How long should i let my 3 month old nap

Q: Should I let my 2 month old nap for 3 hours?

Naps are too long Except for newborns, your baby or toddlers napping should not surpass 3 hours total for a day, on average. Of course, there will be exceptions, but many times if naps get too long during the day, it will impact night sleep, since the amount of total sleep in a day will remain relatively constant.

Q: Is my 3 month old napping too much?

Remember that after the newborn stage, your babys napping should not surpass 3 hours total for a day, on average. Of course, there will be exceptions, but many times if naps get too long during the day, it will impact night sleep, since the amount of total sleep in a day will remain relatively constant.

Home / Naps / Baby Nap Chart: Learn How Long Baby Should Nap, and How Many Naps Baby Needs

Table of Contents Show

How Did We Make This Nap Chart?
Need Nap Help For Your Baby or Toddler? The Baby Sleep Site® Is Here For You!
Should I wake my 3 month old from a nap?
How long should a 3 month old take a nap?
Should I let my 2 month old nap for 3 hours?
Is my 3 month old napping too much?

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We get nap questions really frequently from our clients – particularly these three questions:

How many naps does my baby need?
How long should my baby’s naps be?
How much sleep should my baby get during the day so they sleep at night?

Well, we’re answering all of them in today’s article. How many naps your baby takes will depend on their age and unique development. All babies develop at their own unique rates.

How long your baby’s naps are also depend on age but once your baby is past 4 months old, we want at least one nap that’s an hour or longer. Once past 6 months old, we want at least two naps that are an hour or longer. And, once your baby transitions to one nap, we want a nice, long 2 to 3-hour nap.

We hope you’ll use this chart as an ongoing reference tool since it covers nap totals and lengths from the newborn stage all the way through age 3. Print off a copy for yourself and use it as an easy reference tool – and consider printing off a few for your friends or family members who have struggling nappers at home!

Age	# of Naps	Total Amount of Daytime Sleep	Length of Each Nap	Awake Time Between Naps	Notes
0 – 11 Weeks	6-8 Naps	4-5 hours	10 or 15 minutes – 4 hours	30 mins – 1 hour	Naps are all over the map at this age, so don’t fret about short and erratic naps in this newborn stage. Instead, focus on daily feeding and sleep routines and use those to shape your day.
3-4 Months	4-5 Naps	3-4 hours	30 minutes-2 hours	about 1-2 hours	Watch for the 4 month sleep regression right around this time; it will throw off even the best napper!
5-6 Months	3-4 Naps	2.5-3.5 hours	30/45 minutes-2 hours	about 2 hours	Short naps are normal in the first 5-6 months of your baby’s life, but starting around 6 months, your baby’s nap sleep should start to consolidate into more predictable, regular naps.
7-8 Months	2-3 Naps	2-3 hours	1-2 hours	2-3 hours	Another sleep regression strikes at around 8 or 9 months, and a nap transition sometimes happens around this same time – from 3 naps to 2.
9-12 Months	2 Naps	2-3 hours	1-2 hours	about 3-4 hours	By this point, your baby should be napping pretty predictably. See our sample nap and feeding schedules for help building a more consistent nap schedule, if you’re still struggling with erratic naps.
13-17 Months	1-2 Naps	2-3 hours	1-3 hours	3-5hours	Resist the impulse to transition to 1 nap when your baby turns 12 months old. Most babies don’t make the transition to 1 nap until closer to 15-18 months, so hang on to that second nap as best you can for this stage.
18 Months-3 Years	1 Nap	1-3 hours	1.5-2.5 hours	5-6 hours	Watch your toddler’s awake time between the end of the afternoon nap and bedtime – as your toddler grows, he’ll need longer and longer afternoon wake time, which means you’ll need to time the nap carefully to be sure it doesn’t push bedtime too late. Additionally, some children will drop the afternoon nap entirely before age 3.

How Did We Make This Nap Chart?

The above chart is derived from over 10 years of experience as a sleep consultant, with thousands of families, in conjunction with the following two books:

Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems by Dr. Richard Ferber
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth M.D.

While you can obviously read multiple 200+ page books, we strive to bring you practical information at your fingertips that you can put to use right away.

Need Nap Help For Your Baby or Toddler? The Baby Sleep Site® Is Here For You!

If you are looking for a more customized solution for your unique situation, and want plenty of support along the way, please consider one-on-one baby and toddler sleep consultations. Your consultation package will provide you with the chance to interact one-on-one with a trained sleep consultant, who will create a Personalized Sleep Plan™ for your family and then work to help you implement it at home.

Our VIP Members Area is packed with exclusive content and resources: e-Books, assessments, detailed case studies, expert advice, peer support, and more. It actually costs less to join than buying products separately! As a VIP member, you’ll also enjoy a weekly chat with an expert sleep consultant.

Essential Keys to Your Newborn’s Sleep is THE newborn sleep book that will help you to not only improve your newborn’s sleep using gentle, sleep-inducing routines – it will also answer your feeding and newborn care questions. You can even buy a bundle package that includes the e-book AND a Personalized Sleep Plan™ PLUS a follow-up email to use for further support!

If you’re looking for ways to get your baby or toddler into a healthy sleeping routine during the day, I encourage you to explore Mastering Naps and Schedules, a comprehensive guide to napping routines, nap transitions, and all the other important “how-tos” of good baby sleep. With over 45 sample sleep schedules and planning worksheets, Mastering Naps and Schedules is a hands-on tool ideal for any parenting style.
Need help knowing where to start? Visit our Help Me Choose page for help choosing the Baby Sleep Site® resources that are right for you.

The Baby Sleep Site® is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other product affiliate programs. If you click on a product link and make a purchase, The Baby Sleep Site® may (but not always) receive a small commission from the company selling the product, but will not affect your purchase price. We only recommend products that we believe are quality products and are good for our readers.

Should I wake my 3 month old from a nap?

For very young babies, an evening nap might not interfere with bedtime at all, but for those over three or four months, it can make for a long night. Stremler says you can try to wake your baby from a late-day nap, but it might not work, so she recommends just trying again the next day to get that last nap in earlier.

How long should a 3 month old take a nap?

However, in general, with a 3-month-old baby with a goal of 14 to 17 hours of sleep per day, that often breaks down to 3 to 5 daytime naps that can last between 30 minutes and 2 hours.

Should I let my 2 month old nap for 3 hours?

Naps are too long Except for newborns, your baby or toddler's napping should not surpass 3 hours total for a day, on average. Of course, there will be exceptions, but many times if naps get too long during the day, it will impact night sleep, since the amount of total sleep in a day will remain relatively constant.

Is my 3 month old napping too much?

Remember that after the newborn stage, your baby's napping should not surpass 3 hours total for a day, on average. Of course, there will be exceptions, but many times if naps get too long during the day, it will impact night sleep, since the amount of total sleep in a day will remain relatively constant.