How Much Sleep Does a Baby Need? Hours by Age, 0–12 Months
In this guide
Is my baby sleeping enough? It’s one of the questions parents ask most, often at 4 am while staring at a wide-awake baby, or at 2 pm wondering whether a third nap is “allowed”.
Here is what the experts recommend, what’s normal, and how to tell whether your baby is getting what they need.
The short answer: newborns up to 3 months usually sleep 14 to 17 hours in 24 hours. Babies from 4 to 12 months need about 12 to 16 hours in total, including naps. These are wide ranges on purpose: healthy babies vary a lot.
Recommended sleep by age
| Age | Total sleep in 24 hours | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 months | 14–17 hours | World Health Organization |
| 4–12 months | 12–16 hours, including naps | American Academy of Sleep Medicine, World Health Organization |
| 1–2 years | 11–14 hours, including naps | American Academy of Sleep Medicine |
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s consensus recommendations, endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, give 12 to 16 hours for babies 4 to 12 months. They made no recommendation for babies under 4 months, because normal sleep varies so widely at that age. The World Health Organization’s 2019 guidelines for children under 5 recommend 14 to 17 hours of good-quality sleep for babies up to 3 months, and 12 to 16 hours for babies 4 to 11 months, including naps.
How sleep splits between day and night
The total stays fairly steady through the first year. What changes is when that sleep happens.
Newborns (0–2 months) sleep in short stretches spread evenly across day and night, waking every 2 to 3 hours to feed. The NHS describes newborns sleeping around 18 hours a day in the early weeks.
3 to 6 months: more of the sleep shifts to the night. Some babies start sleeping stretches of 5 to 8 hours, though plenty don’t yet. Day sleep is usually 3 to 5 hours across 3 to 4 naps.
6 to 12 months: night sleep often reaches 10 to 12 hours (with or without feeds), and day sleep shrinks to about 2 to 3 hours across 2 to 3 naps.
For what this looks like hour by hour, see our baby sleep schedule by age.
Count the whole day, not each nap
It’s easy to worry about one short nap or one bad night. Total sleep across 24 hours is the more useful number, and it often looks better than it feels. A 30-minute nap here and a long night stretch there can add up to a perfectly healthy total.
A simple log makes this easy. Napling adds up your baby’s sleep for you and shows each day’s total next to last week’s, so you can see the trend rather than the worst moment.
Signs your baby is getting enough sleep
- They wake from most sleeps calm or content
- They’re alert and interested during awake times
- They’re feeding well and growing as expected
- They fall asleep without a long battle most of the time
Signs your baby may need more sleep
- Fussiness that builds through the day, worst in the late afternoon
- Fighting sleep and taking a long time to settle
- Frequent short naps and early morning waking
- Falling asleep during feeds or in the car at unusual times
If you see these, look first at wake windows: an earlier nap or bedtime is often the simplest fix. Here are the signs of an overtired baby in more detail.
Can a baby sleep too much?
Most healthy babies regulate their own sleep well. In the newborn weeks, though, very long stretches can mean missed feeds. Ask your pediatrician how long your baby can go between feeds. Call them promptly if your baby is hard to wake, seems floppy, isn’t feeding well, or has fewer wet diapers than usual.
Quick answers
How much should a 6-month-old sleep? About 12 to 16 hours in 24 hours, often 10 to 12 at night plus 2 to 4 hours of naps.
How much should a newborn sleep? Typically 14 to 17 hours in 24 hours, in short stretches around the clock.
Does night sleep with wake-ups still count? Yes. Count the time asleep, even if it’s broken up by feeds.