Baby sleep in the first year
Night wakings, feeds, naps, and safe sleep. The first year holds the widest range of normal of any age, which is exactly why so much advice about it contradicts itself. Here is what the evidence actually says.
How much sleep babies actually need
Sleep in the first year changes more than in any year that follows. A pattern that is completely normal at eight weeks would be unusual at eight months.
Newborn to 3 months
Spread across the full 24 hours in short stretches. Newborns have no body clock yet, so day and night feel the same to them. Sleep follows feeding, not the sun.
Around 2 to 3 months
Your baby's own melatonin rhythm starts to appear and sleep begins sorting itself into day and night. It keeps consolidating for months after that. Many families find this stretch harder, not easier, because sleep is reorganizing.
4 to 12 months
Across 24 hours, naps included. Naps usually drop from three or four a day to about two somewhere between nine and twelve months. The normal range is wide, and total sleep matters more than where it lands.
Waking at night is not a problem you failed to solve
"Sleeping through the night" sounds like a milestone your baby is supposed to hit. It is not one. It is a phrase, and babies did not agree to it.
Researchers followed nearly 400 infants and checked how long they slept without waking. At six months, 38 percent were not yet sleeping six hours in a row, and 57 percent were not sleeping eight hours in a row. At twelve months, 28 percent still were not doing six hours and 43 percent were not doing eight.
The same study looked at whether uninterrupted sleep predicted better motor or mental development at those ages. It did not.
Safe sleep, every sleep
These are the current recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics. They apply to naps as well as nights, and to every caregiver who puts your baby down.
- On the back for every sleep, naps included, until your baby's first birthday.
- A firm, flat surface in a crib, bassinet, or play yard, with a fitted sheet and nothing else.
- Room share for at least the first six months. Same room, separate surface.
- No sofa or armchair sleep, and no sleeping in swings or car seats outside the car.
- Stop swaddling as soon as your baby shows any sign of rolling, often around three to four months.
- Skip weighted swaddles, weighted sleep sacks, and weighted blankets entirely.
- A pacifier at sleep times lowers risk. If you are breastfeeding, wait until feeding is established.
- Keep the space smoke free and vape free.
- Home cardiorespiratory monitors are not proven to prevent sleep-related infant death.
- Supervised tummy time while awake supports development and head shape.
Melatonin is not for babies
Your baby's own melatonin rhythm only begins to appear around two to three months of age, and it keeps developing across the first year. Melatonin is sold as a supplement, not as an approved medicine for sleep in children of any age, and there is no established dose or safety data for children aged under 12 months.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine advises parents to talk to a pediatric health care professional before giving melatonin to any child. Purity is a real issue too. One analysis of supplements found actual melatonin content running from 83 percent below the labeled amount to 478 percent above it, and more than 71 percent of products were off label by more than 10 percent.
If someone has suggested melatonin for your baby, that is a conversation to have with your own clinician first, not a supplement to buy.
Read the pediatric melatonin guide
Worth mentioning at your next visit
Some infant sleep problems are medical rather than behavioral, and they are easy to miss because a baby cannot describe them. None of these means something is definitely wrong.
- Snoring most nights of the week
- Breathing through the mouth while asleep
- Pauses in breathing, gasping, or choking sounds
- Noisy or high-pitched breathing that worsens on the back or during feeds
- Sleeping with the neck stretched back or the chin lifted
- Heavy sweating during sleep
- Feeds that are slow, effortful, or interrupted by breathing
- Poor weight gain alongside disrupted sleep
- Sleep that has become dramatically worse and stayed that way
If your baby's breathing sounds worse when they are on their back, tell your doctor about it. That is a symptom to report, not a reason to change your baby's sleep position. Back sleeping still applies.
Write down what you are seeing, how often, and how long it has been happening. Bring that to your baby's doctor. A few specifics from home are more useful than a perfect night in a clinic room.
This page is education, not medical advice, and it cannot diagnose your child. Please talk with your own pediatrician or family doctor about anything that concerns you.
The pediatric melatonin guide
Melatonin is one of the most common things parents reach for, and one of the least understood. This guide covers what it does, what it does not do, and what to ask your clinician.
Sleep is simple. You will also get evidence-based pediatric sleep tips you can use, straight to your inbox.
Have another child at a different age?
What is normal at six months is not normal at six years. Pick the age closest to your other child.
Where this comes from
- Paruthi S, et al. Recommended amount of sleep for pediatric populations: a consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2016. Source of the 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours figure for infants aged 4 to 12 months. The AASM does not issue a recommendation for infants under 4 months.
- Hirshkowitz M, et al. National Sleep Foundation's sleep time duration recommendations. Sleep Health, 2015. Source of the 14 to 17 hours figure for newborns aged 0 to 3 months.
- Pennestri MH, et al. Uninterrupted infant sleep, development, and maternal mood. Pediatrics, 2018;142(6):e20174330. Source of the six-month and twelve-month night waking percentages.
- Moon RY, et al. Sleep-related infant deaths: updated 2022 recommendations for reducing infant deaths in the sleep environment. Pediatrics, 2022;150(1):e2022057990.
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Health advisory: melatonin use in children and adolescents. Adopted September 2022, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2023;19(2):415.
- Erland LAE, Saxena PK. Melatonin natural health products and supplements: presence of serotonin and significant variability of melatonin content. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2017;13(2):275 to 281.
- Galland BC, et al. Normal sleep patterns in infants and children: a systematic review of observational studies. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 2012. Source of the nap number figures.
This page provides educational and informational content on pediatric sleep health for general purposes only. Nothing here constitutes medical advice, a clinical diagnosis, or a substitute for professional medical consultation. Parents and caregivers should consult their child's physician before changing care or treatment. In a medical emergency, contact your local emergency services immediately.
The Sleep Health Organization
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