Your baby’s naps stopped making sense about two weeks ago, and you’re pretty sure you’re being gaslit by a 7-month-old.

They fight the third nap like you’re asking them to file taxes. But without that third nap? Absolute demon by 5 p.m. You move bedtime earlier, and they stare at you like you’re an idiot. You keep the third nap, and they’re awake until 9 p.m. doing parkour in their crib.

Welcome to the 3-to-2 nap transition, where every option is wrong and the wake windows are made up.

If you’re here because you Googled “when do babies drop to 2 naps” at 3 a.m. after another day of nap roulette — SAME. If you’re wondering whether your baby actually needs that third nap or you’re just a coward, also same.

Here’s what nobody tells you: this transition is a mess. It doesn’t happen overnight. There’s no clean switch. And you’re going to spend weeks not knowing if today is a 2-nap day or a 3-nap day until it’s too late.

When Does This Nightmare Start

Most babies drop to 2 naps between 6–9 months. Mine did it at 7.5 months. Your friend’s baby probably did it at 6 months because their baby is an overachiever and you’re lowkey tired of hearing about it (don’t worry, you’re safe here bb).

Signs they might be ready:

• Fighting the third nap for a week straight (not just one random Tuesday)
• Bedtime keeps getting later even though you’re doing everything “right”
• The third nap is basically a 15-minute car nap that may or may not happen
• They seem fine on days when the third nap just doesn’t happen

Signs they’re NOT ready:

• Full meltdown by 4 p.m. (I’m not talking about just a little cranky — I mean full ass meltdown)
• Both morning naps are short (under an hour each)
• They’re younger than 6 months (there are exceptions, but this is usually too early)
• Bedtime is a nightmare without that third nap

The problem is some days they’ll show “ready” signs and some days they’ll show “not ready” signs, and you’ll lose your mind trying to figure out which one is real.

Why This Transition Is Uniquely Terrible

When your baby is on 3 naps, wake windows are like 2–2.5 hours. When they drop to 2 naps, wake windows need to be 2.5–3+ hours.

But their body doesn’t just suddenly adjust.

So you get stuck in this nightmare middle zone where:

• 3 naps = they won’t sleep until 9 p.m. and you want to cry
• 2 naps = they’re feral by 5 p.m. and you want to cry
• You = Googling “is this normal” for the 47th time this week, and still crying

There’s no magical day where you flip the switch and suddenly they’re a 2-nap baby. It’s weeks of inconsistency and guessing and wondering if you’re screwing up your kid’s sleep forever.

(You’re not btw. But it feels like you are.)

The Three Approaches (None of Them Are Good)

Option 1: Let Them Lead

Offer the third nap. If they fight it for 20 minutes, just let it go. Move bedtime early to compensate. Repeat until they stop needing it.

Pros: You’re not forcing anything

Cons: No idea what kind of day you’re having until it’s happening, early bedtimes forever, your partner asks “so what’s the schedule” and you laugh in their face

Option 2: Rip the Band-Aid

Commit to 2 naps. Stretch wake windows. Early bedtime is your life now. Power through the adjustment.

Pros: Faster transition, more predictable eventually

Cons: Some truly terrible cranky days, requires you to have conviction (ha, bold of anyone to assume I have that)

Option 3: Chaos Mode (What Most of Us Actually Do)

Offer 2 naps most days. If they’re melting down by 4 p.m., emergency 20-minute nap. Bedtime is whenever it needs to be. Accept that life is a mystery.

Pros: Flexibility, survival-focused, realistic

Cons: No one has any idea what’s happening ever

I did option 3 because I was way too tired to commit to anything else.

The Wake Window Math (Loosely)

Here’s a framework. Shh, not a schedule — a framework. That your baby will ignore.

• Wake: 6:30–7 a.m.
• First wake window: 2.5–3 hours
• Nap 1: 9:30–10 a.m. (Ideally 1–1.5 hours — but probablyyy 45 minutes)
• Second wake window: 3–3.5 hours
• Nap 2: 1:30–2 p.m. (hopefully 1–1.5 hours but who knows)
• Last wake window: 3.5–4 hours
• Bedtime: 6–7 p.m. (or 5:30 p.m. if everything went to shit)

Some days nap 1 will be 30 minutes and you’ll be doing math at 11 a.m. trying to figure out what to do about nap 2. Some days they’ll take a 2.5-hour nap at noon and you’ll panic about bedtime. Some days you’ll do bedtime at 5:45 p.m. and feel like you failed at parenting.

(Which of course you obviously didn’t fail btw — this transition just fucking sucks.)

How to Stretch Wake Windows Without Everyone Combusting

The unfortunate news: you can’t just keep your baby awake an extra hour and expect them not to lose their mind.

1. Add 10–15 minutes every few days. Not every day! Give their body time to adjust.
2. Front-load the stretch. The first wake window extends first. The last one extends last.
3. Use distractions during that danger zone. Go outside. New toys. Anything that keeps them from realizing they’re tired.
4. Watch for tired cues, not the clock. If they’re rubbing their eyes at 2.5 hours, don’t push to 3 hours just because someone on Instagram said that’s the “right” wake window.

When Everything Goes Wrong (aka Most Days — Let’s Be Real)

If they’re melting down by 4 p.m.:

Offer a 15–20 minute emergency nap (set a timer, don’t let it go longer)

OR

Move bedtime to 5:30–6 p.m. (yes, this is insane but it works!)

OR

Survival mode: snacks, screen time, whatever gets you to bedtime without anyone crying (more than necessary)

If Naps Are Short and Terrible:

First, breathe. Don’t panic after one bad day. Look for patterns over 3–4 days.

Wake windows might be too long. Or too short. (I know. Helpful.)

If Bedtime Is a Disaster:

They’re either overtired (bedtime needs to be earlier) or undertired (last wake window needs to be longer).

Flip a coin. Try one for a few days. See what happens.

What I Actually Did (ChatGPT Edition)

I was too fried to figure out if we should drop the nap or keep trying. I couldn’t do wake window math anymore. My brain was long gone.

I used Prompt #3 from my 6–12 Month Pack:

“Walk me through the nap transition between 3 to 2 naps. I want age windows, common signs, and what to do when the wake window math breaks my soul.”

And voilà — ChatGPT helped me:

• Build a framework based on what my baby was actually doing (not some fantasy schedule)
• Troubleshoot specific chaos (like “nap 1 was 40 minutes, what now”)
• Make a decision when I was too overwhelmed by options

I also used Prompt #34 for the random 3 a.m. wakings that started during this transition:

“Create a step-by-step decision tree I can run through at 3 a.m. to decide if the baby needs a feed, a cuddle, or a psychic exorcism.”

Because at 3 a.m., I needed someone to just tell me what to do. Even if that someone was a robot.

Things Nobody Tells You

This takes 4–6 weeks of inconsistency. Not days — weeks. You’ll be asking “is today a 2-nap day?” for over a month.

Early bedtime is not a failure. On 2-nap days, bedtime might be 6 p.m. for a while. This is fine. This is how wake windows work. You’re not doing it wrong — promise.

The third nap doesn’t just disappear. You might need that emergency 20-minute nap for weeks even after you’ve “dropped to 2 naps.”

You’ll second-guess everything. “Is this a bad nap day or should we go back to 3 naps?” You won’t know until you see patterns over several days. Keep notes if you can — or use ChatGPT to help you track when your brain is oatmeal.

When to Hit Pause and Go Back to 3 Naps

If after a full week of 2 naps, your baby is:

• Melting down by 4 p.m. every single day
• Not making it to bedtime without chaos
• Sleeping worse overall
• Clearly exhausted

They’re not ready yet. Go back to 3 naps. Try again in two weeks. There’s no award for being early.

The Actual Bottom Line

This transition sucks because there’s no right answer. You’re guessing for weeks until something clicks.

You’re going to have good days where you think “fuck yeah — we so got this” and terrible days where you consider just never sleeping again.

And then one day it’ll work. Your baby will take 2 solid naps. Bedtime will make sense. And you’ll forget how much you hated this phase.

Until the next sleep thing. But we’ll deal with that later.

If you’re drowning in wake window math: I’ve got 60 prompts designed for the 6-12 month era, including sleep chaos, in my 6-12 Month Pack. Prompt #3 is specifically for this nap transition nightmare.

Or start here → grab my free 7 Chaos Prompts Every Mom Needs

Tell me in the comments what’s breaking you about naps right now, and I’ll send you a prompt that might help ♥