A nap schedule by age changes dramatically across the first two years: newborns take 4 to 5 short naps, 4 to 6 month olds settle into 3 naps, 6 to 14 month olds take 2 naps, and toddlers from about 15 months take a single midday nap before dropping naps entirely around age 3 to 4. Total daytime sleep shrinks from roughly 5 to 8 hours in the newborn months to about 1 to 2 hours by toddlerhood. This nap schedule by age chart gives you the typical nap count, length, and wake windows for every stage, so you can quickly see whether your baby's day is on track.
Naps are where a lot of parents feel lost, because the rules keep changing right when you think you have them figured out. The chart below is the reference I wish I had taped to the fridge in those early years. Keep it handy, and remember that every baby varies; these are well-established averages, not strict targets.
The Complete Nap Schedule by Age Chart
Here is the full picture at a glance, from the newborn fog to a single toddler nap.
| Age | Naps/day | Wake window | Daytime sleep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–3 months | 4–5 | 45–90 min | 5–8 hrs |
| 4–5 months | 3 | 1.5–2 hrs | 3–4 hrs |
| 6–8 months | 2–3 | 2–3 hrs | 3–3.5 hrs |
| 9–14 months | 2 | 3–4 hrs | 2–3 hrs |
| 15–24 months | 1 | 5–6 hrs | 1.5–3 hrs |
| 3–4 years | 0–1 | All day | 0–1.5 hrs |
Newborn Naps (0–3 Months)
Newborn naps are short, frequent, and gloriously unpredictable. With wake windows under 90 minutes, your baby may nap 4 or 5 times a day in scattered chunks. Do not chase a schedule yet; follow tired cues and total sleep. This stage is about survival, not structure.
The 3-Nap and 2-Nap Stages (4–14 Months)
Around 4 months, days start organizing into three naps, then two by roughly 6 to 9 months. This is where a predictable rhythm finally appears. The shifts between counts are the bumpy parts, and our map of nap transitions by age walks through each drop in detail.
The two-nap stage is the sweet spot many parents love, with a clear morning and afternoon nap. Our 6 month old sleep schedule shows exactly what a solid two-nap day looks like once you arrive there.
I am not a naturally organized person, but the one thing that kept our naps sane was a printed age-by-age chart stuck to the fridge. Whenever a nap fell apart, I would check the chart instead of spiraling. Nine times out of ten my baby had simply aged into a new wake window and I had not adjusted. That single sheet of paper saved me from inventing a dozen imaginary problems. Sometimes the fix is just looking at the right number.
One Nap and Beyond (15+ Months)
Sometime between 15 and 18 months, the morning nap fades and your toddler consolidates into one glorious midday nap of 1.5 to 3 hours. Wake windows stretch to 5 or 6 hours on either side. This single nap often holds until age 3 or beyond, and protecting it keeps the whole day calm.
For the full picture of this stage, including bedtime and common challenges, our toddler sleep schedule covers the 12 to 24 month window in depth.
Where This Chart Will Be Wrong for Your Baby
A chart like the one above is an average of a very wide distribution, and it is worth being explicit about that, because presenting averages as targets is how these articles make people feel like they are failing. Roughly speaking, the middle of the range describes most babies and misdescribes a substantial minority.
- Short sleepers. Some healthy babies sit an hour below every figure here and are cheerful, feeding well, and growing normally. Total sleep is a trait, not only a habit.
- Long nappers with short nights. The daily total lands in range but the distribution does not match the chart at all.
- Late transitioners. Plenty of babies hold three naps well past the age the chart drops to two, and forcing the drop early backfires.
- Irregular days. Daycare, siblings, and school runs produce a schedule that no chart anticipates, and consistency of bedtime matters more than nap symmetry.
The measures worth watching are not the numbers on this page: daytime mood, feeding, and growth. If those look right, a baby who is an hour off the chart is fine.
The NICHD's age-based figures are published as ranges for exactly this reason.
So is the Sleep Foundation's summary of how much sleep children need. When two national bodies both decline to give a single number, that tells you something about how much weight to put on the one in my table.
How to Use This Chart
Use the chart as a reality check, not a rulebook. If your baby's nap count or wake windows are wildly different from their age band, it is worth a small adjustment. If they are close and your baby is happy and well-rested, you are doing fine. Wake windows matter more than exact clock times.
For a number tailored to your baby's exact age in weeks, the Baby Sleep Calculator turns this chart into a personalized target.
And for the research behind these ranges, the AAP's recommended sleep amounts by age is the authoritative source.
Adjusted Age: The Column Most Charts Leave Out
If your baby was born preterm, every row above is misleading unless you shift it, and almost no nap chart on the internet says so. The convention is to use adjusted age — chronological age minus the number of weeks early — when thinking about sleep and developmental patterns during roughly the first two years.
| Born at | Chronological age | Adjusted age | Read the chart at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32 weeks (8 early) | 6 months | 4 months | 4 months |
| 35 weeks (5 early) | 9 months | ≈7.5 months | 7–8 months |
| 37 weeks (3 early) | 12 months | ≈11 months | 11–12 months |
In practice this means a baby born two months early is often still on a four-nap pattern when the chart says three, and that is not a delay — it is the correct pattern for their adjusted age. Nap transitions, wake windows, and the timing of longer night stretches all tend to track adjusted rather than chronological age.
Your pediatrician is the one to confirm which age to use and when to stop adjusting, since it varies with how early the birth was and how the first year has gone. I mention it here because I lost count of the number of parents of preterm babies who arrived convinced something was wrong, when the only thing wrong was the row of the table they were reading.
Build Your Own Chart in One Week
Every chart on the internet, including this one, describes a population. Your baby is a sample size of one, and after about a week of notes you will have something more useful than anything I can publish.
The method is deliberately low effort, because elaborate tracking apps get abandoned by day three. Write four things on a piece of paper stuck to the fridge: morning wake time, the start and end of each nap, and bedtime. Nothing else — no mood scores, no feed times, no notes.
After seven days, look for three numbers rather than a schedule. The first is your baby’s real average daily total, which is almost always different from the chart. The second is the longest awake stretch they handled without falling apart, which is your true wake window. The third is the gap between the last nap ending and bedtime, which is the number that most often needs adjusting.
Those three numbers beat any published range, and they update themselves. When something shifts — a regression, a tooth, a nap drop — you repeat the week and you have current data instead of a chart written for someone else’s baby. For a general sense of what is developmentally typical while you gather your own, the overview of newborn and infant sleep at KidsHealth is a reasonable starting point.
Using the Chart Without Overthinking It
- Naps drop from 4–5 (newborn) to 1 (toddler) across two years.
- Wake windows grow from under 90 minutes to 5–6 hours.
- Total daytime sleep shrinks from 5–8 hours to about 1–2.
- The single toddler nap often lasts until age 3 or later.
- Use the chart as a check; wake windows beat clock times.
Pin this nap schedule by age chart somewhere you will see it, because most nap "problems" are really just your baby aging into a new stage faster than you updated the plan. Check the age band, adjust the wake window, and protect whatever nap your child is currently in. Naps are a moving target, but with the chart in hand you will always know which direction they are moving.
Questions About Nap Numbers
How many naps should my baby take by age?
Newborns take 4 to 5 naps, 4 to 5 month olds take 3, 6 to 14 month olds take 2, and toddlers from about 15 months take 1 midday nap before dropping naps around age 3 to 4. Total daytime sleep falls from roughly 5 to 8 hours in newborns to about 1 to 2 hours by toddlerhood.
What is a good wake window by age?
Wake windows grow with age: under 90 minutes for newborns, 1.5 to 2 hours at 4 to 5 months, 2 to 3 hours at 6 to 8 months, 3 to 4 hours at 9 to 14 months, and 5 to 6 hours for toddlers on one nap. Matching the window to the age is the key to good naps.
When do babies drop to one nap?
Most babies move to a single midday nap between 15 and 18 months. Before that, the two-to-one transition can be bumpy, with some days needing two naps and others one. The single nap then usually lasts until age 3 or beyond. Follow readiness signs rather than a fixed date.
Are these nap numbers strict rules?
No, they are well-established averages, not strict targets. Healthy babies vary. Use the chart as a reality check: if your baby is far outside their age band, a small adjustment may help, but if they are close and well-rested, you are on track. Wake windows matter more than exact times.
How do I work out my own baby’s ideal schedule?
Write down four things for seven days: morning wake time, each nap start and end, and bedtime. Then pull out three numbers — the real daily sleep total, the longest awake stretch your baby handled well, and the gap between the last nap and bedtime. Those beat any published chart because they describe your baby.
Every number on this page is a population average, and healthy babies sit above and below them every day. This article is general education. Use your pediatrician's growth and development checks as the real measure, and raise it with them if your baby's sleep is dramatically outside these ranges in either direction, or if daytime alertness and feeding are affected.
