How many naps does your 8-9 month old take?

[abgchristian23]

Baby will be 9 months next week. I’m tired and confused on dropping a third nap. My baby is too tired for only two naps but with three naps she is waking at 430am (bedtime 6:30-7).

 

[oncelostbutnowfound]

@abgchristian23 We dropped to 2 naps at 8 months when he started connecting sleep cycles better.

 

[ahappycamper]

@abgchristian23 Two naps 6m-13m. Try a later bedtime and push that last wake window.

 

[josh_ats]

@abgchristian23 My baby will be 9 months next week and typically still has 3 naps. Working on dropping to 2 but it’s been a struggle. She’s a high sleep needs baby.

 

[lovelife]

@abgchristian23 2 naps from 6.5/7 months and onwards

 

[backorderdomain]

@abgchristian23 My boy just turned 9 months yesterday and we bounce between 2 and 3. Yesterday he had 4 very short naps. I am trying to just go with the flow. If we are home he naps at 9 and 1. And he goes to bed at 7. He seems a bit higher in sleep needs than my first but he doesn’t sleep through the night. He does fall asleep independently, just requires a cuddle and nursing sometimes.

 

[keepingthehope77]

@abgchristian23 We dropped to 2 naps at around 7 months. My little guy is going to be 9 months later this week and his WW is 3/3.75/4. I am already tempted to drop to 1 nap because he fights his last nap but i don’t think he’s actually ready yet. I think he’s too 2 teeth are coming out so naps and sleep have been all over the place this week.

 

[olans1]

@abgchristian23 We dropped the third nap at 6 months. Early, but it worked for us. There were a few weeks where she needed a third nap a few days in a pinch but we’ve been solidly at 2 now for about 3 weeks. She’ll be 8 months old next week.

We just slowly stretched the wake windows, and had some early bedtimes to help the transition - as early as 6:30 (her normal is 7:30) if she woke from
Nap 2 before 3. If she woke from it before 2, that was a 3 nap day, but those disappeared quickly.

We just swapped to a clock schedule about 1.5 weeks ago and she’s been THRIVING. She wakes around 6:30/45, but we don’t get her until 7 (unless she freaks out). First nap at 9:30, usually until 10:30/45. Second nap at 2/2:30 usually until 3:30/4. Bedtime at 7:30.

 

[dee365]

@olans1 That's what I'm trying to do with my almost 6 months old, your comment really gave me hope. He has low sleep needs and since about ~10 days his nights are so much better if he has 2 long naps instead of 3 crap naps.

 

[nazerbruhiljc]

@olans1 Going by the clock rather than wake windows has worked amazing for us, too! We started a clock schedule after we were at 2 naps, around 6.5/7mo. Definitely recommend!

 

[olans1]

@nazerbruhiljc It’s so good!!!

 

[briank7]

@abgchristian23 We dropped to 2 naps at 7.5mo. To do so, we capped nap 3 down to 5 minutes over 3 weeks and then dropped. Starting schedule was 2.5/2.75/3.5

 

[ingodsimage]

@abgchristian23 As our baby’s (9 mo) wake windows lengthened, we gradually dropped the third nap so it was kind of a natural progression. However, each day is different so if he ends up taking shorter naps for whatever reason, sometimes he still does 3 naps. Generally the day looks like something like this: Wake up ~7:30 / nap 1: ~10-11:30 / nap 2: ~3-4 / bedtime 7:30-8. But it varies!

 

[irishamerican4christ]

@abgchristian23 My baby will be 8 months next week and is currently transitioning to 2 naps. He's had 2 weeks of split nights, EMW of 4:30-5:30, and refusing naps/bedtime because he's undertired. Also all his naps suddenly became very short again and we were maxing out a 3 nap schedule (total wake time 10.5-11 hours). His previous schedule was 2.25/2.5/2.5/2.5-2.75 and yesterday he did 3/3/3.25. In order to make a 2 nap schedule work, the naps need to be long (minimum 1-1.5 hours each), so if your baby wakes earlier then it will need to be extended (contact, carrier, stroller etc).

 

[hamza189]

@irishamerican4christ I have issues with constantly short naps. My question is how can I extend with carrier and stroller? She is asleep in her crib in the dark with white noise, surely getting her our of the house, putting her in a coat in the hallway filled with bright daylight, going downstairs and putting her in the stroller will basically be a 'hey we're awake and ready to party!'

 

[irishamerican4christ]

@hamza189 My boy no longer naps in the stroller so this doesn't apply to us, but I know some people would keep them in the carrier/stroller for the entire nap. I extend via contact, so when my baby wakes up early, I'll pick him up and sit in the dark nursery until he falls back asleep on my chest.

 

[jonmaths]

@hamza189 My 9mo always wakes after 30-45 mins, but I'm usually able to get another stretch out of her by rocking her back to sleep, and then I put her back down. It got easier when her wake windows were at least 3 hours.

 

[speckodust]

@abgchristian23 What was your 3 nap schedule and the 2 nap one you’re transitioning to?

 

[paulschiller]

@abgchristian23 My little girl just turned 8 months and she’s been on 2 naps since 7 months. We knew she was ready to drop the third nap when she was consistently fighting it, waking in under 30mins, and bedtime was always ending up 8pm or later. Once we dropped to 2 naps we worked on a 2.5/2.5/3 schedule for a month or so and have now extended to 2.75/3/3. She took to it well but it can take a good few weeks for them to accept only 2 naps and we did have to do some early 6-6:30pm bedtimes while she adjusted.