14 to 20 Month Old Sleep Schedule: 14, 15, 16, 18 & 20 Month Wake Windows & Naps

The six-month stretch between 14 and 20 months is when your child graduates from babyhood into a true one-nap toddler schedule. At 14 months, you are often balancing on the tightrope between two capped naps and one early midday nap; by 16, 18, and 20 months, a single post-lunch nap from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm anchors the entire household day.

Below are the exact clinical sleep totals, wake windows, and worked clock-time timetables for 14, 15, 16, 18, and 20 month old toddlers—so you can see how each month progresses without guesswork. You can also plug in your toddler’s exact morning wake-up time in our wake window calculator or compare all stages on the sample schedules hub.

How Much Sleep Do 14, 15, 16, 18, and 20 Month Olds Need?

A 14-to-20-month sleep schedule refers to the structured 24-hour toddler timetable transitioning from two daytime naps (3.5–4.25 hour wake windows) to a single midday nap (4.5–5.5 hour wake windows), delivering 11 to 14 hours of combined night and daytime sleep per American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) guidelines.

While the AASM consensus statement groups all 1-to-2-year-olds under a 11 to 14 hour daily umbrella, longitudinal sleep logs (Galland et al., 2012) show subtle, critical shifts in morning stamina and nap capping between 14 and 20 months:

Age Band	Typical Nap Count	Morning Wake Window	Afternoon Wake Window (Before Bed)	Daytime Nap Total	Night Sleep Target	Total 24h Sleep
14 Months (2 Naps)	2 capped naps	3.25–3.75 hours	4.0–4.25 hours (3.5–3.75h mid-window)	2.0–2.25 hours (1h + 1h)	10.5–11 hours	12.5–13.5 hours
14 Months (1 Nap)	1 early midday nap	4.5–5.0 hours	4.25–4.75 hours	2.0–2.5 hours	11–11.5 hours	13.0–13.75 hours
15–16 Months	1 midday nap	4.75–5.25 hours	4.5–5.0 hours	2.0–2.5 hours	11.0–11.5 hours	13.0–13.5 hours
18 Months	1 midday nap	5.0–5.5 hours	4.75–5.25 hours	1.75–2.25 hours	10.75–11.25 hours	12.5–13.25 hours
20 Months	1 midday nap	5.25–5.5 hours	5.0–5.25 hours	1.5–2.0 hours (cap at 2h)	10.5–11.25 hours	12.25–13.0 hours

(If your child is still between 9 and 12 months, see our 9-to-12 month sleep schedule guide; if you are deciding whether today is the day to drop Nap 2, read our when to drop to one nap transition guide.)

14 Month Old Sleep Schedule: 2-Nap vs. 1-Nap Timetables Compared

Fourteen months is the median bridge month. If your 14-month-old still falls asleep within 15 minutes for both naps when you cap Nap 1 at 60 minutes, keep the two-nap schedule for another few weeks. If they play happily through Nap 2 for 10+ days despite a 45-minute morning nap, move to the 1-nap schedule.

Option A: 14-Month Capped 2-Nap Schedule (3.5 / 3.75 / 4.25h)

• 07:00 am — Morning Wake + milk and breakfast.
• 10:30 am – 11:30 am — Nap 1 (capped strictly at 60 minutes so afternoon sleep pressure builds).
• 12:00 pm — Lunch + active outdoor play.
• 03:15 pm – 04:15 pm — Nap 2 (capped at 60 minutes, waking no later than 4:15 pm).
• 07:55 pm — Start 25-minute bedtime routine.
• 08:20 pm — Lights Out (10h 40m night + 2h naps = 12h 40m total).

Option B: 14-Month New 1-Nap Schedule (4.75 / 4.5h)

• 07:00 am — Morning Wake + milk and breakfast.
• 11:15 am — Early Lunch (so hunger does not wake them 45 minutes into the nap).
• 11:45 am – 02:00 pm — Single Midday Nap (2.25 hours after a 4.75h morning window).
• 02:15 pm — Milk & Afternoon Snack + outdoor play.
• 06:00 pm — Start Bedtime Routine (bath, pyjamas, brush teeth, 2 books).
• 06:30 pm – 06:45 pm — Early Lights Out (11.25–11.5h night + 2.25h nap = 13.5h total while stamina adjusts).

How to Tell If Your 14-Month-Old Needs 1 Nap or 2 Naps Today

During the two-to-four-week transition window at 14 or 15 months, you do not have to force a single nap every single day. On daycare days or mornings when your toddler sleeps past 7:15 am, use the 1-nap schedule (12:00 pm nap); on days when they wake at 5:45 am or look exhausted by 10:15 am, use a two-nap rescue day (capping both naps at 60 minutes) so overtiredness does not accumulate.

15 & 16 Month Old Sleep Schedule (Locking In the 12:00–12:30 pm Nap)

When parents ask how much should a 15-month-old sleep or how much sleep does a 16-month-old need, the sweet spot is 13 to 13.5 hours total—built around a single midday nap that starts between 12:00 pm and 12:30 pm:

• 07:00 am — Wake & Milk (in straw/open cup) + 7:30 am solid breakfast.
• 10:00 am — Morning Snack + park or floor play.
• 11:30 am — Lunch (protein, complex carbs, and healthy fat).
• 12:15 pm – 02:30 pm — Midday Nap (2.25 hours after a 5.25h morning window).
• 02:45 pm — Afternoon Snack & Milk.
• 05:30 pm — Family Dinner.
• 06:45 pm — Start 30-Minute Bedtime Routine.
• 07:15 pm — Crib Awake for Bedtime (4.75h afternoon wake window).

18 & 20 Month Old Sleep Schedule (Navigating the 18-Month Regression)

Between 18 and 20 months, language explodes and physical stamina jumps: morning wake windows comfortably reach 5.25 to 5.5 hours, and afternoon windows sit at 5 to 5.25 hours. If your toddler suddenly screams at bedtime or wakes at 2:00 am during this window, they have hit the 18-month toddler sleep regression—the solution is consistency and capping the afternoon nap at 2 hours, never dropping the nap.

• 07:00 am — Morning Wake + breakfast at 7:30 am.
• 11:45 am — Lunch.
• 12:30 pm – 02:30 pm — Midday Nap (2 hours after a 5.5h morning window; at 20 months, wake by 2:15–2:30 pm if bedtime is drifting past 7:45 pm).
• 02:45 pm — Afternoon Snack + rough-and-tumble physical play outdoors.
• 05:45 pm — Dinner.
• 07:00 pm — Bath, Pyjamas, Toothbrushing & 2 Chosen Picture Books.
• 07:30 pm — Lights Out (5h afternoon window; 11.5h night + 2h nap = 13.5h total).

Step-by-Step: How to Fix Short 45-Minute Naps or 5:30 am Wakes at 14–20 Months

If your 14-to-20-month-old is waking up cranky after a single 45-minute midday sleep cycle or starting the day at 5:15 am, run this four-step reset for 7 days (you can log every nap and wake window on the 14-day diagnostic chart in our Sleep Toolkit Bundles):

1. Pull the midday nap 15 to 20 minutes earlier for 5 days: Paradoxically, the #1 cause of a 45-minute single nap in a 14-to-16-month-old is a morning wake window that stretched 20 minutes too long (5.5 hours when the toddler could only handle 4.75 hours). Moving crib placement from 12:30 pm back to 12:00 pm lowers cortisol so they bridge into the second hour of the nap.
2. Serve a calorie-dense lunch 30 to 40 minutes before the nap: Moving from two naps to one places the midday nap right across the traditional noon lunch hour. Offering a substantial lunch at 11:15–11:30 am prevents low blood sugar from waking your toddler at 1:15 pm.
3. Wait 10 to 12 minutes before entering the room after a 45-minute nap wake-up (“Crib 60/90”): When a 15-month-old wakes babbling or mildly fussing after 45 minutes in a pitch-dark room with ≤50 dB white noise, give them 10 to 12 minutes of space—many toddlers roll over and connect into a second 60-minute sleep cycle on their own.
4. Use a 6:30–6:45 pm rescue bedtime on any day the midday nap ends before 1:30 pm: Rather than offering a late 4:00 pm car catnap (which destroys bedtime drive and triggers split nights), protect night sleep by putting your toddler to bed 30 to 45 minutes early on short-nap days.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult your paediatrician if your toddler has persistent loud snoring, mouth breathing, paused breathing during sleep, restless leg movements, or daytime exhaustion despite adequate sleep duration.