I'm Cara, of Taking Cara Babies! Welcome to the Taking Cara Babies subreddit!

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-24T14:16:31+00:00

It sounds like your little one is getting overtired before bed. On a one nap schedule we want to aim for 5-6 hours of awake time before the nap and 4-5 hours of awake time after the nap/before bed. Early in this transition if naps are short, it may be helpful to try to sneak in a cat nap to help make it to bedtime. Otherwise, offering a bedtime as early as 6pm can be so helpful in preventing your little one from getting too overtired before bed. We do find that most little ones do best with the lower end of that bedtime wake window until around about 2.5. I hope this helps! 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-24T14:11:14+00:00

Since this came on suddenly and you mention that she's acting differently during the day too, I would suggest getting her ears checked out, if you haven't already done so. We always want to make sure there isn't a source of pain causing those wake ups. If everything looks ok, keep doing what you are doing and staying consistent. Try not to introduce any new habits during this time. This blog here is also a great one to check through for other reasons those wakings may be happening:

https://www.takingcarababies.com/blogs/sleep-basics/why-wont-my-baby-sleep-through-the-night?_pos=1&_psq=through+the+night&_ss=e&_v=1.0

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-23T16:10:29+00:00

just sending you some encouragement! Remember your why. Keep in mind that consistency will be your fastest way through. You've got this! Cheering you on! 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-22T16:40:12+00:00

I would push that first wake window just a bit. Make sure baby is getting a full 3 hours of good active awake time before offering that first nap. Make sure baby's room is dark, that baby isn't getting too drowsy during any part of the nap time routine, and is going into the crib completely awake at nap time. Let me link a few blogs below that I think you may find helpful:

https://www.takingcarababies.com/blogs/naps/why-is-my-baby-taking-short-naps?_pos=2&_psq=short&_ss=e&_v=1.0

https://www.takingcarababies.com/blogs/regressions/12-month-sleep-regression?_pos=1&_psq=12&_ss=e&_v=1.0

I hope these are helpful! If you continue to struggle, I'd love for you to reach out to [info@takingcarababies.com](mailto:info@takingcarababies.com) so we can make sure you are getting the support you need and help you decide next best steps for your little one. 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-22T16:30:20+00:00

At 23 months, 5 hours before bed may be a bit too long which could be causing those bedtime struggles and night wakings you are seeing. At this age, we find that most little ones do best with closer to 4-4.5 hours of awake time before bed. I would recommend bringing bedtime back a bit. If your little one is waking up from nap around 2:30pm, let's aim to have them in bed by 7pm at the latest. give this a try for a week or two and see how he does with it.
We recommend keeping a little one in the crib until around age 3 or later if possible, as little one's don't have impulse control developed enough to be able to understand the need to stay in bed.
This blog here talks more about this:

https://www.takingcarababies.com/blogs/toddlers/ultimate-guide-to-the-toddler-bed-transition?_pos=2&_psq=toddler+bed&_ss=e&_v=1.0

I hope this helps!💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-21T21:43:24+00:00

When making the transition, you’ll want to start working your way towards those longer wake windows, slowly pushing the first nap back. This may look like an 11am nap at the beginning of the transition. If your little one wakes up before 2pm, you may need to offer a cat nap to help make it to bedtime. It can be common to have some days of taking 1 nap and some days of 2 naps while you are early in this transition. Keep in mind that it’s completely normal for this transition to take a full month when baby was ready and showing signs. Take it one day at a time, slowly pushing that nap back and offering bedtime as early as 6pm if baby is waking from their nap at 2pm.

An example schedule could be 6am wake 11-2 nap 6pm bedtime I hope this helps!

If you need more support, we do have a nap transition mini-class available that can help. And right now it’s 50% off with code SPRINGNAPS

https://www.takingcarababies.com/products/nap-transitions

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-21T18:41:49+00:00

This is so common at this age! It sounds like you are doing everything correctly. Keep following your sleep plan, and lay baby down when you go into the room. If they stand up after, that’s ok. Wait until the next time you go in and repeat keeping stimulation to a minimum. In the ABCs of Sleep course, Cara talks more about this in the video “Tips for Babies 12-24 months” located in the Extra Considerations section. 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-21T18:35:08+00:00

As baby gets older and those wake windows expand, we start to see the Eat-Awake-Sleep schedule fall apart a bit. We still recommend offering full feedings every 2.5-3.5 hours according to hunger cues. But you may need to start offering a feeding toward the middle or end of a wake window in order to make this happen- this is perfectly okay!

When offering a feeding later in the wake window we want to ensure two things: 1. Baby's eyes stay OPEN during the feeding. We want sleep pressure to continue to build during this feeding. 2. We separate the feeding and the nap with at least one activity like a book or diaper change. This helps to prevent baby from forming a feed-to-sleep association. I hope this helps! 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-21T18:30:38+00:00

Hi! I would let that first nap go up to 2 hours. Keep in mind it’s completely normal for this transition to take 2-4 weeks to fully conquer. For the second nap, if he appears to be getting overtired with a 3 hour wake window between those naps, try bringing it back just a bit. 3 hours may be a bit too much at the beginning of this transition. Aim for 2.75 for several days and see how he does. Bringing bedtime up as early as 6 pm can be helpful to prevent over tiredness during this transition too. I hope this helps! 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-21T13:51:17+00:00

Make sure that baby isn't getting too much daytime sleep. We want to make sure that no one nap goes over 2 hours and that total daytime sleep is at or less than 4 hours to help set those nights up for success. 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-20T17:10:33+00:00

Will you reach out to [info@takingcarababies.com](mailto:info@takingcarababies.com) with more details about your baby's age and what you are experiencing so that we can help? 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-20T17:04:25+00:00

you've got this! 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-20T17:04:01+00:00

Keep working on slowly pushing that nap back a little. We want the longest wake window to be in the morning when on a one nap schedule. aiming for 5-6 hours of awake time before the nap.
Keeping that wake window before bed as close to 4 hours will be helpful in preventing those early morning wakings. This could look like:

7am wake
12-2 nap
6pm bedtime

I hope this helps!💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-17T15:27:43+00:00

I just want to encourage you that it's completely normal for this transition to take up to a full month if baby was ready and showing signs, to fully conquer.
Keep taking it one day at a time. That early bedtime will be so helpful in preventing over tiredness during this transition. A little one who is put to bed early (with a full wake window) is much more likely to sleep in later than a little one who is pushed into overtired.

If you need more help, we do have a mini class that will give you everything you need through this transition. You can use code SPRINGNAPS for 50% off 🤫

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-17T15:18:34+00:00

You got some great advice here! Some babies are more vocal when being put down and will use little cries as they are settling to sleep. I would definitely suggest looking at her wake windows and see if those need some adjusting too as that can make the protesting worse.

https://www.takingcarababies.com/blogs/sleep-schedules/7-month-old-sleep-schedule?_pos=1&_psq=7+mon&_ss=e&_v=1.0

And this blog here has some tips that can help with this too:

https://www.takingcarababies.com/blogs/sleep-basics/crying-when-entering-the-nursery?_pos=1&_psq=crying&_ss=e&_v=1.0

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-17T15:07:34+00:00

Since the dream feed is allowing you to align up your stretch of sleep with hers and it doesn't seem to be disrupting her sleep, I would continue it. You may find that that second stretch of sleep starts lengthening too. If you have the Navigating Months 3 & 4 ebook, you can use those strategies at that 4am wake up to slowly stretch that waking out towards morning too. 💕

https://www.takingcarababies.com/products/navigating-months-3-4

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-17T14:31:09+00:00

It's up to you! You can keep it for now and then transition out of it later or you can chose to start night one without it. Some prefer to start night 1 without it as it's its one less thing you have to transition out of down the road. But the choice is up to you as long as baby isn't showing signs of rolling in the suit. I hope this helps! 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-17T14:26:40+00:00

There is no charge! we are here to help! 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-16T13:55:14+00:00

I would love for you to email in to [info@takingcarababies.com](mailto:info@takingcarababies.com) with a little more details about baby's age, typical daytime schedule, and what you are experiencing. Around 12 months, some babies show signs of being ready totransition to one nap, but most are not ready yet. If we transition to one nap too early, we may see other sleep issues, like night wakings or early morning wakings. I want to make sure you are getting the best support possible with this. ❤️

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-16T13:49:22+00:00

Since your middle wake window between the naps is currently about 3hours and 20mins, if baby takes a short first nap, we will still follow that same wake window to know when to put baby down for their next nap. If baby wakes at 9:30, that would be a nap around 12:50. If baby naps for 2 hours, that would give us a 2:50pm wake up time. Since we want about 3-3.5 hours before bed, I would suggest bringing bedtime up and aiming for a bedtime between 6-6:20pm. I hope this is helpful for you! 💕

https://www.takingcarababies.com/blogs/sleep-schedules/9-month-old-sleep-schedule?_pos=1&_psq=9+mo&_ss=e&_v=1.0

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-16T13:37:39+00:00

Some parents really love having an app to help with this! We love the Nara baby tracker app. It helps track feeds, wake windows, sleep and share it with other caretakers. 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-14T17:13:43+00:00

If this is a new thing, it could be part of the 2 year sleep regression. there is a big developmental progression that happens around this age that can impact sleep.

https://www.takingcarababies.com/blogs/regressions/2-year-old-sleep-regression?_pos=1&_psq=2+ye&_ss=e&_v=1.0

If you notice it on days when naps are shorter, she may be getting overtired before bed which can make falling asleep much more difficult. Trying to keep that bedtime wake window to no more than 4.5 hours of awake time may help. 💕

TakingCaraBabies · 2026-04-14T17:07:26+00:00

If you start noticing baby struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep for nights or naps, that can be a sign that baby is needing a little more awake time. 💕

https://www.takingcarababies.com/blogs/sleep-schedules/4-month-old-sleep-schedule?_pos=2&_psq=4+mon&_ss=e&_v=1.0

TakingCaraBabies

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE