Sleep schedule for babies 0-18 months old
This is a topic I wanted to dive into early on to know what to expect and to be prepared. The more information you gather before you meet your baby the better since it gives a certain peace of mind. You want to figure out what your daily schedule will most likely going to look like and you will want to create a routine and try to put your baby to sleep at the same time daily. This is gonna help on the long run but the truth is you can’t fully prepare for this since every baby is different. At least you get an idea and know how much your little one needs sleep.
These tips are for first time moms who don’t really have any or just a little previous experience with babies.
Most of us learn best when our babies arrive and we go through the experience but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. With these tips you can make sure your baby gets enough sleep.
Sleeping Schedule for 0-18 months old
Newborns (up until 3 months old) need about 14-17h of sleep during a 24 hour period. So about 8h during day time and 8h during nights. At this stage your baby will mostly just sleep and feed so naturally there will be a lot of sleeping. However you need to wake your baby regularly for a feed meaning that you shouldn’t let your baby go without feeding over 4 hours at night.
Your baby can only stay awake about 45-60minutes at once. If you go over this time your newborn can get very upset for a very long time. The length of a nap can be even just 30 minutes because they go to sleep very soon again anyways. During nights your baby only wakes up for a feed and goes right back to sleep. And by the way your newborn won’t know the difference between day and night until they are about two months old.
3-months-old needs 14-17h sleep. Three to four naps that come up to 4-6h of sleep during day time. 10h of sleep at night. Remember at 4 months your baby can handle about 75minutes awake time and at 5 months it goes up to two hours awake time in a row. So your schedule could look something like this:
- 7am wake up and 8:15am nap.
- 10am wake up and 11:15 nap.
- 1:15pm wake up and 2:30 nap.
- 3:30pm wake up and 4:45 nap.
- 5:45 pm wake up and bed by 7pm.
6-months-old needs 15h sleep. During the day two to three naps that come up to 2,5-3,5h of sleep. 11-12h at night. Your baby can have about 2,5h of awake time between naps. At this point your baby can sleep through the night without feeds or at least 6 hours straight. Your schedule example:
- 7 am wake up 9am nap.
- 10am wake up and 12 nap.
- 2pm wake up and 4:30 nap.
- 5pm wake up and at bed by 7pm.
9-months-old needs 14-15h of sleep. About 3h of sleep during day. 11h at night. Your baby can handle 3,5h awake time in a row. Your schedule for 9-12 months old could look like this:
- 7am wake up 9am nap.
- 10am wake up and 12:30 nap.
- 2:30pm wake up and 6pm bed time.
12-months-old needs 14h of sleep. Two naps that come up to 3h of sleep. 11h at night. Your baby can handle 4h awake time in a row now.
- 7am wake up 9 am nap.
- 10am wake up and 12:30 nap.
- 2:30pm wake up and bed time at 6:30pm.
18-months-old needs 13-14h of sleep. One nap during day time the length of 2h and 30minutes. 11h at night. Babies at this age can stay awake for 4-6 hour straight before needing another nap. So you can have a two hour nap midday.
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