When to drop 3rd nap????

[rmhefner]

My DD is 6 mos old & I'm not sure when or how to even know if you can drop the 3rd nap?? Right now her schedule is:
7am awake
9am sleep
10:30-11am awake
1pm sleep
2:30-3 awake
5pm short 45min nap
8:30 bedtime


Sometimes it's hard for me to tell when she's tired & then she's overtired!! How long can a 6-7 month old stay awake between the last nap & bedtime??
Should I just stick with the current schedule? Any advice would be appreciated!

[Melaine]

I think that you will find whenever you drop the last nap that your DD will be ready to go to bed much earlier. If she is sleeping well at night, I would go ahead and try that. I think my girls were going to bed at 6:30 at that age.

[BeccaB.]

I posted something similar because I'm going through the same thing as well. So far I am just letting him decide when to nap. I tried to keep him up instead of letting him do the late afternoon nap, but it wasn't effective. Just made him really tired and cranky and he fell asleep anyway despite my best efforts. I guess I will keep letting him guide the schedule until he seems ready to drop that last nap. Maybe try again in a few weeks (DS is 6 months today).

Hope that helps. Its not really advice at all. It's just what I'm trying. It's working better to let him nap when he wants than to try to force the issue.

[rmhefner]

I tried to push the am nap later this morning & things did not go well the rest of the day! I am going to do the same thing as you, I guess she'll be the one to tell me she can stay awake longer!!! Let me know how things go when you try to stop the 3rd nap!!:)

[scmama]

DS this last week has decided not to take his third nap. We are pretty close to your schedule and his last nap was about 3:45 to 4pm and he would sleep 30 to 45 minutes. I've tried the last few nights, but he will not go to sleep at nap time. He usually goes to bed around 7pm, but since he's dropped his nap, around 6:15 he is a very cranky and sleepy guy. DS is 7.5 months so I'm thinking the third nap is no more. I've also been trying to push back his 2nd nap, so so far he's been falling asleep at his normal time. Tonight he's going to bed at 6:45pm, so we'll see if that makes any difference. Hope you get back to your routine.