Most new moms are a chip fixated on the sleep their babies get, always hoping (fingers crossed!) that the full stretches merely a piddling more than each week. Of course, your baby will eventually get to a full night of shut-eye, only newborn and baby sleep more often than not falls within a range and varies by historic period. And while it's tempting to compare your babe with your friend's, know that your cutie'due south sleep schedule is unique to her, just like her adorable nose.

Still, if you're wondering how much sleep babies need and whether yours is on the right track, read on for more about how many hours a solar day your baby should be sleeping and how to tell if your piffling one is sleeping too much. Sweet dreams!

How much sleep exercise babies need?

The amount of sleep your baby needs is based on her age plus a few other important factors. Here's a quick look at two ranges of sleep during the offset year:

  • Newborn to iii months. A healthy baby in this age range should become a total of near 14 to 17 hours of slumber over the class of a 24-hour day. She'll typically snooze in brusk spurts of two to iv hours, waking to be fed, burped, changed and soothed. And while there'south no suggested sleep schedule to follow, your babe will likely rack upwards eight to 12 hours at night with the rest occurring during two to five daytime naps (though it can vary from infant to baby).

  • iv to 6 months. During this historic period span, you tin expect your babe to sleep nigh 12 to 16 hours a day with some overnight stretches reaching five to half-dozen hours in a row (this is what they call "sleeping through the night"). Your little 1's naps will be consolidated as well — wait for about three a day by v months of age. And your infant's slumber patterns will finally bring together the rest of the family'south routine as she'll start sleeping more at nighttime and less during the solar day.

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  • vii to 11 months. Full sleep remains about the same, but overnight stretches may attain 10 to 12 hours, and naps will consolidate further from 3 to two.

Two other factors that can impact how much sleep newborns and babies are getting include:

  • Premature birth. If your babe was built-in prematurely, her sleep numbers will differ from those of full-term infants. Preemies may slumber up to 22 hours a day, depending on how premature they are, and they'll wake more frequently to feed. As for stringing together bigger chunks of nighttime sleep (half-dozen hours or more), a preemie won't get there every bit quickly. In fact, it may take until they're 10 or 12 months old to achieve this feat.

  • Feeding method. Bottle-fed infants tend to wake up less often at nighttime and sleep for longer periods than their breastfed cousins considering formula takes more time to digest. But formula isn't a magic slumber bullet, either, equally both feeding methods yet upshot in the aforementioned amount of total sleep. And past the fourth dimension your baby is 9 months one-time, whatsoever divergence between the two is usually no longer apparent.

Every bit for setting up a sleep schedule for your baby, the starting time 3 months aren't the fourth dimension to try it. Since your little one needs to nurse or take a bottle every few hours during the newborn phase, establishing a anticipated schedule should wait until your baby is in the three- to 6-month range.

And remember that condom sleep is critical during the first year of life, so always identify your baby on her back (never her tummy) for naps and bedtime. Your baby should besides always sleep on a firm surface that's free of soft toys, blankets, pillows and bumpers.

As your trivial i gains upper body strength, she may surprise you by changing slumber positions and rolling around at about the 4-calendar month marking (and she'll push to a sitting position when she'due south vi or 7 months old, though the timing of all these milestones can vary). Don't worry — at that place'southward no need to render her to her back at this point, but she'll still need to start in that location every time she's going to sleep.

Can infants sleep too much?

Yeah, it'south possible for babies to slumber too much — and information technology'southward definitely non recommended early in infancy. Remember, at 1 calendar month of historic period your baby should feed at least eight to 12 times in the span of 24 hours, and so letting a newborn sleep "all solar day" or more than the upper limit of 17 hours can mean she'll miss out on the nutrition she needs.

Continue in mind that y'all'll need to gently rouse your infant if she sleeps longer than four hours during those early weeks. And if she isn't awake enough to eat at to the lowest degree eight times a day, call your pediatrician for advice.

What if my babe isn't sleeping enough?

There is also a chance that your baby might exist sleeping as well little and non clocking the required amount of shut-center for her age.

If your baby slumber log shows that her daytime and nighttime hours fall short of what she should be getting in a 24-hour flow and you see telltale signs of an overtired baby — including persistent fussiness, trouble settling downwardly to slumber at night, and brusque catnaps instead of full naps, to name a few — talk to your pediatrician nearly how to help your little 1 get enough slumber.

Getting to know your baby's sleep cues and following a consistent, soothing bedtime routine are among the tips yous'll probable get from your dr..

As you slog through the early days, weeks and months with your babe, know that she'due south very likely on the right rails when information technology comes to the amount of sleep she needs. So while it may seem as if no one's getting enough Zzzs at your house, in time at that place volition be a petty more shut-eye for everyone — and soon your babe will exist sleeping like a champ.