Baby Sleep by Age: How Many Hours Should Your Baby Sleep? (0-24 Months)
Your baby sleeps in 40-minute stretches while your neighbor's has been "sleeping through the night" since 2 months? Take a breath. Baby sleep is one of the biggest sources of exhaustion — and of unnecessary guilt. Here are clear age-by-age guidelines to understand where your baby is at, and to stop comparing.
How many hours of sleep does a baby need? The age-by-age chart
Sleep needs change enormously over the first two years. Here are reference ranges, consistent with common pediatric guidance. Keep in mind these are wide ranges: a perfectly thriving baby can sit at the top or the bottom of them.
| Age | Total sleep / 24h | Naps | Wake window |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 - 2 months | 14 - 17 h | Many, irregular | 45 min - 1 h |
| 3 - 5 months | 12 - 16 h | 3 to 4 | 1.5 - 2 h |
| 6 - 8 months | 12 - 15 h | 2 to 3 | 2 - 3 h |
| 9 - 12 months | 12 - 15 h | 2 | 3 - 4 h |
| 12 - 24 months | 11 - 14 h | 1 to 2 | 4 - 6 h |
The wake window is how long your baby can comfortably stay awake before becoming overtired. It's probably the most useful column in the chart: a baby put down at the right moment usually falls asleep far more easily than one who's gone past their window.
These ranges are averages, not standards to meet. If your baby sleeps noticeably less or more than these guidelines, seems constantly exhausted, or their sleep worries you, talk to your pediatrician — only they can assess YOUR baby's situation.
0-2 months: sleep all over the place (and that's normal)
In the first weeks, your baby doesn't tell day from night: their internal clock isn't mature yet. They sleep a lot (14 to 17 hours per 24h), but in short cycles of 30 to 50 minutes, scattered at random. This is physiological — not a problem to fix.
At this age, there's no point trying to impose a schedule. You can, however, gently help things along: daylight and normal household noise during the day, calm and dim light at night. A day/night rhythm usually settles in between 6 and 12 weeks.
3-12 months: a rhythm takes shape
Around 3-4 months, sleep starts to organize itself: nights get longer and naps begin to structure (often 3 to 4 a day, then 2 to 3 around 6-8 months, then 2 around 9-12 months). This is also when the famous 4-month sleep regression hits — which is actually a maturation of sleep, a milestone rather than a step backwards.
Wake windows gradually stretch out: roughly 1.5-2 hours at 3-5 months, 2-3 hours at 6-8 months, 3-4 hours at 9-12 months. Each nap transition (from 3 to 2, then 2 to 1) can shake up the rhythm for a week or two. Again: completely normal.
12-24 months: down to one nap
Between 12 and 18 months, most babies move from 2 naps to 1 longer early-afternoon nap. Total sleep drifts gently down to 11-14 hours a day, with wake windows of 4 to 6 hours. This transition rarely happens overnight: there's often a phase where 2 naps feel like too much but 1 isn't quite enough. Be patient — it settles.
Tired cues to watch for
Rather than only watching the clock, learn to spot the signals your baby sends you. The early tired cues mark the ideal moment to put them down:
- Rubbing eyes or ears, yawning.
- Staring into space, losing interest in toys or faces.
- Getting quieter, seeking contact, snuggling in.
- Jerky or clumsy movements (in younger babies).
Miss that window and you enter overtired territory: fussiness, intense crying, irritability, a "wired" baby who paradoxically seems unstoppable. At that point, falling asleep gets harder because the body releases cortisol to keep going. Don't panic if it happens (it happens to everyone!): soothe, reassure, and aim for a slightly earlier bedtime next time.
Your baby's tired cues are unique: some babies yawn, others skip straight to wired and giddy. Observe for a few days and you'll learn to recognize THEIR particular way of saying "I'm tired".
Why tracking baby sleep genuinely helps
When you're sleeping in 2-hour stretches yourself, there's no way you'll remember whether the morning nap lasted 40 minutes or 1h20, or what time your baby woke up. Yet that information is gold: it lets you spot your baby's actual wake windows, anticipate the right moment for bedtime, and see whether a rough night is a one-off or a trend.
Tracking sleep for just a week or two is often enough to reveal a rhythm you couldn't see with the naked eye — and to reassure you: over a full week, your baby usually sleeps far more than you think.
With an app like Bébou, you log the start and end of each sleep in one tap, your co-parent sees everything in real time, and the week's trends appear on their own. It's also handy for showing your pediatrician a clear summary instead of digging through foggy memories.
Every baby has their own rhythm
Let's end with the most important point: comparison is the worst enemy of tired parents. At the same age, some babies need 12 hours of sleep, others 16. Some sleep through the night at 3 months, others at 18 months — and both are within the normal range. The right benchmark isn't the neighbor's baby: it's your own. If they're generally in good spirits during awake time, growing well, and recharging, their sleep is working for them.
See a doctor promptly if your baby snores loudly on a regular basis, has pauses in breathing during sleep, is unusually hard to wake, or if poor sleep comes with fever or a change in behavior. And if YOU are running on empty, say so too — parental exhaustion deserves to be taken seriously.
This article is informational and does not replace medical advice. If you have any concern about your baby's health, talk to your pediatrician.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a newborn sleep per day?
A newborn typically sleeps between 14 and 17 hours per 24 hours, but in short cycles of 30 to 50 minutes spread across day and night, with no regular pattern. That's completely normal: their internal clock isn't mature yet. A day/night rhythm usually emerges between 6 and 12 weeks.
What exactly is a wake window?
It's how long a baby can stay awake without building up too much tiredness: roughly 45 minutes to 1 hour for a newborn, up to 4-6 hours by 12-24 months. Putting your baby down at the end of their wake window, at the first tired cues, makes falling asleep much easier.
My baby sleeps less than the chart says — should I worry?
Not necessarily: the ranges are wide and some babies naturally need less sleep. What matters is how they are during awake time: a cheerful, curious baby who's growing well is probably getting enough sleep for THEM. If, however, they seem constantly exhausted or you're in doubt, talk to your pediatrician.
At what age do babies sleep through the night?
There's no single age: some babies string together 6 hours around 3-4 months, others still wake at night well past their first birthday. Night wakings remain physiological for a long time (hunger, sleep cycles, teething, the need for reassurance). And "sleeping through" often means 5-6 hours in a row — not 12!
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