Tap Baby Care13 Months · 10 min read
All about your 13 month old
Mimicking, showing affection, and possible nap resistance — your toddler is copying the world and testing the nap.
Read the guideAge Guide · 14 Months
All about your 14 month old
Fourteen months often looks like a toddler in motion: a few proud steps, a cruise along the couch, then a detour for a hug that lands on your knee. Walking practice can scramble naps even when two sleeps still make the most sense. This is a month of affection, wobbling independence, and a schedule that may need slightly longer wake windows rather than a sudden leap to one nap.
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Sleep at 14 months
14 month old sleep schedule: walking energy, bedtime testing, and the edge of one nap
At 14 months, many toddlers still do well with about 13.25 hours of total sleep: around 11 hours at night and 2–3 hours during the day. Some children remain solidly on two naps. Others begin to toy with one. The 2-to-1 nap transition commonly starts somewhere between 14 and 18 months, so mixed weeks are normal. Bedtime resistance also rises as toddlers test limits and sleepy cues get harder to read.
New walkers often sleep worse before they sleep better. Practicing steps is exciting, and that motor burst can show up as a toddler who stands in the crib, bounces, or protests lying down. Give extra floor time for walking practice during the day, keep the wind-down boring and predictable, and avoid treating every protest as a sign to drop a nap. Lengthen windows by 15 minutes at a time if they are wide awake at the old nap hour.
Signs that one nap may be approaching include consistently fighting or skipping the second nap, very short naps, and night sleep that regularly falls under 10 hours. Even then, a gradual shift works better than an overnight change: a few one-nap days, a two-nap “reset” day, and an earlier bedtime while the remaining nap lengthens. If you drop too soon, overtiredness often shows up as early rising and more night waking.
- Protect walking practice during the day so the crib is for rest, not rehearsal
- Treat bedtime stalling as limit-testing plus tiredness — keep the routine short and the same
- If the second nap is the one that fails, that is the usual nap to fade first
- Do not drop to one nap until your toddler can stay awake about 5 hours without falling apart
- Use an earlier bedtime on one-nap or skipped-nap days to limit overtiredness
What a day might look like at 14 months
This sample is a two-nap day with a 7:00 AM wake. If your toddler has already moved to one nap, expect a single midday sleep and an earlier bedtime while that nap lengthens.
- 7:00 AM
- Wake for the day · Breakfast
- 10:15 AM
- Nap 1 · about 1.25 hours (3.25-hour wake window)
- 11:30 AM
- Lunch and play · walking practice
- 3:15 PM
- Nap 2 · about 1 hour (3.75-hour wake window)
- 4:15 PM
- Snack and play
- 6:00 PM
- Dinner
- 7:45 PM
- Bedtime routine
- 8:00 PM
- Asleep · about 3.75-hour last window
Sleep at 14 months, by the numbers
These are guidelines. Walking bursts, teething, and the first hints of a nap drop can make a week look uneven without meaning something is wrong.
~13.25 hrs
Total sleep in 24 hours — often about 11 hours at night and 2–3 hours during the day.
1–2 naps
Many toddlers are still on two naps; some begin mixing in one-nap days between 14 and 18 months.
3.25–4 hrs
Typical two-nap wake windows. One-nap days need closer to 5 hours of awake time on either side of the remaining nap.
Development at 14 months
Walking practice, hugs, kisses, and a wider world
Walking is the celebrity milestone this month, and it still has a wide on-time window. Many 14 month olds take a few steps alone. Some walk across a room with a lurching, delighted gait. Others are still cruising and kneeling to play, and that is typically fine through 18 months unless your pediatrician has other concerns. Once those first steps land, everything else gets a rewrite: toys are carried, rooms are toured, and you become a moving dock they return to for a hug.
Affection often gets sweeter right as mobility gets wilder. Expect hugs that almost knock you over, kisses with more enthusiasm than aim, and a toddler who brings you objects as conversation. They may look at a familiar thing when you name it, follow a simple one-step direction, and say somewhere between a couple of words and a small handful. Understanding still outruns talking.
This is also when toddlers try to use objects “the right way” — a phone to the ear, a brush toward hair, a cup to the mouth. Stacking one block on another may appear. Help with dressing (an arm in a sleeve, a foot in a shoe) is early independence, not a toddler trying to run the morning. Offer the chance to try, then finish the job so you still leave the house.
- Make the floor a walking gym: push toys, low furniture, and bare feet on grippy surfaces
- Return the hugs and name the feeling — “You came back for a cuddle”
- Give two-choice jobs: red cup or blue cup, this book or that one
- Let them “talk” on a toy phone or “brush” hair; functional play is cognitive work
- Keep shoes flexible and skip long stretches in a container seat now that walking is the project
14-month milestones to watch for
Walking can arrive this month or later. Use this list as a picture of the range, not a test. Call your pediatrician if walking has not begun by 18 months, skills are lost, or you are worried.
Motor
- Takes a few steps alone, or walks with a wide, wobbly gait
- Squats to pick something up and may stand back up with less furniture help
- Helps with dressing — arm in a sleeve, foot toward a shoe
- Holds a crayon and may scribble after watching you
- Drinks from a cup with help and tries a utensil
- Turns a thick page in a board book
Communication
- Says one or two words besides mama or dada, and some children have 5–10
- Looks at a familiar object when you name it
- Follows a simple one-step direction, especially with a gesture
- Understands many everyday words even if they only say a few
Cognitive
- Tries to use objects the right way — phone, cup, brush, spoon
- Stacks one block on another
- Goes to another room to fetch a named object they know well
- Explores by dumping, filling, and carrying toys from place to place
Social & Emotional
- Shows affection with hugs, kisses, and cuddles
- Copies actions like dumping a container or wiping a table
- Claps when excited and points to things they want you to see
- Checks back with you after venturing a few steps away
Feeding at 14 months
Self-feeding, a slower appetite, and fuel for all that walking
Fourteen-month-olds still thrive on three meals and two snacks, with water and about 16 oz of whole milk or a fortified alternative. Walking looks like it should double their appetite, but growth in the second year is slower than the first, so many toddlers eat less than parents expect. Your job is to offer a mix of protein, fat, carbohydrate, fruit, and vegetables on a reliable rhythm. Their job is to decide how much.
Self-feeding is both a motor skill and a feeding strategy. Fingers first, spoons second, open cups with a towel nearby. Sitting with them at the table — even for 10 focused minutes — teaches that meals are social, not a chase around the kitchen. If they graze all afternoon, dinner will look skipped. Keep snacks at least a couple of hours from the next meal so they arrive hungry enough to try what is on the plate.
Bottle weaning, if it is not already done, belongs on the calendar this season. Cups at meals now make the later 18-month stretch easier. Continue iron-rich foods and common allergens you have already introduced, unless your clinician has given different guidance. Choking hazards still matter: whole grapes, hot dogs, nuts, popcorn, and hard raw vegetables are not toddler food yet.
- Offer meals and snacks on a schedule so walking energy has a landing place
- Put the same foods on their tray that you are eating, in safer shapes
- Practice an open cup and a spoon, and expect spills as part of the skill
- Move remaining bottles toward cups, especially at bedtime
- Skip the separate “kid meal” — repeated exposure to the family menu is the long game
Feeding at 14 months, by the numbers
3 meals
Solids remain the main nutrition source, even if portions look smaller than last year.
2 snacks
Timed snacks fuel walking without turning the afternoon into constant grazing.
~16 oz
Whole milk or fortified alternative daily, with water. Keep juice small or skip it.
Track it this way.
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FAQ
Quiet answers for loud questions.
Common questions parents ask at the 14 months stage.
When do toddlers start walking?
Independent steps often appear between about 9 and 15 months, and walking without holding on is commonly in place by 18 months. A 14 month old who cruises, stands, and takes a step or two is right in the mix. If your toddler is not walking by 18 months, or you notice a big difference between sides of the body, talk with your pediatrician — most late walkers are fine, and a check-in is still worth it.
How many naps does a 14-month-old need?
Many still need two. Some begin mixing one-nap days into the week. Stay on two naps until your toddler can handle about 5 hours awake without falling apart, and until the remaining nap can stretch toward 2 hours. If the second nap is the one they refuse most days, that is the usual nap to fade, with an earlier bedtime while you transition.
Why is bedtime suddenly a battle?
Walking practice, a growing sense of “I decide,” and wake windows that have not quite caught up all collide at 14 months. Keep the bedtime routine short, in the same order, and boring in the best way. Extra walking time earlier in the day helps more than extra play in the crib. If they are still cheerful at lights-out, they may need a slightly longer last wake window — not a later-and-later stall.
Should I still offer two snacks if appetite is down?
Yes. Growth slows after the first birthday, so a lighter appetite is common, but toddlers still do well with three meals and two snacks. Offer food every 2–3 hours, then let them decide the amount. A skipped snack plus a huge milk sip is more likely to flatten dinner than a planned snack of real food.
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