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Baby sleep schedule by age

Your baby's birth date gives you today's typical wake windows, naps and bedtime, and what changes next. Every baby is different. These are ranges, not rules.

The short answer: Newborns sleep 14 to 17 hours a day in short stretches, with no real schedule. From 4 to 12 months, sleep experts recommend 12 to 16 hours in 24 hours, naps included. From 1 to 2 years, it’s 11 to 14 hours. Naps drop from “all day” to about 3 by 4 to 6 months, 2 by 9 months, and 1 by about 18 months. Every baby is different, and a wide range is normal.

Wherever your baby sleeps, and however tired you are, the safe-sleep rules below come first.

Safe sleep comes first

These rules come from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). They apply to every sleep, day and night, until your baby’s first birthday.

  • Back to sleep, every time. Lay your baby on their back for naps and at night. Once your baby can roll both ways on their own, keep putting them down on their back. You don’t need to flip them back if they roll.
  • Firm, flat, and not tilted. Use a crib, bassinet or play yard with a firm, flat mattress and a fitted sheet. A surface tilted more than 10 degrees isn’t safe for sleep.
  • Alone, in their own space. Your baby sleeps in their own crib or bassinet, with no other people. Keep it in your room, ideally for at least the first 6 months.
  • No bed-sharing. The AAP does not support bed-sharing under any circumstances. The danger is even higher on a couch or armchair, if an adult has had alcohol, drugs or sedating medicine, if anyone smokes or vapes, and for babies under 4 months or born early.
  • Nothing else in the crib. No pillows, blankets, bumpers, stuffed toys or other soft things.
  • Not in seats or swings. Car seats, swings, strollers, carriers and slings are not for sleep. If your baby falls asleep in one, move them to their crib, on their back, as soon as you can. A car seat is fine while you’re driving.
  • If you might doze off while feeding, don’t feed on a couch or armchair. If you do fall asleep, put your baby back in their own space, on their back, as soon as you wake.
  • Swaddle only until rolling. Swaddling is optional. A swaddled baby always goes on their back. Stop swaddling as soon as your baby looks like they’re trying to roll.
  • No weighted products. No weighted sleep sacks, swaddles or blankets.
  • A pacifier helps. Offer one at sleep time if your baby takes it. If you breastfeed, wait until feeding is going well.
  • Don’t overheat. No hat indoors once you’re home from the hospital.
  • Smoke-free and substance-free. Keep smoke, nicotine, alcohol and drugs away from your baby.
  • Breast milk and vaccines help too. Breast milk lowers the risk of SIDS. Evidence suggests routine vaccines may help protect against it too.
  • Monitors aren’t protection. Don’t use a home heart-and-breathing monitor to lower the risk of SIDS. There’s no evidence that consumer heart-rate or oxygen monitors lower it either.

US law backs this up. Any infant sleep product made since mid-2022 must have a sleep surface tilted 10 degrees or less. The Safe Sleep for Babies Act bans inclined sleepers and crib bumpers in the US, no matter when they were made. Don’t use one, even a hand-me-down.

How to read the numbers below

Each age band has a small table. Here’s what each row means.

  • Wake window: how long a baby is typically awake between sleeps. Wake windows are not an AAP guideline. They come from sleep consultants and pediatric sleep books, and no study has tested them. Use them as a rough starting point, and watch your baby’s sleepy signs (yawning, rubbing eyes, staring off, getting quieter) more than the clock.
  • Total sleep: hours in 24 hours, naps included. These ranges come from expert panels (see Sources).
  • Bedtime: a typical range, not a rule. Family schedules and culture vary.

If your baby was born early (before 37 weeks), use their adjusted age. Subtract the weeks they were born early from their actual age. For example, a 16-week-old born 8 weeks early has an adjusted age of 8 weeks. Use adjusted age for sleep expectations until about age 2. Safe-sleep rules still follow actual age, so never stop them early.

0 to 6 weeks

Typical
Wake window 30 to 60 minutes
Naps No pattern yet
Total sleep 14 to 17 hours
Night Wakes every 2 to 3 hours to feed
Bedtime None yet

Your newborn doesn’t know day from night yet. Sleep comes in stretches of about 30 minutes to 3 hours, around the clock. Many newborns can only stay awake long enough to feed, have a diaper change and settle.

Frequent waking is how newborns get enough to eat. In the first few weeks, if your baby sleeps longer than 4 hours, wake them to feed. Ask your pediatrician when it’s OK to stop.

There is no schedule to follow at this age. Feed, keep your baby safe, and rest when you can.

6 to 12 weeks

Typical
Wake window 1 to 2 hours (most babies are near the shorter end)
Naps About 4 to 5, often short and irregular
Total sleep 14 to 17 hours
Night One longer stretch often appears; night feeds continue
Bedtime Often late evening, moving earlier

Around 4 to 6 weeks, many babies start to tell night from day. Their body clock begins to work at around 10 to 12 weeks. You may notice one longer stretch at night, often the first one after bedtime.

Naps are still messy. A 30-minute nap is normal. Bright daylight and normal noise during the day, and dim, quiet, boring night feeds, help the body clock along.

3 to 4 months

Typical
Wake window About 1¼ to 2½ hours
Naps About 3 to 5
Total sleep 12 to 17 hours
Night Some babies sleep 6 to 8 hours in a row; many don’t yet
Bedtime About 6:30 to 8:30 pm

The AAP says babies don’t have regular sleep cycles until about 4 months. As that happens, a more regular day and an earlier bedtime become possible.

Some babies sleep a long stretch by now. Many don’t until 4 to 6 months or later. Both are normal.

This is also when some babies start waking more often. See The 4-month change below.

4 to 6 months

Typical
Wake window About 1½ to 3 hours (sources disagree)
Naps Usually 3 (range 2 to 4)
Total sleep 12 to 16 hours
Night Often 9 to 12 hours, with some wakings
Bedtime About 6:30 to 8:30 pm

Naps start to lengthen and fall into a pattern. Many babies go from 4 naps to 3 in this band, often dropping a late-afternoon catnap.

Sources disagree on wake windows here. One hospital page gives 2 to 4 hours from 5 months. A common consultant chart gives 1½ to 2½ hours. If your baby fights naps, try a little longer awake. If they melt down, try a little shorter.

The AAP suggests putting babies down drowsy but awake from about 4 months, so they get practice falling asleep in their own space.

6 to 9 months

Typical
Wake window About 2 to 4 hours (longer on 2 naps)
Naps 2 to 3
Total sleep 12 to 16 hours
Night Long stretches are possible; waking is still common
Bedtime About 6:00 to 8:00 pm

Most babies move from 3 naps to 2 somewhere in this band. When the third nap starts pushing bedtime late, it’s usually ready to go.

“Sleeping through the night” varies a lot. In one study of 388 babies, 38% of 6-month-olds didn’t yet sleep 6 hours in a row, and 57% didn’t sleep 8 hours in a row. Not sleeping through was not linked to slower development. If your baby still wakes, you are in good company.

Families handle night waking in different ways. Some respond every time. Some use a gradual approach. Some use a more structured method. There isn’t one right answer for every family. If you’re thinking about a change, talk it through with your pediatrician.

9 to 12 months

Typical
Wake window About 2½ to 4 hours
Naps Usually 2
Total sleep 12 to 16 hours
Night Around 10 to 12 hours; some waking is normal
Bedtime About 6:30 to 8:00 pm

Two naps, morning and afternoon, is the usual pattern. Crawling, pulling up and separation anxiety can all stir up nights in this band. See 8 to 10 months below.

By 12 months, many babies sleep a long stretch. In the same study, 28% of 1-year-olds still didn’t sleep 6 hours in a row. Some waking is still normal.

12 to 18 months

Typical
Wake window About 3 to 4 hours on 2 naps; 4½ to 5½ hours on 1 nap
Naps 2, moving to 1
Total sleep 11 to 14 hours
Night Around 11 to 12 hours
Bedtime About 6:30 to 8:00 pm

The big change here is going from 2 naps to 1. Most toddlers make the switch between about 12 and 18 months. For a few weeks, some days need 2 naps and some need 1. On 1-nap days, an earlier bedtime helps.

Many babies refuse a nap around their first birthday and then go back to 2. Don’t rush to drop a nap after a few bad days.

18 to 24 months

Typical
Wake window About 5 to 6 hours
Naps 1, usually after lunch, often 1½ to 3 hours
Total sleep 11 to 14 hours
Night Around 11 to 12 hours
Bedtime About 7:00 to 8:30 pm

Nearly all toddlers still nap at this age. In one long-term study, 87% of 2-year-olds still napped. A single midday nap and a steady bedtime routine carry most toddlers through to age 2 and beyond.

Toddlers start testing limits at bedtime. A short, predictable routine helps: bath or wash, pajamas, books, a song, lights out.

The changes and “regressions,” honestly

You’ll see a lot about “sleep regressions” online. Here’s what the evidence says. Some changes are real and well documented. Others are labels that sleep consultants and parent forums made popular. Researchers haven’t studied them as fixed events.

The 4-month change

What’s real: Around 3 to 4 months, your baby’s sleep matures. Sleep cycles become more adult-like and the body clock switches on. Some babies wake more often for a few weeks while this settles.

What’s not proven: That every baby has a “regression” at exactly 4 months. When researchers pool data from many studies, night waking goes down on average from the newborn months to 3 to 6 months. Your baby may have a rough patch, or may not.

Nap drops

  • 4 or more naps to 3: around 4 to 6 months.
  • 3 naps to 2: around 6 to 9 months.
  • 2 naps to 1: around 12 to 18 months. A large Swiss study found this switch clustered at about 18 months.

The timing of the first two drops is consensus, not research. Signs a nap is ready to go: your baby fights it for a week or more, or it pushes bedtime late.

8 to 10 months: new skills and separation anxiety

What’s real: Small studies found babies who had started crawling woke more at night than babies who hadn’t yet. Sleep tended to settle again within a few months. Separation anxiety, which starts in the second half of the first year, can also bring more waking and protests at bedtime. The AAP says it usually fades around the second birthday.

What’s not proven: A fixed “8-month regression.”

12 and 18 months

No research supports a distinct 12-month or 18-month regression. At 12 months, the common trigger is a baby refusing a nap and a parent dropping it too early. At 18 months, toddlers push for independence and separation anxiety can still be strong. Both pass. On average, night waking keeps falling between ages 1 and 2.

Daylight saving time

About a week before the clocks change, move naps and bedtime a few minutes each day toward the new time. Most children adjust within about a week.

Teething

First teeth usually arrive between 6 and 10 months. Sore gums can make babies fussy and wake more. A fever is not a sign of teething. If your baby has a fever, look for another cause and call your pediatrician. Skip numbing gels, benzocaine and teething necklaces. The necklaces are a choking and strangulation risk.

When to call the pediatrician

Call 911 if your baby:

  • stops breathing for more than 20 seconds,
  • struggles to breathe or grunts or moans with each breath,
  • has lips, tongue or face that turn blue, gray or pale, or
  • can’t be woken, isn’t moving, or is very weak.

Go to the emergency room now if your baby is hard to wake up.

Call your pediatrician right away if:

  • a breathing pause lasted more than 10 seconds, even if breathing is normal again. (Short pauses under 10 seconds, followed by fast breathing, are normal in young babies and usually stop by 6 months.)
  • your baby is under 3 months and has a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, even if they seem fine.
  • your baby is unusually drowsy, looks or acts very sick, or is under 1 month old and seems not quite right (for example, a poor suck or poor color).

Call soon if:

  • your newborn keeps sleeping through feeds, feeds fewer than about 8 times a day, or is still below birth weight at 2 weeks.
  • your baby or toddler snores often or loudly, or works hard to breathe in their sleep.
  • sleep problems last more than a couple of weeks, or your child’s sleep is wearing down the whole family.

Call for yourself, too. If you’re so tired you worry you’ll fall asleep holding your baby, or you think you might have postpartum depression, talk to your doctor. The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline is free and open 24/7: 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262). If you’re in crisis, call or text 988.

Sources

Safe sleep

How much sleep

Research on infant sleep patterns

Wake windows and naps (consensus, not research)

Changes, preemies and when to call

This guide is general information, not medical advice. If you’re worried about your baby, call your pediatrician.