How much sleep does a baby need by age?

Baby sleep chart by age

These are 24-hour totals, naps included. They're ranges, not targets, and healthy babies sit all over them.

The US National Sleep Foundation gives a slightly narrower 12 to 15 hours for 4 to 11 months. For 3- and 4-year-olds, WHO adds that sleep should be good quality, with regular bed and wake times.

Newborns sleep in short pieces around the clock. Longer night stretches build over the first months, at very different speeds from one baby to the next.

Why sleep matters for a growing brain

Baby sleep looks like "off time." It's the opposite: sleep is when the brain sorts, keeps and connects what it took in while awake. In one study of 216 babies aged 6 or 12 months, those who had a nap of at least 30 minutes within 4 hours of learning some simple puppet actions remembered them. Babies who didn't nap in that window did no better than babies who had never seen the actions at all.

Longer-term, a Quebec study followed 1,492 children from infancy to school entry. About 11% slept under 10 hours a night through the preschool years, especially before about age 3½. At school entry, those children scored lower on a vocabulary test and a reasoning test, and showed more hyperactivity. It's observational, so it can't prove cause, but it's a good reason to protect a young child's sleep. We go deeper in does sleep help a baby's brain development.

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Safe sleep: the rules that don't bend

Learning is the bonus. Safety comes first. These follow the American Academy of Pediatrics' 2022 safe sleep recommendations exactly.

• On the back, for every sleep, naps included.
• On a firm, flat surface that isn't inclined: a crib, bassinet or play yard that meets safety standards.
• In their own sleep space. Room-share, so your baby sleeps in your room, but not in your bed, preferably for at least the first 6 months. The AAP does not support bed-sharing in any circumstance. The risk climbs further when a parent is very tired, has been drinking, using drugs, taking sedating medicine or smoking, and when the baby is under 4 months or was born early or small.
• Never sleep with your baby on a sofa or armchair. The AAP says that setup carries up to 67 times the risk. If you feel yourself dozing during a night feed, put your baby back in their own sleep space. If you do fall asleep with your baby, move them back to their own space as soon as you wake.
• Nothing soft in the crib. No pillows, blankets, bumpers or soft toys.
• No inclined sleepers, in-bed sleepers or loungers. If your baby falls asleep in a car seat, swing, stroller or sling, move them to a flat sleep space when you can, especially under 4 months.
• No weighted sleep sacks, weighted swaddles or weighted blankets. The AAP calls them not safe.
• Swaddling is optional. If you swaddle, always place your baby on the back, and stop once they show signs of trying to roll, usually around 3 to 4 months.
• A pacifier at sleep time is linked to lower risk. Breastfeeding is linked to lower risk too.
• Don't overheat. Dress your baby for the room, with no hat or covering over the head for sleep. A wearable blanket (sleep sack without weights) is fine instead of a loose blanket.
• Keep the air smoke-free and the baby away from nicotine, alcohol, cannabis and other drugs.
• Skip gadgets that claim to prevent SIDS. There's no evidence they work.

Gentle routines by age

You don't need a strict schedule in the first months. You need a few repeated cues that tell your baby's brain "sleep is coming."

Newborns (0 to 3 months). Let daylight in during the day and keep night feeds dim, quiet and boring. Watch for sleepy cues: staring into space, slower movements, a yawn, rubbing eyes. Start winding down then, because an overtired baby is harder to settle. If your baby seems frazzled after a busy stretch, see signs of an overstimulated baby.

From about 3 to 4 months. Pick a short bedtime sequence and do it the same way each night: bath or wipe-down, diaper, pajamas, feed, one song, into the crib. Put your baby down drowsy but awake some of the time, for practice falling asleep in the crib. End with the same song or phrase every night.

From 6 to 12 months. Add a book to the routine. The same book is great. Keep bedtime within roughly the same half hour most nights, and let naps happen after the busiest play.

Preschoolers. A same-every-night routine still works: bath, teeth, two books, song, lights out, with screens off well before bed. See preschooler sleep and naps.

When sleep is falling apart

No method suits every baby. If sleep has fallen apart for the whole family, your pediatrician can help. Two small things are worth trying first: the same last song or line every night, and one longer nap at home after the morning's play instead of a string of catnaps in the car. In the puppet study, naps under 30 minutes weren't enough to hold the memory.

Parents need sleep too. Sleep when someone else can hold the baby. If exhaustion ever turns into thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, call 988 (US) or 911 now. That's a medical problem with real help available, and it's common.

Go deeper

Grow a Genius

In the book: Chapter 18: Sleep, Screens and the Video Deficit

The book shows why the nap after a busy morning is part of the learning, and Calm Mom, Calm Baby adds gentle baby-sleep routines to try when nights fall apart.

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• 16 printable guides, including the Prenatal Label Decoder
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