How Long Do Infants Sleep? | Age Charts And Night Tips

Infant sleep can feel like a moving target. One week your baby naps anywhere, the next week every crib transfer fails. You don’t need a perfect schedule to make sense of it. You need two things: realistic hour ranges for your baby’s age and a few habits that keep days steady and nights safer.

Below you’ll get age-based sleep totals, a simple way to add night sleep and naps, and practical fixes for short naps, early mornings, and frequent night waking.

What shapes infant sleep in the first year

Infants aren’t small adults. Their sleep cycles are shorter, they wake more often, and feeding drives many wake-ups. In the first months, sleep is spread across the whole day. As the months pass, night sleep grows and naps settle into a pattern.

• Age and maturity. Linking sleep cycles gets easier with time.
• Feeding rhythm. Many wakes are hunger or comfort wakes.
• Day-night cues. Light, timing, and routine help the body clock.

Look at trends across a week. One rough night or one short-nap day can be a blip.

How Long Do Infants Sleep? By age and month

Sleep needs sit in a range, not a single number. A baby near the low end can still be thriving if they feed well, gain weight as expected, and have alert periods when awake.

Large evidence-based ranges are clearest after 4 months. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s pediatric consensus recommends 12–16 hours per day for infants 4–12 months, counting naps. AASM pediatric sleep duration consensus summarizes the evidence base.

Newborn to 3 months

Many newborns sleep 14–17 hours across 24 hours, often in short blocks. Long night stretches are uncommon. A day can be a loop of feed, brief awake time, then sleep.

Tip that helps: keep days bright and active, nights dim and quiet. That gentle contrast helps the body clock.

4 to 6 months

Total sleep often lands near 12–16 hours. Many babies shift toward 3 naps, then 2–3 by the end of this window. Night sleep often lengthens, yet feeds may still break it up.

7 to 9 months

Two naps are common. Sleep can wobble when babies learn to crawl or stand. Separation anxiety can also bring more calling out at night.

10 to 12 months

Two naps often remain in place, though some babies start edging toward one nap closer to the first birthday. A steady morning wake time helps keep bedtime from drifting later.

How to count sleep without obsessing

Start with the last 24 hours. Add night sleep and naps. Compare that total to the range for your baby’s age. If your baby seems well and the total sits in range, a single “bad nap” matters less than it feels.

When timing feels off, these three numbers give the clearest view:

• Total sleep in 24 hours.
• Longest night stretch.
• Average wake window.

Wake windows matter. An overtired baby can fight sleep and wake more. An under-tired baby can treat bedtime like a nap. Both show up as night waking, so timing is worth a quick check.

Safe sleep rules that also help sleep quality

Safer sleep starts with the basics: back sleeping, a firm and flat sleep surface, and no soft items in the sleep area. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists these steps for lowering sleep-related infant death risk. CDC guidance on safe sleep is a clear place to start.

The American Academy of Pediatrics also advises a safety-approved crib, bassinet, or play yard with only a fitted sheet, plus room sharing without bed sharing. AAP safe sleep parent guidance lays it out in plain language.

Product marketing can be confusing. A federal rule from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission requires infant sleep products sold for sleep to meet a firm, flat standard and limit incline angles. CPSC Safe Sleep for Babies rule overview explains what changed.

Normal sleep ranges by age at a glance

Use this as a map, not a grade. Your baby’s pattern can shift during growth spurts, colds, or travel. Focus on the weekly total and your baby’s mood when awake.

Age	Typical total sleep in 24 hours	Common nap pattern
0–2 weeks	14–17 hours	Many naps, day blended with night
2–8 weeks	14–17 hours	5–7 naps, short stretches
2–3 months	14–16 hours	4–6 naps
4–5 months	12–16 hours	3–4 naps trending lower
6 months	12–15 hours	3 naps trending toward 2
7–9 months	12–15 hours	2 naps
10–12 months	12–14 hours	2 naps, some moving toward 1
12–15 months	11–14 hours	1 nap becomes common

Why nights can feel rough even when totals are fine

It’s possible for total sleep to be in range while nights still feel exhausting. Many babies wake briefly between cycles. Some resettle on their own. Others need a little help.

These patterns are common by age:

• 0–3 months: Waking every 2–4 hours is common because feeds are frequent.
• 4–6 months: Sleep stage changes can bring more fully-awake moments between cycles.
• 7–12 months: New skills and separation anxiety can bring calling out and standing in the crib.

Keep your response calm and repeatable. Low light, quiet voice, back to bed. That consistency is what babies learn from.

Daytime naps: what to do when they’re short

Short naps are common in the first half-year. Many babies need time to learn how to link cycles in the daytime. Start with timing and the sleep space.

• Shift the nap earlier. If your baby gets wired before sleep, start the wind-down 10–15 minutes sooner.
• Keep the room dark. Darkness helps the brain stay in sleep mode when a cycle ends.
• Use steady sound. A consistent sound can mask household noise that jolts a light sleeper.

If your baby naps longer on you, that’s common. If you want more crib naps, move one nap at a time to the crib and keep the rest flexible. Gradual change often sticks.

Sleep schedule anchors that work in real homes

You don’t need a strict timetable. Anchors are simpler: a few repeatable actions that keep the day from drifting later and later.

Anchor	What to do	Why it helps
Morning wake time	Pick a wake time and keep close to it	Sets the body clock and steadies naps
Daylight early	Get natural light soon after waking	Strengthens day-night cues
Last nap cutoff	Avoid a long late nap close to bedtime	Builds sleep pressure for night
Wind-down routine	Same short sequence each night	Signals sleep without drama
Night feeds	Keep feeds quiet, then back to bed	Reduces full wake-ups
Sleep space consistency	Same crib setup, same darkness, same sound	Lowers stimulation at each wake

Bedtime routine that stays calm

A bedtime routine works best when it’s short and repeatable. Think 10–20 minutes, not an hour-long production. Pick the same order each night so your baby can predict what comes next.

A simple sequence can be: diaper, pajamas, feed, burp, a short book or lullaby, then into the crib while drowsy. Some babies settle best when they go down fully asleep in the early months. That can be fine. If you want more independent settling later, shift one step at a time toward “drowsy, then asleep in the crib.”

Keep stimulation low near bedtime. Bright screens, rough play, and loud rooms can wind a baby up. If evenings are cranky, it can be a sign bedtime is too late for your baby’s current wake window.

Early mornings and split nights

Early waking often comes from light. If dawn light hits the crib, blackout curtains can help. A too-late nap can also trigger early mornings by pushing bedtime later, then locking in a short night.

Split nights are different: your baby sleeps, wakes for a long stretch, then sleeps again. This often points to low sleep pressure at bedtime. Try trimming daytime sleep by a small amount, capping a late nap, or shifting bedtime slightly later for a few nights while keeping the morning wake time steady.

Give changes a few days. Sleep patterns lag behind schedule tweaks, and quick daily changes can keep the cycle going.

When to call your clinician

Most sleep issues come down to timing, feeding, and habit. Still, get medical advice when you see warning signs:

• Loud snoring, gasping, or pauses in breathing.
• Feeding trouble paired with poor weight gain.
• Your baby is hard to wake for feeds.
• Sleep is low and your baby seems miserable most of the day.

Bring a 3–5 day sleep and feeding log. It turns vague worry into clear details your clinician can use.

Checklist you can screenshot

• Total sleep counted across 24 hours, not just night
• Age range checked against the chart, with room for variation
• Morning wake time steady most days
• Bedtime routine consistent and calm
• Back sleeping on a firm, flat surface with no soft bedding
• Late naps trimmed when bedtime drifts later
• 3–5 day log ready if you need medical input