I couldn't fit all this stuff on one chart so you get two instead :) You can also find the averages just by month in the sleep by ages section as well as charts split up by subject.
All charts
below are based on optimal amounts for a well-rested child, not what is
necessarily common (since many children sleep less and wake more frequently than what I would consider
ideal). I realize that these averages vary from what some other sources say-- I'm sorry we can't all agree! I've come up with these averages after working with lots of babies and parents and after much research. Hopefully they will be a source of help and not a source of stress!
Remember, everything is an average and should only be used as a reference point—your child is a unique little person. Also, all averages are done with the assumption that your child is healthy and growing well and was born around his due date (those with children under 2 should use adjusted age). These charts are just suggestions, your pediatrician should always be consulted in all things regarding your child’s health.
necessarily common (since many children sleep less and wake more frequently than what I would consider
ideal). I realize that these averages vary from what some other sources say-- I'm sorry we can't all agree! I've come up with these averages after working with lots of babies and parents and after much research. Hopefully they will be a source of help and not a source of stress!
Remember, everything is an average and should only be used as a reference point—your child is a unique little person. Also, all averages are done with the assumption that your child is healthy and growing well and was born around his due date (those with children under 2 should use adjusted age). These charts are just suggestions, your pediatrician should always be consulted in all things regarding your child’s health.
You can find the charts (for easy printing) HERE.
Sleep Averages from
Birth to 8 months
Birth-6
weeks
|
2 mths
|
3 mths
|
4 mths
|
5 mths
|
6 mths
|
7 mths
|
8 mths
|
|
Waketime
|
45-60
minutes
|
1
hour
|
1-1.5
hours
|
1.25-1.75
hours
|
1.5-2.25 hours
|
2-2.5
hours
|
2.25-2.75 hours
|
2.25-3 hours
|
Total
Sleep Per 24 hours
|
16-18 hours
|
15.5-18
hours
|
15.5-18
hours
|
14.5-16.5 hours
|
14-16
hours
|
14-15.5
hours
|
14-15.5 hours
|
14-15.5
hours
|
Total
Night Sleep *
|
9-12 hours
|
9-12
hours
|
10-12 hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
Total
Daily Sleep
|
4-8 hours
|
4-8 hours
|
4-7 hours
|
3-7 hours
|
3-5 hours
|
3-5 hours
|
3-5 hours
|
3-5 hours
|
Number of Naps
|
4+
|
4+
|
4+
|
3-4
|
3
|
2-3
|
2-3
|
2-3
|
Max
daily sleep*
|
Avoid naps >2 hours
|
Avoid naps >2 hours
|
Avoid naps >2 hours
|
4.5 hours
|
4 hours
|
3.5 hours
|
3.5 hours
|
3.25 hours
|
Naps
Dropped?
|
Varies
|
Varies
|
4
to 3 naps by 3-5 mths
|
4
to 3 naps by 3-5 mths
|
4
to 3 naps by 3-5 mths
|
3
to 2 naps by 6-9 mths
|
3
to 2 naps by 6-9 mths
|
3
to 2 naps by 6-9 mths
|
End
Naps by:
|
Avoid
naps >2-2.5 hours each
|
Avoid
naps >2-2.5 hours each
|
5-5:30
pm
|
4:30-5
pm
|
4:30-5
pm
|
4:30-5
pm
|
4:30-5
pm
|
4 pm
|
Ideal
bedtime?
|
Varies: 7-11 pm
|
Varies: 7-10 pm
|
Varies:
7-10 pm
|
6-8 pm
|
6-8
pm
|
6-8
pm
|
6-8
pm
|
6-8
pm
|
Longest
stretch of night sleep
|
Baby
eats every 2-5 hours
|
5 +
fingers crossed!
|
5-10
hours (some will sleep more)
|
8-12
hours
|
8-12
hours
|
8-12
hours
|
8-12
hours
|
8-12
hours
|
Number
of night feeds*
|
Baby
eats every 2-5 hours
|
1-3 feeds
|
1-2 feeds
|
1 feed
|
0-1 feeds
|
0-1 feeds
|
0-1 feeds
|
0-1 feeds
|
Sleep Averages from 9 months to 4 years
9 mths
|
1 0 mths
|
11 mths
|
12 mths
|
12-18
mths
|
18-24
mths
|
2-3 yrs
|
3-4 yrs
|
|
Waketime
|
2.5-3
hours
|
3-3.5
hours
|
3-4 hours
|
3-4
hours
|
3-4
hrs (2 naps), 4.5-6 hrs before nap (1 nap)
|
5-6 hrs before nap
|
5.5-7
hrs before nap
|
6-8
hrs (before nap)
|
Total
Sleep Per 24 hours
|
14-15
hours
|
14-15
hours
|
14-15
hours
|
13.5-14
hours
|
13.5-14
hours
|
12-14
hours
|
12-14
hours
|
11-14 hours
|
Total
Night Sleep *
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
Total
Daily Sleep
|
2.5-4 hours
|
2.5-4 hours
|
2.5-4 hours
|
2-4 hours
|
1.5-4 hours
|
1.5-3 hours
|
1.5-3 hours
|
0-2 hours
|
Number of Naps
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
1-2
|
1-2
|
0-1 (ideally 1)
|
0-1
|
Max
daily sleep*
|
3 hours
|
3 hours
|
3 hours
|
3 hours
|
3 hours
|
2 hours
|
2 hours
|
0-2 hours
|
Naps
Dropped?
|
3
to 2 naps by 6-9 months
|
Not
usually
|
Not
usually
|
Not
usually
|
2 to 1 nap by 14-18 months
|
2 to 1 nap by 14-18 months
|
Ideally,
1 nap still
|
1
to 0 naps by 3-4 yrs (some keep it longer)
|
End
Naps by:
|
4 pm
|
4 pm
|
4 pm
|
4 pm
|
4 pm
|
4 pm
|
3-4 pm
|
3-4
pm
|
Ideal
bedtime?
|
6-8
pm
|
6-8
pm
|
6-8
pm
|
6-8
pm
|
6-8
pm
|
6-8
pm
|
6-8
pm
|
7-8
pm
|
Longest
stretch of night sleep
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
11-12
hours
|
Number
of night feeds*
|
0 feeds
|
0 feeds
|
0 feeds
|
0 feeds
|
0 feeds
|
0 feeds
|
0 feeds
|
0 feeds
|
Some extra info to help you out with the charts above (especially all the *):
Total Night
Sleep – There may also be feeds during this time
Max Daily
Sleep – Don’t worry too much about this unless you have a newborn of if you
suspect too much day sleep is a cause of night issues.
Day Sleep -
Day sleep is quite variable. I try to aim for naps that last at least 1.5 hours (not including the last nap of the
day if on more than 1 nap) but as most of you know, there are quite a few cat
nappers out there. If you are able to get at least 1 hour naps, that's great. Cat nappers often need more naps, more often and end up with
a bit less day sleep overall (early bedtime anyone?). I generally suggest
keeping naps 2 hours and under after the newborn period unless it is
the only nap of the day. You can find more about naps (including
individual naps) in the nap index.
Naps - The
last nap of the day is often a catnap (super short) before it is dropped for
good. These nap times are averages—your child may drop slightly sooner or keep
a nap slightly longer. Find out more about dropping naps here and here.
End naps
by - To preserve night sleep and allow for an early bedtime hour, you don’t
want naps to go too late. With all things sleep, these averages are just a
guideline. You’ll need to use some trial and error. If your child is struggling
falling asleep at bed or is having night wakings—the timing of this last nap
might be an issue.
Bedtime -
Most young children sleep best if they are on a routine like 7am-7 pm (give or
take a bit, of course). Some children will be OK with a shift in their entire
routine—say 8 am-8 pm. Most (like 90%) will either be overtired with this, have
extra night wakings or wake extra early in the morning.
Night
Wakings/Feeds – Night feeds are from about 7 pm-7 am, not including the
7am/7pm feeds. How many and how long to do night feeds is VERY debatable. Some
people suggest stopping all night feeds by 12 weeks and others suggest keeping
multiple night feeds for years. I’ve come up with this list after working with
hundreds of parents (possibly thousands at this point) over the years and after
talking to some pediatricians. I haven’t met a healthy, well growing baby
yet that can’t happily have all night feeds dropped by 9 months (often before)
so I feel confident drawing the line here. A couple of the pediatricians
thought I was even being too generous with this age :) Learn more
about when to expect a child to sleep through the night (and how I define sttn)
here.
Related Posts:
When will my child start sleeping
through the night?
Very helpful, thanks! My daughter is almost 7 months and still cannot stay up for 2 hours at a time (except for the late evening waketime.). Guess she'll get there eventually!
ReplyDeleteIf sleep is going well, no need to worry about her being a bit behind with waketimes Diana :)
DeleteHi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI've just discovered your website and have spent the last week pouring over your posts! I have a 16wk old little boy who started sleeping 10hours at night at around 8 weeks then went back to 4 hour blocks at 12weeks and has been ever since! He's also picked up a cat napping habit - thanks to your extending cat naps page I've managed to pull out some 1.5-2 hour naps this week and am so grateful! I'm trying to get him into an EWS routine but it makes it difficult with small 40min naps thrown in there!
He wakes from his last catnap at around 4-430pm and goes to bed at 7pm. He has started waking at 745, 830, 9pm before actually going down for the night - should I try and squeeze another nap in before his bedtime routine? This would take it past the recommended latest nap time?
Elizabeth Wade,
DeleteIf there's an option to squeeze an extra nap in or do a slightly earlier bedtime, I almost always go for an earlier bedtime. Most kids do better with this, and night sleep is also more restorative than naps (but you still need both for a happy baby). Those night wakings sometimes happen around this age and after looking over some possibilities, if they're still happening, not responding (or doing whatever st you do) will usually help them go away in a few days to week. yippy for getting some of those short naps lengthened!
Thank you for sharing at the hop xo
ReplyDeleteRachel,
ReplyDeleteI have been pouring over your blogs for the last 24 hours and I think you are a genius. My baby is 13 weeks old and we have the following problems:
1) Morning wake up times vary from 4:45am-6:30am (though yesterday she slept until 8)
2) Naps are either very long (I wake her after 3 hours) or very short (20-30 min)
3) She will sleep in her crib at night but if you try to put her down for a nap she will either wake up immediately or take a 20 minute nap (even if this would normally be her 3 hour nap). This was not a huge problem until recently but now she is getting more sensitive to sound and I am afraid that the quality of her naps are deteriorating.
I imagine many of these problems are interrelated but I don’t know which one to correct first.
We started a night time routine (bath, massage, nurse) about two weeks ago and it is going well. We begin the routine at 6pm and she is usually asleep around 7pm. Her doctors have advised us to keep her upright for 20 minutes after eating due to her acid reflux so even if she doesn’t nurse to sleep, by the end of the 20 minutes she is asleep.
She wakes up periodically throughout the night, and she almost always wakes about 45-60 min after going to bed but she is able to sooth herself back to sleep without any assistance from us. She also wakes once during the night to eat. This feeding is typically sometime between 12:30am and 3am. The earlier the feeding, the earlier the morning wake up. If she wakes up before 6 she tends to take a 45 minute nap about 1.5-2 hours after waking up and then a 2 hour nap next time. If she wakes up after 6 she will nap from 8-11 and I have to wake her up to eat; her next nap will be around 12:45 and last about 45 minutes. In both scenarios, she will take 1-2 naps later in the day for 20-30 minutes.
The first two naps are usually only accomplished by putting her in the baby carrier, she tends to nurse to sleep later in the day (which I am not proud of). I would really like to get her to sleep in other ways.
Her sleep cues aren’t strong. Sometimes I try to lull her to sleep too early and it takes 40 minutes for her to sleep, other times too late and she will cry before falling asleep. I hardly ever hit that sweet spot of tired but not too tired. Often she appears tired but happy shorty after waking up (eye rubbing and smiles).
Which problem do you suggest I address first? Any input you can provide would be really appreciated.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThings are rapidly deteriorating. We have lost the 45 minute nap and are now down to a few 15-30 minute afternoon naps. Yesterday she had one 25 minute and one 17 minute nap...she was exhausted. I also wanted to mention that during the 3 hour nap she is typically pretty active for the first hour or two and then settles in to a deep sleep right about the 3 hour mark...and that is when I wake her :(
Jess @ My Baby Sleep Guide - Says...
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for these, they are so great as a reference.
I have a 3-month-old (well, he will be in 3 days) and we have just turned the corner and I feel like we're finally getting him enough sleep. He does about 11 hours at night (with 2-3 feeds), and 4-6 naps a day (depending on how many of them are short 45-minute naps and how many stretch to closer to 1.5-2 hours) for a total of 5-7 hours of daytime sleep. Our next step is to work on where we sleep, because he often naps on me or in his swing, and he co-sleeps. I'd like to get him moved to the bassinet/crib, and we're taking steps to make that happen.
I have a question, though. My little guy often doesn't make it very long for wake time, especially earlier in the day. Sometimes (especially if following a shorter nap), he ends up closer to 30 minutes of wake time than an hour. Is that a problem? Or is it okay to go ahead and put him back down? I don't want to make him over-tired, either?
Thanks so much!
RachelStella @ My Baby Sleep Guide - Says...
DeleteJess, does your waketime also include a feed?
First thing in the morning the waketimes are usually pretty short, so you likely don't need to worry here Glance at the waketime and short nap post if you haven't already. It talks about how too short of waketime can sometimes lead (or continue) short naps.
Jess @ My Baby Sleep Guide - Says...
DeleteYes, the wake time does include a feed, and we're definitely struggling with short naps (we always have, but they've been getting worse.) I noticed his feeds are also shorter and he is eating every time he wakes up, even if he ate 1 hour before (it used to be that when he woke from a short nap, he would refuse a feed, play, then go back to sleep), so I'm changing our eating to a quieter, darker location so that hopefully we can increase how much he eats, and therefore how long he can nap. His nighttime feeds are always much longer than his daytime ones, so hopefully the darkness will help. He also might be in a growth spurt, so I'll watch for those signs, too. I reviewed the wake time post, thanks! The last time I read it, a short wake time length was not our problem ;) I really appreciate your advice!
RachelStella @ My Baby Sleep Guide - Says...
DeleteJess,
Ahh, having feeds an hour apart will definitely make a good sleep routine difficult. Decreasing distraction will definitely help, but keep in mind that if it's only been an hour since his last feed (even if he ate just a little), he isn't going to be extremely hungry so he won't eat much more again then the cycle goes on. So you may need to help him slowly stretch those feeds out again. You'd also want to slowly stretch out waketimes (once you get feeds stretched out) and observe what happens with naps.
Michelle @ My Baby Sleep Guide - Says...
ReplyDeleteThat is a great chart! When my son was younger we would use an app to track his sleep and we knew based off of his norms how much sleep he needed to be happy and it was great because he'd be fussy, we'd check the app and sure enough it was generally fussy due to lack of sleep.
RachelStella @ My Baby Sleep Guide - Says...
DeleteMichelle,
Hey, do you mind sharing the app for other people, if you remember the name? Thanks!
It still amazes me all the time what a difference the right amount of sleep makes. It can be a night and day difference for some kids. It's so sad that some parents don't realize this and they end up having a fussy child that could be pleasant almost all the time with a few changes in sleep :( Parenting is hard!
Rachel -- love your blog. I've been reading and reading and reading, trying to find some advice (any advice!) on how to keep my daughter from waking during the night. She is now 13 months -- and she'll still wake up to cry at night, at least once, if not twice, a night. By now, she is standing and will just stand at her crib and cry until she falls asleep, still in standing position. I'm afraid she will fall over and hit her head so when i go to adjust her, she just wakes and cries some more. We've tried the cry it out method and she will go on for 45 min at the very least.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to be sympathetic because I know that sometimes it's teething that may be making her uncomfortable so I will go to her and soothe her by picking her up. Am I only confusing her by sometimes leaving her to CIO on her own and sometimes picking her up if she's teething? We are not using orajel and don't want/plan to.
Right now, her schedule is something like this: 7-8am wake, nurse, play for a while, eat breakfast at 9am; play, nap for about 45 min around 12/1, wake, eat lunch around 1:30/2; play, nap, nap for another 45 min around 5, wake, eat a snack (cheese, fruit, steamed veggies, apple sauce, etc.), play, eat dinner at 7:30, nurse and bedtime around 9-9:30.
I've tried putting her to bed early (around 8) but she seems wide awake and not interested at all. My husband is in the camp that we should listen to what she wants and when i'm not home (traveling on business), he will let her play until she's about ready to fall over asleep (10:30pm sometimes). While I agree with the 'listening to her; thing to some degree, i still believe in instilling some semblance of a schedule and not letting her call all the shots. He thinks I'm being overly strict, but I am trying to find whatever works for everyone because when she wakes at night, it's definitely not him going to soothe her... ;)
What do you think?
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your amazing site!
Hoping you can answer a question.
My little guy goes down just before 7 and is often asleep by 7, overnight he wakes once (between 2 and 3.30) or not at all. He then wakes between 6 and 6.30. I've found that if I feed him and put him back down that he sleeps through till around 9am. During the day he than has between 3 and 4 x 40 minute sleeps (catnapper!).
As he's a cat napper all bar the 6-9 am sleep I'm not game enough to change this to an eat play sleep process as he may not otherwise get this 2.5 (ish) hours of sleep.
Do you think this 'routine' is okay?
Thanks!
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI should add that he's 16 weeks and when I say 7 it's 7pm and 6 and 6.30 are am!
DeleteThanks!
Abbey,
DeleteIf it's working for you guys, I wouldn't worry about it too much, but there might come a time when it'll backfire to have night sleep go from 7-9. You might end up eventually adding some waketime after 7 am and turn the next sleep period into a nap (which it sort of might be).
best,
rachel
I have been pouring through your blog (which is amazing by the way) looking for some enlightenment and assistance with our 15 month old. I dont know what we are doing wrong! She was sleeping through the night great (7:30-8 pm bedtime, 6 am wake time) and would nap once during the day at daycare (12-2:30). We do a consistent bedtime routine (bath, stories, last bottle, prayer and bed) and none of these things have really changed drastically. For the last 2-3 weeks though she has been waking up around 2 and crying a lot and will not go back to sleep until around 4:30. Both my husband and I work, so this is really making things difficult in our home! Any ideas of what we are doing wrong? We have tried letting her cry it out but she just never stops crying. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel, your website has been very helpful for the past 12 months..yes. baby is going to be 1 this friday :) I always refer to your website for bub's sleep issue and you have been very helpful and suppotive during difficult time (posted few comments when bub was less than 3 mo). My boy now is a good sleeper. Again love your website especially this tables - my favorite :).
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI've been reading your blog and the babywise blog. I am looking for some help with my 5 month old son. His naps are finally going well. His first nap is usually 2 hours long, his second nap is usually about an hour and a half, and the third nap anywhere from an hour to hour and a half. He goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 pm and wakes up for the day between 7:15 and 7:45am. I dreamfeed him at 10pm before I go to bed. He has only slept from 10pm to 7am twice. I am really tired. He nearly always wakes up between 4 and 5am, I'll feed him and he goes back to sleep. Now the last 3 days he's been waking up at 2am. If he wakes at 2, he doesn't wake again until 7:00. He will always eat in the middle of the night if I offer. Can I teach him to drop this night time waking/feeding? Do I need to keep it because he is only 12 lbs as a 5 month old? I don't know what to do. Thank you for any advice and help!
Melody
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great service your providing to other moms! I'm having a tough time with my 11-month old's sleep. He used to be a pretty textbook sleeper. 11-12 hour nights with the waketimes in the chart above (though he was generally a pretty short napper, with most naps at 35 to 70 minutes). Suddenly, a couple of weeks ago right when he turned 11 months, he started waking up early (7pm bedtime and 5:15 to 5:40 wake time) and stretching out his wake times during the day. He would just talk to himself and play in his crib 1/2 hour to an hour (or even 1-1/2 hours a couple of times... I almost had to abort the nap) before falling asleep (sometimes I need to go in and help him settle because he starts to cry a little when he realizes how tired he is). Once he falls asleep, he sleeps hard... for an 1-1/4 to 2 hours each nap (total of about 2-1/2 to 3 hrs. most days). So both naps are getting pushed and his evening wake time has really been shrinking, and his bedtime getting later. I don't know what to do to get him back to a more predictable, regular schedule. Should I be waking him up at a certain point when his naps get pushed back that way? For example, today, he woke a little later (6:10) for the first time in a couple of weeks, but then he wouldn't fall asleep until 9:45, woke at 11:05, I tried to put him down at 2:30 and he didn't fall asleep until 4, so I woke him at 5pm and then put him down a bit later than usual for the night at 7:40pm. Was that too late? Should I have cut his first nap short (maybe limit to an hour) so that he'd be more ready for his second nap? Should I have cut his second nap even shorter than the 1-hour? At what point should I just abort a nap altogether? If he hadn't fallen asleep at 4pm, what time would you have advised putting him to bed for the night given that he'd been up since 11:05am? Any advice would be much appreciated!
Dana
Rachel, I just discovered your website and wish I had discovered earlier. I have an 8 month old who seems to always be tired. She fusses every time I put her in her crib for a few minutes at naps and night time. She will take a morning nap 1.5 hours after waking for 30 minutes to one hour. An hour later she is tired again. I keep her up for 2.5 hours and she will sleep 1.5 hours.(12:15-145) If I do it sooner, she won't nap or she will take a 30 minute nap. If I try a third nap she will not sleep. She goes to bed at 7. I know 1:45 until 7 is way too long for her to be awake. Any ideas on how to get her naps a little later in the day? She sleeps 7 to 7 generally which is great!
ReplyDeleteI printed out this chart and have been using for months and realized I never thanked you. This has been such a life-saver. I'm a little aghast when people whose babies have sleep problems don't have any sort of set awake interval during the day (at which point they should start keeping an eye on them for signs of sleepiness), which makes me think they just wait for their baby to be completely exhausted. Anyway, so I've made a habit of sharing this with moms before they have their baby. I tell them to print it out, bookmark it on their phone, and check it every month because it's like trying to hit a moving target, so you really need this guide (even good books like Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child only give you a vague window of 1-2 hours awake for all babies. I don't know what I would've done without it! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLisa,
DeleteI'm so glad it's been so helpful Lisa! Babies are always changing so much. It's tricky to keep up with them. And you are right, they'll get overtired really quickly if you don't keep a close eye on them--which makes using the clock as a guide really helpful for most babies.
best,
rachel
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI somehow came across your blog and have been reading for the past 3 days. I am in need of help desperately! Any advice you have would be very appreciated!
My 3 1/2 month old son has never been a great sleeper, but it was doable and we were both somehow getting enough sleep. However the past 2 weeks it’s like he’s a completely different baby and anything that was working before does not now. Other than when he was a new-born, his naps are 45 minutes on the dot. I have been trying to keep him asleep for longer, but the only thing that works is if I’m in the room the second he wakes up and rock him back to sleep. And still that is very hit or miss. That isn’t even the main problem though. The issue we’re having is getting him to fall asleep, for naps and bedtime. The past 2 weeks, on average takes us 3-5 hours to get him to sleep at night, and for naps is about 1-2 hours. A lot of times I will be trying to put him down for his last nap of the day, but because it takes so long, by the time he’s starting to fall asleep it’s his bedtime! Or other times we’ll get him ready for bed at his normal time, but it takes 5 hours to get him to sleep. He just refuses to close his eyes and relax his head for the most part. We can be rocking him for 2 hours straight and think he’s sleeping and put him down and he’s just wide awake. Or we can lay him in his crib sleepy, but not sleeping and he’ll just play and talk for hours if we let him, but if we do that, then he gets way over tired and we end up worse off then we started.
I’m assuming he’s sleep deprived and that’s why he’s not falling asleep and waking up after 45 minutes, but I just don’t know how I can catch him up on his sleep if he’s refusing to even fall asleep?
Thanks in advance and again ANY advice you have is greatly welcomed!
Alex
Hello! thank you so much for your blog it Is so helpful! My husband and I are starting sleep training with our five month old twins. They slept great 1130/12 am to 7 pm before this sleep regression and then they started waking some in night and during naps. I know we need to put them to bed earlier and we've been pushing it up doing cluster feeds at 7 and 9 pm. (We feed every four hours). We used to just let them nap in the living room before their last night feeding and I'm thinking this made bad habits. They go right to sleep after that one but lately trying to put them in their crib after the last feeding 930, they fuss for a good hour and then go to sleep. I have noticed that they sleep longer stretches but still wake up in early morning (5) for a feeding. Sorry to write a novel on here but any advice for us? They are going through a wonder week right now as well but I really would like to sleep train them soon to avoid bad habits forming. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteI have an almost 8 week old son who has defied all the baby sleep tips I have read. I have tried to be good about getting him in his swaddle and with pacifier as soon as I see he is sleepy. Most times however, he begins to cry once I swaddle him and often takes a long time to calm down...eyes wide awake. I hold him and wait until he is drowsy enough to put down (try not to talk to him or do too much moving) and inevitably once his body touches the crib mattress, he is awake again. Many of his naps we have to go in and put his paci back in or if he didn't have it, try to use that, shushing with a hand on his belly(where did the patting of the back come from if they sleep on there backs?!). Some naps he seems to fall asleep 8-10 times and wakes up crying after 2 minutes. He rarely can make it past the 45 minute intruder without me going through our whole routine again.
I really want him to learn to self sooth and for us to not create bad habits in him, but I don't think letting him CIO at this age does any good either-he just seems to cry himself so hard that he is choking.
While awake he is a very active newborn but I know he gets tired at about the hour wake time mark. I am so frustrated because I have been trying the BabyWise type schedule and using every single suggestion I can find and my son does not comply. He eats well and is gaining weight like a champ.
Night time presents challenges too...I just don't get how to be consistent with something when it still isn't producing "results" after nearly 4 weeks.
HELP!
These charts were so incredibly helpful for me! My daughter is 14 months now and I'm now recommending this page to all my friends who are having new babies! I found this chart when my little one was 6 or 7 months and only wished I'd found it sooner!
ReplyDeleteUnknown,
DeleteThanks for letting me know they have been helpful! It's always nice to get some positive feedback after all the work I've put into something :)
best,
rachel
Hi there! I'm so confused my my 7 months early wake ups I need some advice. Recently she has been awaking at 5-545am she usually goes to bed at 630/7 is this too early? she can only stay awake max 2.5 hours or she's very tired. Naps are usually at 830-10 and 1130/12 till 130/2. She also can't cope without a short cat nap around 4pm for 30minutes or so. Should I be aiming for a 2 nap day? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteamylacey89,
Deletebedtime hour sounds fine. Take a look at the early morning waking post for tips on that.
good luck,
rachel
Thought so, I took a look thanks. would that mean postponing her morning nap to 9am? And maybe shortening it? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteamylacey89,
Deletethat might help, assuming there isn't something else causing the waking (like light, waking to play with you, waking to eat).
I have blackout blinds so don't think it's light. Could be waking to play or to eat. I suppose you can't postpone waking based on those? She woke at 6am today so a little better :)
ReplyDeleteI am very excited about this website. I have had my little one on an eat wake sleep schedule since he was born but I am having trouble finding an appropriate bedtime. He is a 20 pound 4 month old,so he still feeds twice during the night. He typically is up around 5 something. I have not been able to stretch him 6 am. So, if I give in to a 5:15 wake time, what should bedtime be? I've tried 6 pm but he usually won't go down easily for me that early.
ReplyDeleteI am very excited about this website. I have had my little one on an eat wake sleep schedule since he was born but I am having trouble finding an appropriate bedtime. He is a 20 pound 4 month old,so he still feeds twice during the night. He typically is up around 5 something. I have not been able to stretch him 6 am. So, if I give in to a 5:15 wake time, what should bedtime be? I've tried 6 pm but he usually won't go down easily for me that early.
ReplyDeleteI love your website. Thank you! One question regarding your chart above. For example for a 4 month old you say to end all naps by 5pm, bedtime should be 6-8pm and awake time up to 1.75hrs. This doesn't add up. My boy will often sleep pasr 5pm. Shall I then wake him at 5pm and aim to have him asleep latest 6.45pm or is it better to let him sleep until 6pm and aim to have him asleep by 7.45pm? Thanks
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteMy son is 10 months old and I feel like he isn't getting enough sleep in a 24hr period. during the week he goes to daycare and when he is there he is only taking one which lasted 1.5 hours maybe 2 hours. At times he will have another nap at daycare which isn't long. Maybe about 30mins long. Usually his nap at daycare will be around 10am or 12pm. He isn't consistent. When I pick him up from daycare (which is around 520p) he will fall asleep. This nap usually last 30-45 mintues. I am assume it depends on how long and how many nap he had at daycare. His bed time is at 8p but usually doesn't fall asleep around
8:15p-830p. depending on the night he sleeps the entire night but there are a lot of nights where he wakes up crying and sometimes he soothes him self back to sleep sometimes i have go in there and rock him back. From the time he goes to bed he might wake up at 11p or 12a doing that and again at 230a or 3am (during this time i will give him a bottle to see if he might be hungry and he usually takes it). He wakes up at 630a to get ready for daycare.
is he sleep deprive? how can i help him? Any advice?
Thanks,
Yolanda
My daughter is 4. She does not nap and stays awake 15-18 hours per day! It is so stressful as she gets out of bed at least 20 times after being tucked in. I've been thinking of trying meletonin. Do you think it would help her?
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is 4. She does not nap and stays awake 15-18 hours per day! It is so stressful as she gets out of bed at least 20 times after being tucked in. I've been thinking of trying meletonin. Do you think it would help her?
ReplyDeleteAlussa Culver,
DeleteIt's possible that melatonin could help some, but it isn't what I'd suggest at this point. If she's getting out of bed 20 times, it sounds like her lack of sleep is due in some part (or in all part, hard to really know at this point) to bad sleep habits. Before trying any medicine, it's important to make sure she's got a good daytime routine, is getting good exercise, isn't having screen time in the evening, has a good pre-sleep routine before bed and has firm and consistent rules surrounding bed time. If all these things are in place and she is having a hard time falling asleep (but she knows how to do so on her own and she isn't getting up for your attention-negative or possible attention-or to be defiant) then melatonin is something you might want to consider asking your pediatrician about. Sorry I'm not able to really give you more of a step by step plan right now, you will need to look over the top sleep tips posts etc.
I would like to know what your reference is for these charts. What source(s) are you citing? I can't seem to find that on this page or anywhere else when you state babies on average sleep this long. I question it because the world's best sleep experts seem to disagree with this data and I would like to understand the disparity. As I'm sure you are aware the world's pre-eminent sleep researcher on children, Dr. Ferber, Director of The Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital Boston & a Professor in the Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, states for example that a 6-8 months old on average sleeps 12.5-13.5 hours of sleep per day on average with night time sleep on average being 9.25 hours and daytime sleep being 3.25 hours in total. I am a physician so I only rely upon solid evidence and research not research that is questionnaire based as there is too much error. I would like to have a website to refer patients to and I like your site but I am concerned about your sources. Can you tell me more? Thank you. Jenna
ReplyDeleteJenna, I used to list all the sleep averages suggested by all the books and experts out but it turned into a long list that made things more confusing for people and wasn't very helpful (since if they liked/agreed with an author they could simply see what their suggestion was and go by that rather than look here). That list wouldn't have been very helpful for you anyway because there are only a handful of research references on how long kids sleep and not even all of those seem to well done. The other sources were based off of experience. My sleep suggestions are based off a combination of research out there, other expert opinions and my own experience with my own children and working with other parents. I know that method doesn't exactly work in all situations and for all people, but for me and sleep (and most parenting methods), I've found it to be most effective. I've always found the sleep averages that Ferber states to be short. When I see children sleep that much they are usually cranky- when they sleep longer they are happier. So I can only conclude even with his research that kids need more sleep. I doubt a healthy child would ever sleep more than is necessary, but less than me necessary--oh yes!!!! So when I work with parents to help their kids sleep well and we put them down right when they are sleepy and help encourage long naps and night sleep and they end up sleeping an average of x hours and the children are happy and thriving, I go off that data, researched or not. Not exactly true research and publishable to a journal, but I still find it pretty reliable :)
DeleteI'm interested in exactly how feeber got his sleep averages. I tried to find better details some years ago but wasn't able to find them (although I only went to moderate measure-I only have so much time and knowing was only so important). I can't help but wonder if the children he was evaluating were actually sleeping enough. I mean, you can get a sleep average from children, but how do you know these children are getting an ideal amount of sleep (especially since most kids I meet certainly aren't)? That would be tricky to accurately measure. I myself have just done by best to guess by how children act when they're awake, how well they fall asleep, stay asleep etc.
Sorry for the rambling!
Rachel
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi! Love your site. Question about the 3 month averages. I have 13 week old twins (10 weeks adjusted). It says to end their last nap by 5-5:30 and max wake time is 1.5hours, how can bedtime be between 7-10 then? unless they wake from the last nap at 5:30 and go to bed at 7 the math doesn't seem to work. Am I missing something (it's entirely possible - i am fairly sleep deprived).
ReplyDeleteAlso - we are fighting the 45 minute naps right now - when do you typically see kids grow out of this? I keep hearing between 4-6 months?
Thank you!
Krystal Saucedo,
DeleteThat 3 month age range is kind of a tricky one to put averages to because some babies are still up until late at night and have a hard time falling to sleep early, some are going to bed real early, some have tons of naps into the evening before bed etc. The last nap thing for this age is kind of a 'if your child happens to have an early bedtime by this time then here's something you might want to aim for'. Maybe i should omit that timing there because it may be more confusing then helpful.
yes, I see a lot of kids get over short naps during the 4-6 month time frame. And with twins, sometimes they don't go away until they are sleeping in separate sleeping rooms for naps (or a closet and a bathroom, whatever you've got available that fits a pack n play!)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel!! Your blog is fantastic and has really helped us get into an awesome routine with our 4 month old, Savannah. One question for you...lately she's been waking up from her naps after 35-40 minutes (like clockwork!) I tried shush-pat but when she sees/senses me, it seems to only
ReplyDeletewake her up more. So now I let her go...she'll lay awake or wiggle around a bit. When she fusses I give her her pacifier and she's able to go back to sleep! My concern is do I wake her then if she sleeps over the 2 hours from when the nap started - even though she woke up for 10-15 minutes 2-3 times throughout the time block?? I'm so proud of her for putting herself back to sleep I don't want to wake her!! I've been sticking to a "30 minute rule" and not letting her go more than 30 minutes off from a feed or scheduled wake time.
Currently she sleeps 5-5.5 hours a day (4 naps) and 10 hours at night (1-2 wakings). Thank you so much for your help :)
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI have an 18 week old baby who has been sleeping pretty well overall from week 5. Of course there were ups and downs but I would say he was pretty good overall. Then, he turned 16 weeks and everything went a lil chaotic. Sleep regression hit him hard as he started to cry and fight naps. This was pretty surprising as he rarely cried. I know I should be thankful, however, as he was able to still keep his total amount of sleep around 14hrs for most days.
My real concern right now is that he's formed this habit of keeping himself up after a nightfeed. He only wakes once a night around 3/4am and I feed him when he starts to grunt a little which is anywhere from 20m-40m from his wake time. The reason why I wait is because he has STTN couple nights in a row since 15 weeks so I just make sure he really needs to be nursed before going in.
At first, it only took him 15m to return to sleep (this was when he was around 13 weeks) but around 16 weeks, it would take him an hr and now he goes from 2-3 hrs without crying, just sucking his thumb in the crib, sometimes cooing and babbling before falling back asleep. It happens 2, 3 nights at a time and it really concerns me that this could become a habit and settle in.
How can I encourage him to return to sleep? He is never rocked to sleep nor uses a pacifier. He hasn't nursed to sleep since he was 6 weeks old except for the nightfeed. He's routine is eat, play, sleep. Please help!
Oh, I should've mentioned his sleep times. He naps 3 times, first for 1h40m, second for 1h20m and third for about and hour or so. Goes to bed early at 5:30-6pm as his last nap ends early. I have tried putting him down for later at 7pm but he still stayed up for total of 3hrs.. I'm wondering if this is due to teething as he has been chomping on his hand a lot, drooling and rubbing his nose but never cries or gets cranky because of it.
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the useful sleep info you've put up on your blog!! Really enjoy reading them and putting them into practice as much as I can.
My daughter is currently 6 months old and she's been managing 8-9 hour stretches of sleep at night. Her bedtime ranges from 7-8pm. However, she's been having night wakings recently, but would not return to sleep after feeding! She'd stay awake for 1-1.5 hours before being able to fall asleep again. Am wondering what might be the reason causing her to be so awake and wanting to play at night?
At times she wakes around 4/5am, but last night she woke up at 130am and wouldn't sleep till 3am! And the earlier she wakes up in the middle of the night, the earlier she wakes up for the day (dawn time) as well.
Since she wakes at different times each day, it's been hard for me to set a fixed nap time schedule for her as well.
Would appreciate your opinion on these issues!
Thank you :)