# When did you notice the 2-3-4 nap pattern starting?



## jenfl (Oct 20, 2007)

I discovered the 2-3-4 pattern for naps (the first nap 2 hours after waking, second nap 3 hours after the end of the first, bedtime 4 hours after the end of the second nap) when my DD was an older baby, and it helped make so much sense of her day!

But since I came to this discovery late, I'm not sure when I can expect DS to start falling into that pattern. He's 2.5 months now, and definitely not there. But I have no idea if it'll be closer to 3-4 months or more like 6-7 months.

If you've noticed your LO likes this routine, when did that start?


----------



## LadyCatherine185 (Aug 12, 2008)

Never for my DS. His naps were all over the place. He did start getting more of a pattern to his naps around 8-9 months. Then it changed again around 11 months when he dropped to one nap.


----------



## MsVyky (May 29, 2009)

On a day at home with no errands or visitors, DD naps 2 hours after waking for 90 minutes +/- 30 min. She's awake for 2 hours, then her afternoon nap is 2 hours. She's up for 2 more hours and then takes a short nap round suppertime, then is ready for bed between 8 and 9.

Going anywhere throws it all off, though


----------



## jennybear (Sep 4, 2007)

We're pretty close to that schedule. DD is almost 6 months.

Generally, she's up at 6:30, naps from 8:30-10:30, up until 1:30, naps until 3 or so and in bed at 7pm. Every day is a little different, but that would be a pretty typical pattern.


----------



## mamadelbosque (Feb 6, 2007)

I honestly don't remember ever having that pattern. DS1 has always been an early riser (think 6-7am) and he used to nap from 10-11:30 or so, and then again from 2-4ish. He still sometimes naps from 2-4 but now at 3 skips it w/o too much issue fairly often.


----------



## Nicole730 (Feb 27, 2009)

I'd say a little after DD turned 3 months she started being awake for 2 hours after her first wake up instead of just 1 hour. Her first nap lengthened from 30min to 1hour. Then she is up for another 2 hours and back to sleep for another hour or so. Up for 1 hour and back to sleep again for like 1 hour. And so on, until bedtime, which is 7.


----------



## CookAMH (Jun 2, 2008)

I never really thought about it, but DS does have that pattern at 14 mo. This got started around 7mo.


----------



## askew (Jun 15, 2006)

DD is just getting into that pattern at 11 months.


----------



## snoopy5386 (May 6, 2005)

around 4-5 months.


----------



## Mom2M (Sep 23, 2006)

I never heard of this before but after reading about it, I realized that DD is basically in this pattern as long as I don't have her out during her usual nap times.
She is 7 months old


----------



## ElliesMomma (Sep 21, 2006)

we do that, except for the going to bed 4 hours after the second nap. i would be a slave to his sleep schedule if i "abided" by that schedule. but he definitely is tired two hours after waking in the morning, and he loves to get a second nap around 3 hours later. trouble is that he takes short cat naps. AND i have a 4 year old with swim lessons and library programs, and i have to take DS with me to those as well. so sometimes we're just not home for those naps. he does love a late afternoon nap too though. this, say around 5 - 6 pm. i did not realize that he would just as soon go to bed for the night right around then. well, not going to happen, sorry, i can't be putting him down at 6 pm, as we are sometimes (usually) still out and about.

overnight though he is sleeping so well. just wakes to nurse once or twice, stirs only really. i cosleep with him. he sleeps a good 10-12 hours overnight.


----------



## Abraisme (Mar 8, 2009)

My DD went to 3 naps per day around 6mo or so. She went to 2 naps a day around 8mo and now at 10mo she's between 1-2 naps a day. Her nap pattern changes so often that I don't even try to keep up anymore. I simply go with whatever she needs in the moment, as tomorrow it might be different.


----------



## nwatt (Sep 3, 2009)

At around 8 months DD settled into the 2-3-4 schedule. She also started going down a lot easier for naps then.


----------



## Carhootel (Jul 16, 2008)

~6 months probably. Before that I remember we were in an up for an hour, out for an hour pattern. Then up for 2 hours out for 2 hours (3 naps total) then 2-3-4


----------



## sarahr (Mar 29, 2007)

We're close to that at 4 months, with a little cat nap in the late afternoon because he can't quite make it 4 hours awake. But it only works that way if he gets long (hour plus) naps. This only happens if I can swaddle him and put him down in the crib, to sleep undisturbed. On too many days, we're out and about doing stuff with my older dd, so he only gets short naps and then can only be up for about 90 minutes between each one.


----------



## hakeber (Aug 3, 2005)

We don't have much of a pattern per se, but dd does usually have a nap around 3 hours after waking up for the day sleeps about two hours then she's up for another 4 and then another 2-3 hour nap and then up again and about 2 hours later it's bed...so more of a 3-4-2 pattern for us, which she settled into around 3 mos.

DS was a 3-4-3-er. 1-1.5 hr long naps and slept about 12 hours running at night by 5 mos old...god I miss that!


----------



## LyndsayMW (Mar 24, 2010)

My babe is 4.5 months and just _trying_ to go from 4 naps to 3 - The "perfect" day is up for 1.5 hours, nap 45, up for 2, nap for 1.5-2, up for 2, nap for 30-45, up for 2-3, then bed. Sometimes that long nap is short, and he takes four naps instead.

We don't do ANY scheduling/routines/etc., but have found www.trixietracker.com to be super interesting when it comes to sleep patterns. It is wild to look back over the last 4.5 months and see how ds' sleeping patterns have changed over time - the kinds of changes that you don't notice as they are happening.


----------



## SweetCarolineB (Jul 18, 2011)

My DD just turned 4mo & had regressed in her sleeping from 4-6 hours at a time at night to 1-2 hrs & out of desperation, we tried the 2-3-4 schedule. It was miraculous! Beginning with the first night she was back to a 5+ hr stretch and much happier, rested & more predictable during the day. I think the sleep regression that many babies experience when they are developmentally changing to more adult-like sleeping is a sign they are ready for more structure. Hope this helps & good luck!


----------



## SweetCarolineB (Jul 18, 2011)

My DD just turned 4mo & had regressed in her sleeping from 4-6 hours at a time at night to 1-2 hrs & out of desperation, we tried the 2-3-4 schedule. It was miraculous! Beginning with the first night she was back to a 5+ hr stretch and much happier, rested & more predictable during the day. I think the sleep regression that many babies experience when they are developmentally changing to more adult-like sleeping is a sign they are ready for more structure. Hope this helps & good luck!


----------



## SweetCarolineB (Jul 18, 2011)

My DD just turned 4mo & had regressed in her sleeping from 4-6 hours at a time at night to 1-2 hrs & out of desperation, we tried the 2-3-4 schedule. It was miraculous! Beginning with the first night she was back to a 5+ hr stretch and much happier, rested & more predictable during the day. I think the sleep regression that many babies experience when they are developmentally changing to more adult-like sleeping is a sign they are ready for more structure. Hope this helps & good luck!


----------



## Gracecody (Jul 28, 2006)

I saw that mentioned here and had never heard of it before. But I realized that was exactly what my baby has been doing, since just before 5 mos old when he stopped taking the evening cat nap. The only wild card is the length of his naps...the 2/3/4 works if he gets good restful naps each time. But lately he's been in absolute agony while cutting his first tooth and the nap length is not at all predictable. So even though your baby might get into this pattern there are variables that will still throw things for a loop!


----------



## MN BabyDust (Jan 24, 2011)

I hadn't heard of it either, but my 5 month old has recently started this pattern. Like the previous poster said, it depends on if she gets a nice long nap, if it gets cut short then everything is up in the air. Just in the last couple weeks did she cut the evening nap.


----------



## OkiMom (Nov 21, 2007)

Never for any of my children. Their nap times have been all over the place.


----------



## Blanca78 (Jul 26, 2009)

We didn't really get into a reliable-ish nap schedule, which roughly follows 2-3-4 until around 9 months or so. Even now, though, at 11 months old, DD has trouble going the full 3 hours sometimes, and will often last longer than 4 before bedtime. So it's an approximation.


----------

