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Baby Nap Schedule by Age (0–12 Months): Charts + Sample Days

By Tiny Moments · Updated November 2026 · 8-minute read

Your baby's naps fall from 4–6 a day as a newborn to 2 a day by 9–12 months — and the clock times matter far less than the wake windows between naps. Here is the chart, a sample day for every stage of the first year, and the checklist for knowing when a nap is ready to drop.

Newborns don't nap on a schedule. They sleep in short bursts through the day and night because their brains haven't sorted day from night yet. A schedule only starts to make sense around 3–4 months, when a circadian rhythm forms and naps begin to consolidate. The job before that is sleep safety and following tired cues — not a timetable.

The nap schedule at a glance

Swipe sideways to see the full chart →

Sample days for every stage

These are examples, not rules. Shift everything 15–30 minutes to match your baby's morning wake time, and expect naps to shorten or shift during growth spurts and developmental leaps.

0–3 months: follow the cues

There is no real schedule yet. Feed on cue, watch for tired signs after 45–90 minutes awake, and use morning daylight to help the day–night rhythm form. A typical stretch might look like: wake at 7:00 AM, feed, nap around 8:00–9:30 AM, wake and feed, nap again around 10:30 AM — and so on through the day, with bedtime drifting anywhere from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. Do not force a rigid grid here; follow tired cues almost entirely at this stage.

3–6 months: the 3-nap day (sample day, 4 months)

• 7:00 AM — wake + feed
• 8:30 AM — nap 1 (1–1.5 hours)
• 10:30 AM — feed + play
• 12:30 PM — nap 2 (1–1.5 hours)
• 2:30 PM — feed + play
• 4:30 PM — nap 3, a short catnap (30–45 minutes)
• 7:00 PM — bedtime

The first two naps tend to be longer; the third is usually a shorter catnap. Wake windows at this age are roughly 1.5–2.5 hours.

6–9 months: moving to 2 naps (sample day, 7 months)

• 7:00 AM — wake + feed
• 9:00 AM — nap 1 (1–1.5 hours)
• 12:00 PM — lunch / feed + play
• 1:30 PM — nap 2 (1–1.5 hours)
• 4:30 PM — optional short catnap only if needed
• 7:00 PM — bedtime

The big lever at this age is the last nap: it should end by about 4 PM, or bedtime slides late. Some babies still take a short third nap at 7–8 months — that is normal, and it drops on its own when the first two naps lengthen.

9–12 months: the solid 2-nap day (sample day, 10 months)

• 7:00 AM — wake + milk + breakfast
• 9:30–10:45 AM — nap 1 (1–1.5 hours)
• 12:00 PM — lunch
• 2:00–3:15 PM — nap 2 (1–1.5 hours)
• 7:15 PM — bedtime

Two naps are the sweet spot here. Wake windows stretch to 2.5–3.5 hours — longer before the afternoon nap than before the morning one — and the morning nap is usually the more reliable of the two. Around 12 months some babies start fighting the morning nap; most are not actually ready for one nap until 13–15 months at the earliest.

When to drop a nap — the readiness checklist

Dropping a nap too early is the most common nap-schedule mistake, and it is what stretches a rough patch into weeks of overtired days. Drop a nap only when the signs hold for a week or more — not after one bad day.

Ready to drop from 3 naps to 2 (usually 6–9 months)

• The third nap is refused most days for a week or more
• The first two naps are getting longer on their own
• Your baby stays happy and settled on two-nap days, without meltdowns by 5 PM
• Bedtime isn't getting pushed later — the day still ends around 7 PM

Ready to drop from 2 naps to 1 (usually 12–18 months)

• The morning nap is refused most days for 1–2 weeks
• Your baby can happily stay awake 4–5 hours before a single midday nap
• The one midday nap stretches to 1.5–2 hours
• Bedtime holds steady — no 5 PM crash and no 8:30 PM second wind

Why does my baby only nap 30 minutes?

A 30–45 minute nap is one sleep cycle, and it is very common under 6 months while sleep cycles are still maturing. Most babies start linking cycles — and napping longer — as the rhythm settles around 5–6 months. If short naps are the pattern rather than the exception, check these in order:

• Wake window too long? An overtired baby falls asleep fast and wakes after one cycle. Try putting them down 15 minutes earlier for a few days.
• Wake window too short? A baby who isn't tired enough also wakes after one cycle. Try stretching the window by 15 minutes.
• Room too bright or noisy? Naps need the same dark room and steady white noise as night sleep — daylight leaking in is the most common fixable cause.
• Rushing in too fast? Pause a few minutes when your baby stirs at 30 minutes. Some babies resettle into the next cycle on their own if given the chance.

If your baby wakes from a 30-minute nap happy and the day still adds up to the total sleep in the chart above, that may simply be their pattern for now — healthy babies vary widely in both directions.

Should I wake my baby from a nap?

Yes, when it protects the rest of the day. Two situations call for it: cap the last nap so it ends by about 4 PM, or bedtime gets pushed late and night sleep suffers; and cap a very long morning nap if it is stealing the afternoon nap. Waking a baby from a nap feels wrong, but total sleep across 24 hours is what matters — not one single nap. The one time not to wake them is illness or a recovery day, when extra sleep is doing real work.

What if my baby fights or skips a nap?

First, check the window — most nap fights are a window that no longer fits, and the wake window chart by age is the fastest place to check. Then check the usual suspects: a new skill (rolling, crawling, standing) being practised in the crib, a regression week, teething, or a room that got brighter as the seasons changed. Keep the routine identical for a few days before changing anything — a skipped nap here and there is normal, and most babies don't drop to one nap until 12–18 months, so a skipped nap at 10 months is usually just an off day. If broken naps last beyond 6–8 weeks, or your baby seems unwell, talk to your pediatrician.

Sources & further reading: Mellow Kids — Nap Schedule Baby: Age-by-Age Sample Schedules · ViviBaby — Baby Nap Schedule by Age, With Sample Days · KidyGrow — Baby Schedule by Age (0-2 Years) · KidsHealth (Nemours) — All About Sleep