How Much Sleep Does a Baby Need? Hours by Age
Your baby slept 11 hours yesterday. Your friend’s baby, the same age, apparently sleeps 15. Now you’re wondering if something is off.
Probably not. Babies differ a lot in how much they sleep, which is why the official numbers are ranges. This guide gives the recommended hours by age, explains why there’s no official target for the first few months, and shows how to look at your own baby’s sleep without turning it into a test.
The short answer
| Age | How much sleep in 24 hours | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Newborn (0 to 3 months) | 14 to 17 hours | CDC, from the National Sleep Foundation |
| Newborn | About 16 to 17 hours, often only 1 or 2 hours at a time | AAP |
| Newborn | Varies, but can be around 18 hours | NHS |
| 4 to 12 months | 12 to 16 hours, naps included | AASM, supported by the AAP and used by the CDC |
| 6 to 12 months | Some babies sleep around 15 hours, mostly at night | NHS |
These are totals for a full day and night, naps included. They aren’t goals your baby has to hit every day.
Why newborns don’t get an official number
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) published its sleep recommendations for children in 2016, and the AAP supports those guidelines. The AASM’s list starts at 4 months. Its consensus statement says babies younger than that were left out because normal sleep varies so much at that age, and because there wasn’t enough evidence linking newborn sleep amounts to health outcomes.
Other groups do give a newborn range. The CDC’s sleep page lists 14 to 17 hours for 0 to 3 months, citing the National Sleep Foundation. The AAP’s page on getting your baby to sleep says newborns sleep about 16 to 17 hours a day but may only sleep 1 or 2 hours at a time. The NHS guide to helping your baby to sleep says a newborn’s total varies but can be around 18 hours.
So the three don’t agree exactly. In the first weeks, sleep comes in short pieces between feeds, and the NHS notes that newborns wake repeatedly at night for the first few months because they need to eat. A newborn who sleeps a bit less or a bit more than one chart says is usually just being a newborn.
From 4 to 12 months
A short, predictable bedtime routine helps from this age.
For how many naps that usually means, see our baby nap schedule by age. If your baby suddenly starts waking more around 4 months, the guide to baby sleep regressions explains what changes and what helps.
This is where the AASM gives a clear range: 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours, naps included, on a regular basis. The CDC uses the same range for 4 to 12 months.
The AAP says babies don’t have regular sleep cycles until about 4 months of age. The NHS says that between 3 and 6 months, babies need fewer night feeds and some may sleep for 5 to 8 hours or longer at night. By 6 to 12 months, it says some babies sleep around 15 hours, most of it at night.
Waking at night is still normal at this age. The AAP says it’s normal for a 6-month-old to wake during the night and go back to sleep after a few minutes. It also says to go to your baby if they need something, like a feed, a dirty diaper changed, or comfort when they’re sick.
From about 4 months, the AAP suggests putting your baby to bed drowsy rather than already asleep, so they can learn to fall asleep on their own. If you want help guessing when the next nap might come, our page on baby sleep predictions explains how age-based wake windows work, and why no medical body publishes them.
Why the ranges are so wide
A 4-hour spread (12 to 16 hours) is a lot. It’s wide because babies really are different. The NHS says plainly that babies’ sleep patterns vary.
Your count can also be off. A nap in the car or the stroller is easy to forget if you’re adding things up from memory, and one short nap can make a whole day look low.
That’s why one day tells you very little. A week or two of totals tells you much more.
How to check your baby’s sleep without obsessing
You don’t have to log sleep to know your baby is fine. But if you’re unsure, a few days of start and stop times help, especially at a checkup. Our guide to preparing for your baby’s checkup covers what to bring and what to ask.
What’s worth noting:
- When each sleep starts and ends
- Whether it was a nap or night sleep
- Roughly how your baby settled, if it was unusual
Then look at the average over several days, not the single worst day. If the average sits near the ranges above and your baby is feeding well and seems content when awake, that’s reassuring.
If nights are long and you’re splitting them with a partner, a shared log means nobody has to keep the numbers in their head. Our guide on sharing night feeds with your partner shows how that works in practice.
Safe sleep matters more than total hours
How much your baby sleeps matters less than how they sleep. The AAP’s parent guide to safe sleep says:
- Place your baby on their back for every nap and at night.
- Use a firm, flat sleep surface. A surface that inclines more than 10 degrees isn’t safe for sleep.
- Keep soft objects and loose bedding out of the sleep area, including pillows, blankets, toys and bumper pads.
- Share a room with your baby for at least the first 6 months, but don’t share a bed.
The NHS also says your baby should sleep in the same room as you, day and night, for at least the first 6 months, because it can reduce the risk of SIDS.
When to call a doctor
Sleep totals alone are rarely a reason to worry. Some signs are different, though. The NHS page on spotting a seriously ill baby says to call 999 (or your local emergency number) if your baby is difficult to wake or can’t be woken. It also lists being floppy, or a baby not feeding, as signs of serious illness.
If something about your baby’s sleep worries you, ask your pediatrician or health visitor. The NHS puts it simply: trust your instincts.
Tracking sleep in Vivi Baby
If you’d like the totals without doing the math, Vivi Baby logs naps and night sleep with a timer you start and stop on your iPhone or on your wrist. The Apple Watch sleep tracker page shows how. Trends, which is free, shows total sleep, daytime and nighttime sleep, and the longest stretch over time, so you can see the weekly picture instead of one bad day. Get Vivi Baby.
The ranges above are what to compare against. For anything that worries you, ask your pediatrician.
Sources
- Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations (Paruthi et al., 2016) - Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, American Academy of Sleep Medicine consensus statement
- Healthy Sleep Habits: How Many Hours Does Your Child Need? - HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics)
- Getting Your Baby to Sleep - HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics)
- A Parent’s Guide to Safe Sleep - HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics)
- About Sleep - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Helping your baby to sleep - NHS
- Is your baby or toddler seriously ill? - NHS