Baby sleep schedule by age: total sleep, naps and sample days from 0 to 12 months

Your baby needs 14 to 17 hours of sleep a day up to 3 months, and 12 to 15 hours from 4 to 11 months, naps included, say Singapore's 24-hour activity guidelines. A baby sleep schedule by age is how those hours split into naps and night. Newborns sleep in short bursts around the clock. By 4 to 6 months, most babies settle into 2 to 3 naps a day, HealthHub says.

How to build your baby's sleep schedule, step by step

1. Start with your baby's daily total: the Singapore guidelines give 14 to 17 hours up to 3 months, and 12 to 15 hours from 4 to 11 months.
2. Follow your newborn's lead for the first weeks. HealthHub says newborns don't follow a fixed regime, and KKH says their sleep is irregular until about 6 to 8 weeks.
3. Teach day from night by talking and playing in the day, then keeping the lights dim and your voice soft at night, as HealthHub suggests.
4. Pick a steady wake-up time once day and night patterns start, around 2 to 3 months. The AAP says keeping it on weekends too helps.
5. Watch your baby rather than the clock: HealthHub lists yawning, rubbing eyes and fussing as tired cues, and says newborns can get sleepy 1 to 1.5 hours after waking.
6. Plan the naps for your baby's age. HealthHub puts it at 2 to 3 naps of up to 2 hours at 4 to 6 months, then 2 to 3 naps of 30 minutes to 2 hours at 7 to 12 months.
7. Keep the room as dim as possible for naps, as HealthHub advises.
8. Add a bedtime routine from about 6 to 8 weeks: HealthHub suggests 20 to 40 minutes of quiet things, like a bath and a song, in the same order each night.
9. Put your baby down drowsy but awake, on their back, in their own cot in your room. KKH says babies put down drowsy are more likely to learn to settle themselves, and our safe sleep guide has the full basics.
10. Write the plan down for anyone who does naps, since HealthHub says to keep the same routine even when different caregivers do it.

Baby sleep schedule by month, 0 to 12 months

Totals in this table come from the Singapore guidelines and HealthHub, and the naps and notes from HealthHub and KKH.

KKH's own newborn figure runs a little higher, at about 16 to 18 hours a day for a full-term baby and about 20 for a premature one.

From 1 year, the guidelines move to 11 to 14 hours a day, and KKH says naps drop to one a day at about 18 months. Our toddler sleep guide covers that stage, and the kids bedtime calculator gives a bedtime from 1 year up.

Baby wake windows by age: a rough guide

A wake window is the stretch your baby stays awake between sleeps. We found no wake-window table from KKH or HealthHub past the newborn weeks. Treat these figures as a rough guide.

For newborns, HealthHub says some get sleepy 1 to 1.5 hours after waking, and that newborns may stay awake for about two hours on average before getting fretful. The Raising Children Network says babies might be tired after 1.5 to 3 hours awake at 3 to 6 months, and after 2 to 3 hours at 6 to 12 months.

The cues matter more than the minutes. A newborn may flutter their eyelids, stare into space or make jerky arm and leg movements. Older babies tend to yawn and rub their eyes. Start winding down at the first sign, because the Raising Children Network says an overtired baby can find it hard to settle.

Our baby sleep schedule tool turns your baby's age and wake-up time into a sample nap plan. Use its times as a starting point and let the cues correct them.

Sample baby sleep schedules by age

These are examples only, built from HealthHub's nap counts and the Raising Children Network's awake times. Shift the times to fit your baby.

Example: a newborn, 0 to 6 weeks

There's no clock yet. HealthHub suggests a simple rhythm called EASY: eat, activity, sleep, then time for you. Our guide to newborn sleep in the first 6 weeks goes deeper.

• Feed on cue. HealthHub says newborns feed every 2 to 4 hours, and more often in a growth spurt.
• Keep the awake time gentle, with a nappy change, a cuddle and some talk.
• Settle your baby back to sleep at the first tired cues, often 1 to 1.5 hours after waking.
• Rest while your baby sleeps and let the chores wait.

Example: about 5 months, 3 naps

• Wake at 7am and feed, then nap from 8:45am to 10am.
• Nap again from 12:15pm to 1:30pm, with a short third nap from 3:45pm to 4:15pm.
• Start the bedtime routine at 6:45pm, and have your baby in the cot, drowsy but awake, by 7:15pm. Expect at least one night waking.

Each awake stretch here runs from 1 hour 45 minutes to 3 hours. That day adds up to about 14 to 15 hours of sleep, inside the 12 to 15 hours the guidelines give.

Example: about 9 months, 3 naps

• Wake at 6:30am and feed, then nap from 9am to 10am.
• Nap from 12:30pm to 2pm, with a short nap from 4:30pm to 5pm.
• Start the routine at 7pm, with your baby in the cot by 7:30pm.

Each awake stretch is 2.5 hours, and the total comes to about 14 hours. HealthHub says naps may drop as your baby nears 1. If the late nap starts pushing bedtime back, drop it and bring bedtime a little earlier.

Night sleep by age: what's normal

Up to about 3 months, nights look a lot like days, with sleep in bursts of 2 to 3 hours between feeds. From 4 to 6 months, HealthHub says babies stay asleep for longer at night, but most still wake at least once. The AAP says it's normal for a 6-month-old to wake and go back to sleep after a few minutes. Some babies sleep 5 to 8 hours or longer at night, the NHS says, but not all.

If your baby wakes a lot, our guide to baby waking at night goes through the causes. A sudden change around 4 months may be a sleep regression. Night feeds by age are in our newborn feeding guide, and our sleep training guide compares the ways to teach settling.

Sleep schedules in Singapore homes

• Infant care: HealthHub lists starting infant care as one reason sleep can slip for a while. Ask the centre to log your baby's naps each day, and keep weekend naps close to that.
• A helper or grandparent doing naps: HealthHub says everyone should put your baby to sleep the same way, so write the nap times and tired cues on a card by the cot.
• The yao lan: HealthHub says cloth cradles are unsafe and very hard to wean from, so ask grandparents to use the cot for naps too. KKH adds that car seats and other sitting devices aren't for routine sleep.
• An air-conditioned room: KKH says to dress your baby lightly and keep the room at a temperature that's comfortable for a lightly clothed adult. HealthHub says to skip loose blankets, and KKH names sleep sacks as a good alternative. See our guides to dressing a newborn in Singapore and swaddles and sleep sacks.
• HDB noise: you don't need a silent flat, since the NHS says it's good to get your baby used to sleeping through some noise.

When to get help

KKH says to see a doctor if you notice any of these, and your polyclinic or GP is the place to start:

• your baby is extremely and consistently fussy
• breathing problems, or noisy breathing
• snoring, especially loud snoring
• unusual night-time waking
• trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, with sleepiness in the day

HealthHub also says to see your doctor if your baby has a fever or is much fussier than normal. Bring a few days of a sleep log, since the AAP says your doctor may ask for one. If you're running on empty yourself, HealthHub's advice is to reach out for help, and our guide to new parent sleep deprivation has ways to share the nights.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good baby sleep schedule by month?

There's no single timetable, but the shape changes month by month. Newborns sleep in bursts of 2 to 3 hours around the clock. HealthHub says most babies take 2 to 3 naps a day from 4 to 12 months, with fewer near the first birthday.

What is a normal baby nap schedule by age?

Newborns have no set naps. HealthHub gives 2 to 3 naps of up to 2 hours at 4 to 6 months, and 2 to 3 naps of 30 minutes to 2 hours at 7 to 12 months. KKH says toddlers drop to one nap of 1 to 3 hours at about 18 months.

What are baby wake windows by age?

Treat them as a rough guide. HealthHub says newborns can get sleepy 1 to 1.5 hours after waking. The Raising Children Network says 1.5 to 3 hours at 3 to 6 months, and 2 to 3 hours at 6 to 12 months. Go by your baby's tired cues first.

How much sleep does a baby need?

Singapore's guidelines say 14 to 17 hours a day up to 3 months, and 12 to 15 hours from 4 to 11 months, naps included. From 1 year it's 11 to 14 hours.

When will my baby sleep through the night?

It varies a lot. HealthHub says most babies still wake at least once a night at 4 to 6 months. The NHS says some sleep 5 to 8 hours or longer, but not all. Our guide to night waking covers what to try.

Should I wake my baby from a nap to keep to the schedule?

In the first weeks, HealthHub says you may need to wake your baby to feed after a 4-hour stretch, until they're back to birth weight. After that, you can stop waking them for feeds unless your doctor advises otherwise.