My singleton, M, turned 7 months old yesterday. Over the last month his sleeping patterns have become much more dependable than his 3 month old sleep schedule. There were two “problems” with M’s sleep schedule at 3 months:

  1. He was taking short naps
  2. He had a very late bedtime

During this time I started thinking back to when the twins were the same age. And, I remembered that we also had these “problems” with one of the twins at the same age.

I decided to write this post to help out other parents who might be dealing with short naps and an unpredictable sleep schedule at 3 months old. I want you to know, this is a temporary moment in your life. It will get easier and you will sleep again.

Please note, there are affiliate links in this post. Read my privacy & disclosure policy at the bottom of this page to learn more.

3 Month Old Baby Sleep Expectations

If you google a 3 month old sleep schedule you will get a whole lot of information. Most of the baby sleep schedules I found for 3 months to 6 months were not in line with what my babies were doing.

As a new mom, this led me to needlessly worry that my kids would never be good sleepers. 2 out of 3 of my children would take cat naps throughout the day until approximately 6 months old.

For my singleton, at 6 months he went from taking 4 to 5 naps per day to a dependable 3 naps per day. And once he transitioned to 3 naps per day – the cat naps ended.

Your ultimate guide to baby sleep at 3 months.

Example 3 Month Old Sleep Schedule

I thought it would be helpful to share a typical 3 month old sleep schedule, that includes short naps. The list below gives a representative schedule for a 3 month old.

  • 8am – wake up
  • 9am – nap #1
  • 10:30am – wake up from nap #1
  • 12:30pm – nap #2
  • 1pm – wake up from nap #2
  • 2:30pm – nap #3
  • 3:30pm – wake up from nap #3
  • 5:15pm – nap #4
  • 6pm – wake up from nap #4
  • 8pm – nap #5
  • 8:30pm – wake up from nap #5
  • 11pm – bedtime

The most important thing to pay attention to is how long a baby should be awake between naps. A 3 month old should be awake for 1.5 hours to 2 hours after waking up from a nap.

As you can see from the schedule above, this generally holds true. But, keep in mind, there are times during the day where this could end up being a little bit longer.

3 Months Old & Short Naps

When my kids were newborns they would take long naps, which means a nap that is at least 1 hour long. But around 2 or 3 months old, out of the blue they started taking short naps throughout the day.

This change was alarming and I started trying to find out if short naps were something to be concerned about. What I found, was quite a bit of information indicating short naps are bad.

And, yes, it was confirming my fear that there was something wrong with my baby’s sleep habits. Well both of my kids are great examples of short naps being fine at 3 months old.

3 Month Old Night Sleep Length

Even though my kids were taking short naps, they were sleeping a dependable 6-7 hrs at night. Why was I worried about naps?

My kids were happy babies and they were sleeping well at night. A 6 hour stretch was a welcome break after dealing with the newborn phase.

Should You Try Sleep Training At 3 Months?

My advice for parents of babies taking short naps is to wait until your baby is at least 6 months old before trying to intervene with any sleep training techniques.

Secondly, be sure you start (or maybe continue) implementing strategies to get your baby to sleep through the night. There are small, easy things you can do from the time your baby is a newborn to help teach good sleeping habits.

Don’t be discouraged and stop doing these things. Stay the course. Once your baby is down to 3 naps per day, you should see a big improvement with predicting your baby’s sleep patterns.

What to do about short naps at 3 months.

Baby Sleep Schedule At 7 Months

I want to briefly share my singleton’s sleep schedule at 7 months old. This will give you an idea of what to expect for baby sleep a few months down the road from now.

My 7 month old baby now takes 3 naps per day. Some are short, 30 to 45 minutes and some are long at 1 to 2 hours.

Some days the first nap is long and other days it’s the second nap. The third nap is typically short because it’s the nap before bedtime.

The good news is he now has a more predictable sleeping schedule, making life a little bit easier.

3 Month Old Bedtime

Another thing that was stressing me out when my kids were 3 months old was a late bedtime. As with short naps, some light reading on the internet might lead you to believe you are a horrible parent if your baby’s bedtime is later than 8pm.

Well, I am here to tell you do not waste your time worrying!

J, one of our twins, used to go to bed anywhere between 11pm and 1am. I didn’t know what to do. Well, by the time she was 9 months old her bedtime was 8pm, and it has remained at that time for 2 plus years.

Slowly and naturally from 6-9 months her bedtime inched closer and closer to 8pm, without any intervention from us. So far, M is on a similar path. At 3 months he would go to bed around midnight. But, today, at 7 months old, his bedtime is currently 9pm.

If your baby is waking up at a time in the morning that is okay for you, then do not mess with their bedtime.

The late bedtimes at 3 months meant our babies would sleep until 8am. This was the perfect wake-up time for our household.

Don’t get me wrong, they would wake up for a feeding and diaper change. But, they would go back to sleep for a few more hours after this.

More Baby Sleep Help

If you just need a little help just staying organized, then you should get these printable baby schedules for the first year.

Now, if you are struggling to understand your baby’s sleep schedule and it’s stressing you out, then I highly recommend you invest in this baby sleep schedule binder.

This baby sleep binder was put together by a mom and certified pediatric sleep consultant. If you need help with any of the following, it’s totally worth it.

  • Printable schedules from 0-4 years old
  • Resolving short naps
  • How to stop early baby wake times
  • Establishing a baby sleep plan
  • Guidance on when to drop a nap
  • Help getting your baby on a regular sleep schedule

If you are just completely exhausted from your baby’s sleep troubles, then definitely grab the baby sleep schedule binder today. My baby’s sleep schedule was one of my biggest stressors. So, in my opinion anything that helps me and my kids get better sleep is 100% worth the investment.

It will really take some of the stress and guess work away every time there is a schedule change during your baby’s (then toddler’s) first 4 years of life. Plus, the reviews are through the roof!

Managing Sleep At 3 Months Old

The biggest thing I am hoping you will take away from this post is to not to stress over your child’s sleep at 3 months. If your baby is happy, and his awake time between naps make sense, you are on the right track.

Just continue or start teaching good sleeping habits to help your baby learn to sleep without being held. Babies seem to reach a milestone around 6 months old, where they start taking more consistent and longer naps.

If your baby is at least six months old and is not napping or sleeping great at night, you can consider using sleep training to teach him or her how to be a better sleeper.

I hope this post helped you understand a 3 month old sleep schedule and put your mind at ease about short naps and late bedtimes at this age. Hang in there, and before you know it, you should be getting a goodnight’s sleep again.

Everything you need to know about your 3-month old's short naps.

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