Baby and Toddler Nap Chart

This guide on creating your own baby and toddler nap chart will solve all your nap problems and ensure your little one sleeps well at night too!

When you’re a parent, you know how important kids’ naps are – for most of us, they’re the only time we get to do anything in peace! 

While there is a lot of information about bedtime and sleep, there seems to be less attention paid to naps, while they’re actually quite important!

Why Naps are Important

Naps are useful for parents, certainly, but they’re also essential for your little one’s health! Here are a few benefits of napping for your child’s overall health and well-being:

1. Enhances cognitive development: While nighttime sleep is crucial for growth, daytime naps are also essential for improving your child’s focus, concentration and memory.

2. Prevents excessive fatigue: When children take naps according to their body’s needs, they remain well-rested and energetic throughout the day, and most importantly, in a good mood.

3. Improves nighttime sleep: When children nap during the day, their circadian rhythms are better regulated, helping them fall asleep better at bedtime.

4.  Boosts immunity: Getting enough amount of sleep contributes to a stronger immune system, and this includes both nighttime sleep as well as daytime naps.

Now that we know why naps are important for your children, let’s look at how much they need to nap and how to create a practical baby and toddler nap chart that works for you.

Young children require many hours of sleep a day, and nighttime sleep alone cannot fulfill this need. That’s where daytime naps come in! Here is the daily recommendation of total sleep for children according to the National Sleep Foundation:

• Newborn – 14 to 16 hours
• 4 to 11 months – 12 to 15 hours
• 1 to 2 years – 11 to 14 hours
• 3 to 5 years – 10 to 13 hours
• 6 to 13 years – 9 to 11 hours
• 14 to 17 years – 8 to 10 hours

Now, how do you figure out how many of these hours should be at night and how many should be in naps? Well, that’s why we’re here! Since we’re talking about creating your baby and toddler nap chart today, here is a breakdown of how many naps your child needs according to their age, and how long each nap should be.

Age	Number of Naps	Total Nap Hours	Wake Time Between Naps
0-2 months	6-8	4-5 hrs	30 min – 1 hr
3-4 months	4-5	3-4 hrs	1-2 hrs
5-6 months	3-4	3-4 hrs	1-2 hrs
7-8 months	2-3	2-3 hrs	2-3 hrs
9-10 months	2	2-3 hrs	2-3 hrs
11-12 months	2	2-3 hrs	3-4 hrs
13-18 months	1-2	1-2 hrs	4-5 hrs
19-24 months	1	1-2 hrs	5-6 hrs

Please remember that these numbers are just guidelines, and that every child is different. An hour over or below the average is quite normal and not a matter of concern. 

Baby Nap Charts

When speaking of a baby and toddler nap chart, it is important to know that newborn babies are going to be sleeping pretty much the whole day, and it doesn’t make sense to chart out their naps. In fact, naps are going to be quite random and frequent for the first two months, so it’s a good idea to start looking at naps in more detail after 3 months of age, when your baby has more or less of a sleep schedule.

Sample Nap Chart for 3-4 Months:

7:00 AM	Wake up
8:30 AM	Nap 1
11:00 AM	Nap 2
2:30 PM	Nap 3
5:30 PM	Nap 4
7:30 PM	Bedtime

Sample Nap Chart for 5-6 Months:

7:00 AM	Wake up
9:00 AM	Nap 1
12:30 PM	Nap 2
4:30 PM	Nap 3
7:30 PM	Bedtime

Sample Nap Chart for 7-8 Months:

7:00 AM	Wake up
9:30 AM	Nap 1
1:30 PM	Nap 2
4:30 PM	Nap 3
7:30 PM	Bedtime

Sample Nap Chart for 9-10 Months:

6:30 AM	Wake up
9:30 AM	Nap 1
1:30 PM	Nap 2
4:30 PM	Nap 3
7:30 PM	Bedtime

Sample Nap Chart for 11-12 Months:

6:30 AM	Wake up
9:30 AM	Nap 1
2:30 PM	Nap 2
7:00 PM	Bedtime

Toddler Nap Charts

Once your baby celebrates their first birthday, he or she is now a toddler, and much more active than before! By this age, most toddlers have two naps a day, and they eventually drop a nap by the second birthday. However, getting them to sleep during the day can be quite a struggle! They’ve got lots of exciting things to do now and may resist napping. You’ll have to help them settle down so they are more prepared to nap.

Sample Nap Chart for 13-18 Months:

7:00 AM	Wake up
10:30 AM	Nap 1
3:30 PM	Nap 2
7:30 PM	Bedtime

Sample Nap Chart for 19-24 Months:

7:00 AM	Wake up
12:00 PM	Nap
7:30 PM	Bedtime

How to Create Your Own Baby and Toddler Nap Chart

For most children, the best naptimes are from mid-morning to late-morning or afternoon. While this may vary, naps should not run too late or too close to bedtime. 

The best way to start creating a baby and toddler nap chart is by paying attention to your child’s sleep cues. Most babies start showing signs of sleepiness when they’re ready to nap, like rubbing their eyes or becoming fussy. Your baby is likely to show these signs around the same times every day, which should help you create a nap routine. Please note that if your baby starts arching their back or crying, you’ve waited too long to nap!

Once you’ve decided on a nap routine, stick to it so that your baby naturally falls asleep at the same time every day. This makes bedtime much easier for both of you, and makes it easier to transition to a new nap routine when your baby gets older. It’s okay if things go haywire on some days; just pick up from where you left off and continue with the same routine. 

Make sure you’re monitoring how your child is doing whenever you start a new baby and toddler nap chart; you may have to make some adjustments, like making naptime earlier or increasing or decreasing the duration.

What is the 2-3-4 nap schedule?

You may have heard about people talking about the 2-3-4 nap schedule and wondered if it’ll work for you. This is a popular napping plan that applies to babies over the age of 6 months, and ideally, those who are napping at least twice a day.

This is how the 2-3-4 system works: Once your baby wakes up in the morning, they should be awake for 2 hours before going down for the first nap. When they wake up from their nap, they should be awake for 3 hours before the next nap. Bedtime should be four hours after the day’s last nap.

This system sounds simple, but it doesn’t work for everyone, especially if your little one needs three naps. If you’re having trouble getting into a nap routine, you can give this a try, but don’t try to force it on your child.

When should you drop or stop naps?

Most babies drop the first nap as they approach their first birthday, and the second one before their second birthday. After age 3, most children drop naps completely and get all their sleep at night. Yet, some children stop napping at age two, while others may continue to nap into their fifth year.

These signs show that you can now drop a nap from your baby and toddler nap chart:

• Falling asleep or staying asleep during a nap has become difficult, unlike earlier
• The last nap of the day is getting delayed, interfering with bedtime
• Your baby is waking up earlier than usual

When it comes to toddlers, here are a few signs that they don’t want any more naps:

• They take too long to fall asleep at bedtime
• They’re waking up early in the morning
• They’re resisting naps more than usual or having trouble sleeping during the day
• They’re perfectly happy and active during the day, not being tired even without a nap

If you decide to drop all naps but notice that your toddler is getting cranky and overtired, you can go back to one nap per day. You can tell they’re getting too tired when they’re throwing too many tantrums, fussing with food or being overly clingy.

You can also make changes to your baby and toddler nap chart based on daily variations. For instance, if your child had a bad night, they may want to nap the next day. If he had a very busy day, he might want to go to bed earlier. Make adjustments to meet any changes in daily routines.

So what do you do when you’re dropping a nap? Switch to quiet time instead, when you can put your child in a quiet room, and hand them some simple toys like puzzles or blocks, which they can play with by themselves. Start with a 10-minute duration, and as your child learns to play quietly, you can increase the time. 

Please note that it’s not a good idea to change your child’s nap routine if they’re already going through a big change, such as moving houses, potty training or welcoming a new baby. It’ll be too much stress for your child, so you can do it a little later.

Tips to Help Babies and Toddlers Nap Better

1. Make your child’s nap environment quiet, cool and dark, just like their bedtime
2. Be consistent and stick to your baby and toddler nap chart every day
3. Let your child be active and play a lot during the day
4. Expose your child to the morning sun (safely) and fresh air so they fall asleep easily
5. Limit screens – these can interfere with sleep
6. Babies may enjoy a light massage or rocking to fall asleep
7. Have a naptime routine, similar to a bedtime routine, with stories or rhymes
8. Young babies can be swaddled just before their naps
9. Use white noise in the room if you have older kids or if the house is noisy
10. You may want to offer your todder a soft toy to cuddle, so nap time seems more appealing

Please remember that no matter how much you plan your baby and toddler nap chart, your child may have their own ideas, so follow your child’s cues for better results. You can also use apps like Napper, Nara or Huckleberry that make tracking your child’s naps easier. 

It can be frustrating, especially in the beginning, to set a proper nap routine so that you can get a fixed time for yourself, but keep at it and it’ll get better. Yes, toddlers are another story, but they can also be handled – just make sure to tire them out enough when they’re awake!