Sleep is very important for the mental growth of the baby but as new mothers, we always wonder as to how much the baby should sleep. Less sleep leads to a fussy & cranky baby.
As adults we usually follow a schedule in our lives which makes our life smoother & comfortable. Similarly, make a schedule for the baby & stick to it as a scheduled life removes the anxiety of what comes next. When the baby knows what's going to happen next with him/her, he will be more relaxed.
Here we have summarized how the sleeping schedule for a baby should look like.
| MONTHS | TOTAL SLEEP HRS (Higher figure for younger babies & decreases till next nap drops) | NUMBER of NAPS | HOURS SPENT NAPPING (Higher figure for younger babies & decreases till next nap drops) | WAKE SPAN (span increases as day progresses, lowest figure before first nap & highest before bed time) | NIGHT SLEEP LENGTH (Higher figure for younger babies & decreases till next nap drops) |
| <1 | 16 to 18 | Baby led | Baby led | 5-30 minutes | No concept of day & night |
| 1 to 3 months | 14 to 16 | 5 to 6 | Baby led | From 30 minutes at 1 month to 75 minutes at 3 months | Circadian rhythms form by 3rd month. 10-11 hrs after that |
| 4 | 14 to 15 | 5 | 4 to 5 | 30 to 90 mins | 10 to 11 hrs |
| 5 | 14 to 15 | 4 | 4 to 5 | 45 mins to 2 hrs | 10 to 11 hrs |
| 6 to 8 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 1 to 2.5 hrs | 10 to 12 hrs |
| 8 to 18 | 13.5 to 14 | 2 | 3.5 to 4 | 2 to 4 hrs (2-3-4 pattern) | 10 to 12 hrs |
| 18 to 24 | 13 to 14 | 1 | 3 | 4 to 5.5 hrs | 11 to 12 hrs |
| 24 to 36 or beyond | 12 to 14 | 1 | 2 to 3 | 4 to 6 hrs | 10 to 12 hrs |
| After dropping all naps (3 to 5 yrs and beyond) | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 hrs | 12 hrs |