Moving Baby From 4-3 Naps: All You Need to Know

Wondering when to drop your baby’s fourth nap? Find out the best age to drop to 3 naps, signs baby is ready for it, how to drop that 4th nap, and get sample 3 nap schedules.

The fourth nap is the first nap your baby will drop. It can be scary to move from 4 naps to 3 naps since you do not have experience in dropping naps with your baby. Baby sleep is important and we do not want to risk messing that up.

Dropping a nap is always exciting because it opens up the family’s schedule. The fewer naps baby needs, the less time you feel the need to be at home for nap time. So while it might make you nervous, you will love it!

The fourth nap is the nap that happens between 4ish and 7ish PM depending on your exact schedule. Any sleep that happens after 7 PM should be considered night sleep for your baby.

This nap is also often a cat nap by the time baby is ready to drop it. That means the nap will typically only be 30-60 minutes long. If you have a high-needs sleeper, they might be taking longer naps at this time, but can still be ready to drop it.

Best Age to Drop the Fourth Nap

This nap is one of the easiest to drop, which is nice since it is the first one. Most naps have a wide age range of what is normal to drop it, but the fourth nap is very straightforward.

Most babies are ready to drop this nap at 4 months of age.

Some babies might be ready sometime between 3-4 months old, but definitely no earlier than 3 months old.

Some babies might need to hold on to the nap until 5 months old, but definitely not beyond 5 months old.

Your range will be 3-5 months old with the vast majority dropping the 4th nap as a 4 month old in the 4-5 months range.

Signs Baby is Ready to Drop the 4th Nap

If your baby is in the 3-5 month old age range, look for these signs that your baby might be ready to move from 4 to 3 naps.

Baby Does Not Sleep Well for 4th Nap

One big sign is that your baby does not sleep well for the 4th nap anymore.

Typically a baby who is ready to drop the fourth nap will sleep well for the first three naps but then play during that last nap of the day.

If your baby is just not sleeping well for all naps and is taking short naps all day, it is more likely due to sleep regressions that happen around this age. The 4-month sleep regression is a big one and messes up sleep.

>>>Read: Everything You Need To Know About Wonder Week 19

If your baby has never slept well for this nap, you cannot take poor sleep for this nap as a major sign baby is ready to drop it.

If your baby is younger than 3 months old, they are not ready to move to a 3-nap schedule.

Baby Struggles Falling Asleep at Bedtime

Some babies might sleep well for all naps in the day but then struggle with bedtime. If your baby is playing at bedtime instead of going to sleep, it might be time to move to 3 naps a day.

Baby Needs Longer Wake Windows (Awake Time)

If your infant starts to need longer wake windows during the day between naps, then there is a good chance you are ready to drop that fourth nap. Being awake longer between naps will naturally push the schedule.

It might also just be that your baby needs a longer wake window (or wake time length) before bedtime. You might find the other wake windows are holding constant but your baby just is not tired for that fourth nap.

Baby’s Starts Having Night Wakings

You might find that your baby starts to wake in the night or have early morning wakings. The presence of a fourth nap rarely messes up nighttime sleep other than the possibility of disrupting bedtime, which can then lead to night sleep issues. Too much daytime sleep can lead to night sleep issues.

If your baby has no issues with bedtime, do not assume that night sleep issues are because of a 4th nap, but it is worth considering as you troubleshoot.

>>>Read: How To Solve Your Baby’s Nighttime Sleep Issues

Baby is Ready for a 4 Hour Schedule

If your baby is ready to move to a 4 hour schedule, you will automatically move to 3 naps a day. Read all about When and How to Move Baby to 4 Hour Schedule here.

How to Drop the 4th Nap and Move to 3 Naps

There are a few approaches you can take to moving from a 4-nap schedule to a 3-nap schedule. You can simply skip the 4th nap, you can extend your wake windows during the day, or you can move to a 4 hour schedule.

Skip the 4th Nap

One way to handle the 4-3 nap transition is to simply skip the 4th nap. This is the method you will use if your baby is ready to drop that 4th nap and move to a 3 nap schedule, but is not ready for a 4 hour schedule.

As I said earlier, the fourth nap is often a catnap, which means it is short. Skipping it should be relatively easy to do.

You can drop this nap by just keeping your baby up instead of putting them down for a nap. You then put your baby down at your regular bedtime.

If you use this method, you might need to have an earlier bedtime–at least initially. Whenever you decrease the number of naps your baby is taking in a day, it is common to move bedtime up by about 30 minutes while your baby adjusts. You want to avoid overtiredness.

I always say that babies do not just drop sleep, they rearrange it. Of course they do sleep less as they get older, but when dropping a nap, we need to be careful to avoid an overtired baby as they transition into a new schedule.

As an alternative, you could allow any of the first three naps of the day to be longer. So maybe the afternoon nap was 2 hours long, but now you let baby sleep 2.5 hours instead. Not all babies will take a longer nap, but it is worth trying.

Your baby will also probably be fussy during what was the 4th nap. It is wise to clear your schedule so you can attend to a fussy baby for a few days. Sometimes it helps to get out of the house so your baby is distracted, so this is a great time to run errands or go for a walk.

Your baby will quickly adjust to the new sleep schedule and will not be fussy anymore, but it will take an adjustment period.

Extend Wake Windows During the Day

You will likely extend wake windows (or wake time length) during the day between all other naps when your baby is ready to move to 3 naps a day. This will be true whether you skip that fourth nap or you move to a 4 hour schedule.

Extending wake windows can help you to move that third nap later in the day. That will mean the 3rd nap will end closer to bedtime and your baby will have an easier time making it to bedtime.

Move to 4 Hour Schedule

If your baby is ready to move to a four hour schedule, then you will naturally move to a 3 nap schedule. Signs baby is ready for a 4 hour schedule include:

• Baby is 12 weeks or older.
• Baby is sleeping through the night.
• Baby take take 4-5 feedings a day.
• Baby needs to be woken up from all naps (other than the catnap).
• Baby is not hungry at 3 hours.

If you think your baby might be ready, read about When and How to Move Baby to 4 Hour Schedule here

You Can Wean From the Nap

You always want to follow your own baby’s sleep needs. While many babies can move to 3 naps in more of a “cold turkey” manner, some might do better with a “weaning” approach. This can help babies transition into a 3 nap schedule more easily.

If you wean, you would have 3 naps some days and 4 naps other days.

Also, if your baby is ready to drop this fourth nap but takes a 1.5-2 hour nap, you will want to wean from it before dropping it. So you might do a 60 minute nap for a few days, then 45 minute nap for a few days, then a 30 minute nap for a few days, etc.

Sample 3 Nap Schedules

Here are some sample 3 nap schedules.

3 Hour Feeding Schedule

My first two children went to a 3 nap schedule while still eating every three hours in the day. Here is a basic schedule of what that would look like.

7:00 AM-Eat
8:00 AM-Nap
10:00 AM-Eat
11:00 AM-Nap
1:00 PM-Eat
2:00 PM-Nap
4:00 PM-Eat
7:00 PM-Eat and then bed

Again, you could do some longer naps in the day to help push those 4 PM and 7 PM feedings closer together.

Mixed Feeding Schedule

Here is a basic schedule you might have if you have some 4 hour feeding intervals and some 3 hour feeding intervals (and in between).

7:00AM-Eat
8:15 AM-Nap
10:30 AM-Eat
12:00 PM-Nap
2:30 PM-Eat
4:00 PM-Nap
6:30 PM-Eat
7:00 PM-Bedtime

Here is my daughter McKenna’s schedule the first week she went with 3 naps a day every day (she weaned from the nap). She was 23 weeks old. She is my third child.

8:00 AM–wake her up, nurse, eat 2 T oatmeal and 2 T fruit
9:00 AM–nap
11:30 AM–wake her up, nurse, eat 2 T veggie and 2 T fruit
12:30 PM–nap
3:00 PM–wake her up (sometimes she wakes on her own), nurse
4:30 PM–nap
5:30 PM–wake her up or she wakes up, nurse, 2 T fruit, 2-4 T veggie, 2 T oatmeal
7:30 PM–nurse then bed
10:20 PM–dreamfeed

Here is my daughter Brinley’s schedule the first week she went to 3 naps a day. She went straight to 3 naps a day cold turkey. She was 20 weeks old. She is my fourth child.

7:30–feed with solids
8:45–nap
11:30–feed with solids
1:00–nap
3:30–feed
5:00–nap 
5:30–feed with solids
7:30–feed, then bedtime

4 Hour Feeding Schedule

A four hour schedule is usually a little more straightforward. Here is a sample 4 hour feeding schedule with 3 naps in a day. See my Sample 4 Hour Schedules for Your Baby for more.

7:00 AM-Eat
8:30 AM-Sleep
11:00 AM-Eat
1:00 PM-Sleep
3:00 PM-Eat
5:00 PM-Sleep
6:30 PM-Wake. Maybe eat, maybe wait for 7.
7:00 PM-Eat then bedtime

Here is my daughter McKenna’s schedule once she moved to a 4 hour schedule. She still had a dreamfeed, so she still had five feedings a day. She was 25 weeks old.

• 8:00 AM: I wake her. Nurse. 2 T fruit (prunes or peaches) and 3 T oatmeal. This is followed by bath and then independent playtime.
• 9:00 AM: Nap
• 12:00 PM: I wake her (yes, she takes a 3 hour nap). Nurse. 2-4 T peas and 2-4 T of bananas. This is followed by some time with siblings and some tummy time/floor play.
• 1:15-1:30 PM: Nap. Almost every day this week, she took this nap at my parent’s house.
• 4:00 PM: I wake her. Nurse. 4 T yellow veggie, 2 T fruit (usually peaches), and 4 T oatmeal. This is followed by us going to our new house to work on it. I would put her in the front carrier or in the bouncer. Some days, she and I would drive to pick up food for the workers.
• 6:00 PM: Nap. This was taken in my new neighbor’s master bedroom closet in her bassinet.
• 8:00 PM: I wake her. Some nights she woke on her own. She sleeps so well! I never expected her to sleep well there. They have six kids, so you know things just get really loud sometimes. The girl can sleep. Nurse and then back to bed at home.
• 10:20 or 10:30 PM: Dreamfeed.

Here is my daughter Brinley’s “4 hour schedule”. You will see that in the evening, she ate more often than 4 hours. This enabled her to eat dinner more with us as family and also enabled me to keep a 7:30 PM breastfeeding session so I could ensure my milk supply could stay up (I didn’t want to go more than 12 hours between nursing). She was 28 weeks old.

8:00–feed with solids–2-4 T prunes and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in–a few days we did 2 T yogurt here
9:15–nap
12:00–feed with solids–4 T of pears OR peaches and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in and 2 T of green beans OR peas with 1 T oatmeal mixed in and some fruit
1:30–nap
4:00–feed
5:30–nap 
6:15–solids–half a banana mixed with 2 T oatmeal OR 3-4 T applesauce mixed with 2 T oatmeal and sweet potatoes (1-2 T) OR butternut squash (1-2 T) and some fruit
7:30–feed, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00-8:10

Conclusion

Dropping the 4th nap may seem intimidating, but you will find that once you do, you will love having more awake time with your baby each day. It will free up your evenings and give you more time as a family each night.

If you drop that nap and realize your baby was not ready for it, you can always add that nap back in. Follow your baby’s sleep cues and you will get there!

Related Posts

• Dropping Naps: A Quick Reference
• The Best Ages for Dropping Baby’s Naps
• Everything You Need to Know About Dropping Naps
• Brinley Baby Summary: Week 20
• McKenna Baby Summary: Week 20

Poll Results of Polls Taken on this Blog

What age did baby drop 4th nap (approximate)?

Results:
3 Months: 9 votes (18%)
4 Months: 10 votes (20%)
4.5 Months: 6 votes (12%)
5 Months: 2 votes (4%)
6 Months or older: 7 votes (14%)
Not Yet!: 14 votes (29%)

Total of 48 votes

Reader Questions

Sarah said…
Hi! Thanks for making this site – it’s very helpful! My three month old baby girl is starting to not sleep well for all four naps in a day (it varies which one she won’t sleep through), so I am considering moving her from a 3 hour schedule to a 3.5 hour schedule. Her three hour schedule had been as follows:Eat at 6:45 am, 9:45am, 1:00pm, 4:00 pm, 6:30 pm and 9:00 pm.Her naps were an hour to an hour and a half in between each feeding (except the last one when we kept her awake the whole time).She is formula fed, and would eat 4 (occasionally 5) ounces at each feeding. She sleeps through the night (9pm – 6:30 am) maybe two out of the every three nights and wakes up once (varying times) the other nights. She would never do a “dream feed”. If I drop the fourth nap, and move to a 3.5 hour schedule, I will also be forced to drop a feeding. Do you think it’s too soon to do this?

Babywise Mom said…
You are welcome!By not sleeping well, is she waking early? Keep in mind that 3 months is a growth spurt age, so if she is waking early, that might be the reason.I personally wouldn’t drop a daytime feeding until she consistently sleeps well at night.If you have one interval where she could go longer, a combo schedule is just fine. That way you wouldn’t have to drop a feeding.

Sarah said…
Thanks, that’s helpful. I agree (and so did our doctor) that only five daytime feedings isn’t enough at this point. So, we’re doing a combo schedule and if she wakes early from a nap and is fussy, I’ll feed her early and then stretch the next cycle to 3.5 hours. It’s working pretty well. Thanks again!

Babywise Mom said…
You are welcome! I am glad things are working out.

Annie said…
This site is amazing!! It has been my lifesaver since Ezra was born. Ezra is 11 weeks old and for the last week has been sleeping 11 hours at night. He wasn’t ever waking up for his dream feed so I dropped it. Before that he had been sleeping through the night after his dream feed for about two weeks. He’s on a 3 hour schedule. I usually have to wake him from naps, except for the last nap of the day where he usually is cranky and won’t sleep a lot. Should I just stay on the 3 hour schedule? Is it too soon to drop the fourth nap? Should I go on to a 3.5 schedule? Right now he has 5 feedings a day. Thanks!

Babywise Mom said…
Annie, I would wait until he is closer to 4 months old to drop the fourth nap. It is totally normal for baby to be cranky for that last nap, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t need it at all. It is okay if it is a short, 30 minute catnap.

Lauren said…
Hi- i have 4 month old twins [born at 37 weeks so no real adjustment in age]. currently we are on a 3 hour schedule of 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, and then 6:30 pm, down to bed by 7:30 pm and dreamfeed at 10 pm. we are phasing out the dreamfeed as they don’t really seem to need it that much and sleep from 7:30 until 7 am. This started about 4 weeks ago. they take a great morning nap and usually an ok nap between 10 am and 1 pm but there last 2 naps are usually 45 minutes and they are cranky for the last nap. should i try to just drop the 4th nap and move bedtime to 7 pm? i have tried to move to a combo schedule but usually one won’t make it sleepwise [which one won’t make it varies]. thanks!

Babywise Mom said…
Lauren, I always drop the fourth nap about four months, so yes, that is what I would do 🙂

Cameron said…
I’ve been reading your blog for a while, but never commented until now! I’m hoping you can help!My daughter is 3 months old and she started sleeping through the night 11-12 hours on her own 2 weeks ago. Right now, this is her schedule:7:30am – wake up & nurse1.5 hours waketimenap 1.5 hours10:30am – nurse1.5 hours waketimenap (was 1.5 hours before STTN, now is only 30-60 minutes)1:30pm – nurse1.5 hours waketimenap (was 1.5 hours before STTN, now is only 30-60 minutes)4:30pm – nurse1.75-2 hours waketimenap (30 minutes)7:00pm – nurse, bath, bed around 7:30 – 8:00pm(she then sleeps until we wake her up at 7:30am)We do a bath right after her last feeding & then do her bedtime routine because this works best for her. We tried to move her bath to earlier in the day or before her last feeding and those totally messed up nighttime. The problem I’m having is since she started doing this, her naps have gotten shorter – obviously because she’s getting so much sleep at night that she doesn’t seem to need as much during the day. Her wake times have gotten longer, too. Before she STTN, she would have 1.5 hours of wake time, then a nap for 1.5 hours, then a feeding. Now, she will have 1.5 hours of wake time before the first nap and she will sleep until I wake her up. Then she will have 1.5-2 hours of wake time before the next 2 naps, but will only sleep about 30 minutes. So then when she wakes up, it’s been 2.5 hours since she ate and she never eats a full feeding if I go ahead and try to feed her then. So our eat/wake/sleep cycle gets messed up.I’m also thinking it’s time to drop the short 4th nap. It was always about 30 minutes, even with the longer other 3 naps. But she always would go 2 hours after her 4th feeding before falling asleep for the 4th nap. I’m nervous to switch to a 3.5 hour schedule because she’s sleeping so long at night and I want to keep her at 5 feedings each day. She doesn’t do well if we put her to bed earlier than 7 or later than 8. It messes up her nighttime. Any suggestions? I’m not sure if that even really all makes sense. I’m so happy about sleeping through the night, but now I just don’t know what to do with naps, eat/wake/sleep cycle, the 4th nap or stretching feedings. I was thinking about maybe doing this – 7:30am – wake up & nurse*nap11:00am – nurse*nap2:00pm – nurse*nap5:00pm – nurse*no nap7:00pm – nurse, bath, bedbut that will only work if she actually sleeps for the last nap right up to 5:00pm because otherwise, she’s going way longer than 2.5 hours of waketime at the end of the day. I think she can do 2.5 hours because she always did 2. I don’t think she can do 3.I just don’t know what to do. She ends up being awake for an hour sometimes before I feed her again and then she’ll fall asleep when I’m nursing her! Then the whole rest of the day gets messed up.

Babywise Mom said…
Cameron, One thing to consider is growth spurt. 3 months old is a common growth spurt age.Another is that maybe she wasn’t ready for a longer waketime yet. I would go back to 1.5 hours after her first nap to see if that fixes it.By now, you can drop that fourth nap as you had the idea if needed. But also be aware of a developmental leap that often messes things up at that age. See “wonder weeks” for more on this.

The OD’s said…
My daughter has thrown me for a loop. She is 4 months + 1 week. She has never STTN, the longest she has ever gone is 7 hours between her DF and an 3-4 a.m. feeding (obviously she is waking herself for this, I’m not). She is on a three hour schedule during the day, and eating within 15 minutes of her scheduled time. Her OWT is only one hour, and in the morning I think it is as soon as 45 minutes. Even when I am pretty sure she has gone down at the right time for a nap, she may wake up even an hour early (though this is not common). When that happens I let her stay up and feed her at her scheduled time, unless of course she shows me that she is hungry before then. I don’t know if this is best for her though, so if you would do something different, I’m up for advice.Just in the last week she has been showing me signs that she is ready for her 4th nap to drop. So typically I keep her up until her 7 pm feeding, though I realized last night that I should move the feeding to 6:30 and bedtime to about 7. The last few nights I’ve allowed her to cat nap during that normal 4th nap time, and it seems like it might make her nights worse when I do. Is it your’s, or anyone else’s experience, that if your baby needs more WT during the day that they will make up for it during the night? When she does wake between 3-4 I have been letting her be awake, fussing or complaining, a little longer each night. When I do tend to her, I wait until she is really crying for at least a few minutes, if not 10, and then I have been nursing her only to the point where she is no longer really sucking, when she is just at that ‘hanging out’ sort of sucking. I have to get both sides or she will cry when I put her down. When she is all finished and I put her back down (she is still swaddled, btw), she tends to stay awake for like another hour, and the other night it was two. This isn’t always a problem, but sometimes after those two hours pass she becomes overly tired and cries. I am posting this all here because I am wondering if it is likely that the reason she is giving herself a WT during the night is linked to her taking a cat nap during that normal 4th nap time? Anyone else experience this to be true? Last night, after she had been in bed for an hour (after her bedtime feeding), she woke up with a sudden, loud, top of her lungs, painful cry. Hubby and I quickly rushed in, unclothed her, and she seemed to still be asleep, but calmed down after a few minutes in my arms. Since we weren’t sure what that was all about (going to talk to the ped this morning), I kept her in the bed with me, and allowed her to nurse herself to sleep as she wanted (it was SUCH a scary cry). At about 4:45 she woke up, just all on her own, obviously not hungry, and was talking and blowing raspberries. When I offered her food she didn’t take it. She was happy and playful (though I didn’t play back). About an hour or so later she decided to nurse again, but continued to just stay sort of awake for the next hour. Soooo is she needing to be made to stay awake during that entire 4th nap, you think? Today, even if she is very tired, I will try to keep her awake the whole time to see if it makes a difference. I’m just wanting some validation, direction, or both. BW was not as successful with my first, because I wasn’t consistent. I’ve tried to really crack down on myself this time around, making sure baby girl is eating at the right times, getting her naps in and at the right times, and giving her a consistent bedtime, so why is she still waking at night? And now why is she creating for herself a WT at 4 in the morning? I’m trying to think of any other details that may be helpful. Basically I am just laying this all out to say: what would you do different, what would you do the same: what is your advice and encouragement? Thank you in advance! I am hoping that by the third child, Lord willing we have a third, I’ll be an expert in all things baby and all things BW 🙂

After revisiting the book, and reading some of your other posts, I’m slowly figuring out what the cause of some of my problems are. If I could, I would have just gone ahead and deleted my previous post, but since I can’t I thought I’d add this addendum :)Thank you so much for your blog! Seriously I am SO grateful!

Babywise Mom said…
Thanks for updating! I am glad you are figuring it out–it will a great skill for you to be able to have!