Looking for a 14 month old sleep schedule? See our sample sleep schedules and get help figuring out if your 14 month old is ready to drop to one nap.
Around 14 months of age, there’s potentially a big shift in your baby’s sleep schedule.
By the end of this blog post you’ll be able to:
- Understand the changes that happen around 14 months old and how it impacts your baby’s sleep
- Determine whether your baby is ready to drop to one nap
- Learn how to make the 2-to-1 nap transition happen
- Get sample schedules for both one nap per day and two naps per day
- Recognize the signs of dropping a nap, in case your baby isn’t quite ready.
Let’s dive into your baby’s growth and development, and how that affects a 14 month old sleep schedule.
How Much Sleep Does a 14 Month Old Need?
Busy toddler bodies need to rest in order to keep up with all of the action.
I recommend that your 14 month old get a total of 13–15 hours of total sleep over a 24-hour period. Typically, this breaks down to around 11 to 12 hours of sleep at night, and 2–3 hours of daytime sleep.
The wildcard around this age is that some toddlers are ready to consolidate their day sleep into one longer nap, while others still stretch their sleep out over two naps.
How Many Naps Should A 14 Month Old Have?
Some babies may still need to be on two daytime naps at 14 months old and some babies may be ready to make the transition to one nap.
This transition from two naps to one will usually happen sometime between the 13 and 18 month mark.
On average, I see many toddlers ready to move to a 1-nap schedule around 14 months.
And this transition can be a doozy!
Switching to just one daily nap means you now have to stretch your baby’s awake time to about 5 hours.
That’s a big change, especially when they’ve been accustomed to wake windows that are more like 3.5 hours long.
Keep reading to find out if your 14 month old is ready to drop to one nap and how to do it.
Is 14 Months Too Early for One Nap?
14 months old is not too early for one nap. In fact, most babies make the 2-to-1 nap transition between 13–18 months old, with the average age being 14 months.
Make sure your baby is showing signs of readiness before your start the transition process.
Signs your baby is ready to make the 2 to 1 nap transition:
- It’s taking longer for your child to fall asleep for their morning or afternoon nap. (Or they consistently skip either nap for multiple days in a row.)
- Your baby used to take consistent naps that were each longer than an hour. Now, they’re taking short naps, only napping for about 30 minutes at a time.
- Your toddler is waking up too early the in morning, before 6 a.m.
- Bedtime tantrums are becoming the norm. Your toddler is either playing instead of falling asleep or throwing a fit when you try to leave them in their room at bed time.
If you see these signs over the course of several days, it’s likely time to drop to one nap.
How to Make the One-Nap Transition
This is a tricky baby sleep schedule transition, so I encourage you to be patient. The changes and tweaks you make aren’t going to stick right away.
In fact, as you start to make the transition to one nap, you can expect to run into some hiccups.
It’s a Gradual Process
Don’t expect the transition to happen overnight. It can take up to 6 weeks for your toddler to get fully on board with the one-nap schedule. You’ll want to slowly extend their wake windows so they start to handle more awake time, without getting overtired.
Be Flexible
During the transition there may be some days where your toddler needs two naps and other days where one nap is fine.
There might also be days where you have to fit in a catnap before bedtime, and that’s totally normal.
And there might be days where your toddler takes too short of a nap, ad you opt for an early bedtime instead of squeezing in an evening catnap.
Try not to be too rigid during the transition and remember that flexibility is part of it.
Keep Your Sleep Routines
Continue to do your baby’s bedtime routine and nap routine. Having some consistency around routines when so many other things are changing, can be calming to your baby.
What Time Should a 14 Month Old Go To Bed?
An ideal bedtime for your 14 month old is between 7 and 8 pm.
Your 14 month old’s bedtime will depend on whether or not they have made the transition to one nap.
At this age, toddlers need between 11 to 12 hours of sleep at night.
If your little one is still sticking to a two-nap schedule for now, you can anticipate that bedtime will probably be between 12-13 hours after they’ve woken up for the day.
So for a 14 month old who is on a two-nap schedule, and wakes up at 7:00 am, you can expect bedtime to fall somewhere between 7:00-8:00 pm.
It might take a little extra time after the second nap of the day to build up enough sleep pressure for bedtime.
However, if you’ve made the transition to just one nap, you’ll find that your active toddler is very ready for bed by the end of the day. With a one-nap schedule, consider putting your 14 month old to bed right around 12 hours after they wake up for the day.
If the transition to one nap happened recently, you might even push bedtime up by 30-60 minutes, especially if their only nap of the day was on the shorter side and you notice signs that your toddler is overtired.
For a 14 month old on a one-nap schedule, who wakes up at 7:00 am, you might expect bedtime to be closer to 6:30-7:00 pm.
14 Month Old Sample Schedules
Be sure to have your baby’s wake windows between 3.5 to 5 hours long. This allows plenty of time to fit in a lot of activity. It will help tire out their bodies and build up enough sleep pressure to sleep through the night.
14 Month Old Sample Schedule (On Two Naps)
Here’s an example of a 14 month old daily schedule on two naps. It includes enough awake time for your little one to build up sleep pressure and sleep through the night.
Make sure to fit in feedings and solid foods as needed. Some parents are still nursing, while some have moved to cow’s milk at this age.
14 Month Old Sample Schedule (On One Nap)
14 Month Old Sleep Schedule Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to 14 month olds and sleep.
Q: Why is my 14 month old refusing to nap?
Refusing to nap, especially during the first nap of the day, is typically a sign that you need to consider dropping to one nap.
When your toddler is fighting nap time, is might also be that they haven’t had enough awake time to build up enough sleep pressure.
Finally, your toddler refusing to nap could just be due to some cool new skills they are learning.
Q: How can I create a sleep-friendly environment for my 14-month-old?
Create a sleep-friendly environment in your child’s bedroom by using a white noise sound machine for naps and bedtime. You can also use blackout curtains to make the room dark, which helps promote sleep.
Q: Is it normal for a 14-month-old to still wake up during the night?
Babies are capable of sleeping all night without night feeds at this age, but that doesn’t mean they have the skills to do so.
So while it may be common and normal for a 14 month old to wake up in the middle of the night, that doesn’t mean they can’t sleep all night.
Q: Is there a 14 month old sleep regression?
Your child can definitely experience a sleep regression around 14 months old.
Whenever your little one experiences an increase in cognitive or physical development, they’re at risk of taking a step back with sleep progress. It natural—don’t stress!
Additionally, your 14 month old may be having some separation anxiety.
As with any sleep regression, my biggest advice is to remain consistent to your 14 month old sleep schedule, and practice patience. You also might need to re-up on your favorite toddler sleep training to help your child through this regression.
Also, don’t forget to build in lots of time during the day for your 14 month old to practice the skills they’re working on. This will help them get energy out during the day and hopefully sleep at bed and nap time.
Q: Is it normal for a 14-month-old to experience separation anxiety at bedtime?
Yes, absolutely. Your little one may be at the peak of separation anxiety and it can be hard when you leave! Make sure to spend a lot of time during the day in their nursery, so they are comfortable sleeping in it all night.
At this age, it can also be helpful to introduce a lovey or stuffed animal. Your baby can sleep with a blanket now, so providing them with a small lightweight blanket that smells like you might also help.
Q: Are there any specific sleep training methods or approaches recommended for a 14-month-old?
At 14 months, the two sleep training methods I use the most are the Chair Method and the 3-Minute Drill. The Ferber Method is also an option at 14 months.
I go over my two favorite methods as well as how to do them in the Baby D.R.E.A.M. System.
Get Better Sleep with The Baby D.R.E.A.M. System
If you want someone to walk you through the process of sleep training, let me help. The Baby D.R.E.A.M. System is for babies 4 months through 2.5 years old. I’ll walk you through how to establish daily routines, sleep schedules, and sleep training techniques to help you break the sleep associations you no longer find beneficial! Check it out here.
Q: Should I still be using a crib or transitioning to a toddler bed at this age?
Keep your young toddler in a crib as close to age 3 if possible. 14 month olds have a hard time understanding boundaries and it’s too early to transition to a toddler bed.
Q: Is it okay for my 14-month-old to still use a pacifier or rely on certain sleep associations?
If your 14 month old is still using a pacifier and it’s not disrupting their sleep, then it’s fine to keep it. It’s only time to take away the pacifier once it starts interfering with your baby’s sleep.
Q: What are some 14 month old milestones?
This is an exciting time in toddlerhood, as your baby makes major (and literal) strides in their growth.
There are so many milestones they’re working on.
Your little one is probably working on being fully mobile and mastering their walk, which is super exciting!
They are also getting much more in to interactive play. They’ll begin to flex those new problem solving skills and improved coordination while they’re in play mode.
Your toddler is also starting to understand so much more of what you’re saying and asking them. While they might not be able to contribute much to the conversation yet, their little brains are working overtime to catalog all of these new words.
All of that growth is super exciting. But just like with any other major physical or cognitive developments throughout your baby’s life so far, these milestones can foster just the right conditions for a sleep regression.
After all, practicing these new skills is so much more interesting than sleeping!
If you have any questions about your 14 month old’s sleep schedule, leave them in the comments below and we’ll help you troubleshoot.
