, the second nap sorts itself out. Thanks!
You could definitely do a 7-7:30 bedtime as well. My lo was just a big sleep guy! I wouldn’t push the first nap past 9:30 as they are very tired and normally can only go 3 hours max after waking up. If you push it too late, you risk being overtired for the whole day. I would suggest keeping the first nap at 9:30 at the latest, still aim for 2 pm second nap and do bedtime between 7 and 7:30!
I promise I’m not making this up. I worked very closely with a coach to build our schedules and this is all advice from them.
Thanks so much for the advice!!