Listed below is the average amount of total sleep in hours for age from various books**. This is here just as a reference point. You're child has his own little rhythm he beats to. If things are going well but you are a bit higher in hours than expected, then, you're good. No need to change anything (it's always good to r/o medical issues though). If your child is sleeping less than the averages, then you may be
just fine too, but it's always good to double check that he doesn't actually need more sleep than he's getting. It's very possible he does.
Average total sleep I've observed over the years. These are optimal amounts for a well rested child, not what is necessarily common (since many children are overtired which would make these averages much lower).
BabyWise
Newborn: 16-20 hours
Baby Whisperer
Newborn: 16-20 hours
1-3 months: 15-18 hours
3-18 months: 15-18 hours
Ferber
1 week: 16 hours
1 month: 14
3 months: 13
6 months: 12.5
9 months: 12.25
12 months: 11.75
18 months: 11.63
2 years: 11.5
3 years: 11.25
4 years: 11
5 years: 10.75
6 years: 10.5
7 years: 10.38
8 years: 10.25
9 years: 10.13
10 years: 10
11 years: 9.88
12 years: 9.75
13 years: 9.63
14 years: 9.5
15 years: 9.25
16 years: 9.13
17 years: 9
18 years: 9
Gina Ford
0-1 month: 15.5-18 hours
1-2 months: 15
2-3 months: 14.5
3-4 months: 14.5
4-6 months: 15
6-9 months: 14.5-15
9-12 months: 14.5-15
12-18 months: 13-14
18-24 months: 13-14
24-30 months: 12-13
30-36 months: 12-13
Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child
Newborn: 16-17 hours
4 months: 15 hours
Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child**
4-11 months: 14.25 hours
1 year: 14 hours
2 years: 12.75 hours
3 years: 12.25 hours
4 years: 12 hours
5 years: 11 hours
6 years: 11 hours
7 years: 11 hours
8 years: 10.5 hours
9 years: 10.5 hours
10 years: 10.25 hours
11 years: 10.25 hours
12 years: 10 hours
13 years: 9.6 hours
14 years: 8.5 hours
15 years: 9.5 hours
16 years: 9.75 hours
No-Cry Sleep Solution
Newborn: 16-18 hours
1 month: 15-16
3 months: 15
6 months: 14-15
9 months: 14
12 months: 13-14
2 years: 13
3 years: 12
4 years: 11.5
5 years: 11
Sleeping Through The Night (also see Ferber since she lists his averages in her book)
Newborn: 17-18
1 month: 16-17
3-4 months: 15
6 months: 14
2 years: 12
**The amount of sleep shown here is the fiftieth percentile rather than the average. When averages are listed in this book, they are usually a bit higher than this percentile.
Related posts:
Does he just need less sleep than most babies?
Daytime Sleep - What's Average?
Night Time Sleep - What's Average
just fine too, but it's always good to double check that he doesn't actually need more sleep than he's getting. It's very possible he does.
Average total sleep I've observed over the years. These are optimal amounts for a well rested child, not what is necessarily common (since many children are overtired which would make these averages much lower).
Age
|
Total Sleep per 24
hours
|
Birth - 6 weeks
|
16-20 hours
|
2 months
|
15.5-18 hours
|
3 months
|
15.5-18 hours
|
4 months
|
14.5-16.5 hours
|
5 months
|
14-16 hours
|
6 months
|
14-15.5 hours
|
7 months
|
14-15.5 hours
|
8 months
|
14-15.5 hours
|
9 months
|
14-15 hours
|
10 months
|
14-15 hours
|
11 months
|
14-15 hours
|
12 months
|
13.5-14 hours
|
12-18 months
|
13.5-14 hours
|
18-24 months
|
12-14 hours
|
2-3 years
|
12-14 hours
|
3-4 years
|
11-14 hours
|
BabyWise
Newborn: 16-20 hours
Baby Whisperer
Newborn: 16-20 hours
1-3 months: 15-18 hours
3-18 months: 15-18 hours
Ferber
1 week: 16 hours
1 month: 14
3 months: 13
6 months: 12.5
9 months: 12.25
12 months: 11.75
18 months: 11.63
2 years: 11.5
3 years: 11.25
4 years: 11
5 years: 10.75
6 years: 10.5
7 years: 10.38
8 years: 10.25
9 years: 10.13
10 years: 10
11 years: 9.88
12 years: 9.75
13 years: 9.63
14 years: 9.5
15 years: 9.25
16 years: 9.13
17 years: 9
18 years: 9
Gina Ford
0-1 month: 15.5-18 hours
1-2 months: 15
2-3 months: 14.5
3-4 months: 14.5
4-6 months: 15
6-9 months: 14.5-15
9-12 months: 14.5-15
12-18 months: 13-14
18-24 months: 13-14
24-30 months: 12-13
30-36 months: 12-13
Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child
Newborn: 16-17 hours
4 months: 15 hours
Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child**
4-11 months: 14.25 hours
1 year: 14 hours
2 years: 12.75 hours
3 years: 12.25 hours
4 years: 12 hours
5 years: 11 hours
6 years: 11 hours
7 years: 11 hours
8 years: 10.5 hours
9 years: 10.5 hours
10 years: 10.25 hours
11 years: 10.25 hours
12 years: 10 hours
13 years: 9.6 hours
14 years: 8.5 hours
15 years: 9.5 hours
16 years: 9.75 hours
No-Cry Sleep Solution
Newborn: 16-18 hours
1 month: 15-16
3 months: 15
6 months: 14-15
9 months: 14
12 months: 13-14
2 years: 13
3 years: 12
4 years: 11.5
5 years: 11
Sleeping Through The Night (also see Ferber since she lists his averages in her book)
Newborn: 17-18
1 month: 16-17
3-4 months: 15
6 months: 14
2 years: 12
**The amount of sleep shown here is the fiftieth percentile rather than the average. When averages are listed in this book, they are usually a bit higher than this percentile.
Related posts:
Does he just need less sleep than most babies?
Daytime Sleep - What's Average?
Night Time Sleep - What's Average
I wanted to add that I just got an email from primary children's medical center that said the average sleep for a 1-2 year old is 13-14 hours. They didn't say where they got this information, but I wanted to mention it since it is more proof that Ferber's averages are a bit low.
ReplyDeleteHello. For some reason the background on your blog is only in the middle of the page. The top and bottom of the page is white and I can't read the print on my iPhone.
ReplyDeleteKaren S
ReplyDeleteTry refreshing the page. Sometimes it does that to me too.
Rachel, don't these averages seem low? I have a healthy 9 week old who was sleeping about 9-10 hours a night. She is on a 3 hr schedule, which with an hour, hour and 10 min wake time, puts her at about 2 hours of sleep a nap, 4-5 times a day.
ReplyDeleteNicolewynne,
DeleteI agree, some of them are low. If you are in the middle to upper, you are probably fine. Remember at this age to still adjust for babies born early, so your at around 7 weeks.
Addendum:
ReplyDeleteHow do I extend wake times without overtiring her? Do I move to a 3.5he schedule? She's not ready to drop a feed yet though and we don't dream feed her.
Nicolewynne,
DeleteLook over the routine posts, they may be helpful. I think it's probably a little early to extend to 3.5 hours. With waketime, you extend with her (if she doesn't fall asleep easily or takes a short nap etc, this might need she needs it extended) and sometimes you will force her to extend a bit. I mainly go along with baby and if issues pop up that I think might be due to too much sleep during the day, then I will very slowly increase waketime. Just add like 5-10 minutes during one period (probably not first thing in am) for a few days then try another period a few days later.
My lo turned 7mo yesterday and I'm wondering how much day time sleep is needed bc we are getting -11hrs at night and around 3.5-4 during the She has a hard time during the day making it w/out 3 naps
ReplyDeleteShe went through a Horrible stage from 5-6 mo where she got in the habit of waking at 4/5 am and we had to do CIO to get back to 6:30/7ish. Normally closer to 6:30. It took about a Week but it worked but the last two mornings after good nap days she's woken at 5 and 6am. :(
Our schedule
6:30/7 BF and bfast
9-10ish nap #1 (I try to keep it around an hour)
11 BF
12/12:30 nap #2 (lasts around 1.5-2hrs)
2:30 BF
4 nap #3 (anywhere from 30m-1.5hrs depending on other naps for the day--I've been trying to extend middle nap and shorten this one to 45-60m)
5 BF
6 dinner
7 BF and start bedtime routine
7:30 bed
My main concern is the waking at 4/5/6 am bc I'm very tired and only getting 6-7 hours of sleep bc I can't go back to sleep at 5am either. :(
Any advice???
Tarayn Comer,
DeleteGlance at this post if you haven't already:
http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/04/early-morning-awakenings.html
Some kids are pretty sensitive to how much daily sleep they get and they'll wake up early if they're getting too much. You might want to try to increase waketime after the second nap to about 2.5 hours then keep that third nap shorter. Having a weaned third nap for a while might work and when she does a bit better with longer waketime, you can drop it completely. There will be a rough couple weeks in there, most likely, regardless as she transitions between the two naps.
Rachel
Great! TY! I have read that post--good info! We've done white noise, blackouts, etc since the beginning. I've logged every single feeding and sleep since day 1 so I have a good guide. I'm going to try extending the wake time after the 2nd nap and see what happens. Is it best to change one thing at a time and wake for a few days or a week before adjusting something else?
DeleteTarayn Comer,
Deletewhen I'm not 100% sure about what's happening, I'll change one thing at a time to make sure what I think is going on, really is going on :)
May I ask what if my baby is overtired and doesn't sleep more than 3 times a day, 20 minutes each time? Sleep usually sleeps 10 hours at night (from 9:pm to 7:00 am) with 1-2 feedings in between. The problem is that I cannot get her to sleep at day! She is super fussy and can easily wake up even if I'm holding her in my arms. She will scream the moment I try to put her down in the day time and I cannot put her to crib to sleep... I really need help! She is 9 weeks old now!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter sleeps 16 hours through the night then takes two naps in the day on average sleeps 18hr/ 20hrs a day! I asked the dr she said its fine.. But i don't think a nine month old should sleep that much. If she doesn't get her naps she just cries till you put her to bed
ReplyDelete