Sleep stuff

Some sleep stuff for reference:

maximum amount of time your child should be kept awake at any given age:

6 months: 2.5 hours max

7 months: 2.75 hours max

8/9 months: 3 hours max

10/11 months: 3-4 hours max

12-14 months: 3-4 hours max on 2 naps, 4.5-6 hours max on 1 nap

15-18 months: 5-6.5 hours max

18 months until child drops naps around 3 years of age: 6.5 hours max

sample schedule by age:

6 months

6:30am - up for the day, nursing/bottle
7:30am - breakfast
8:15am - 9:45am - nap#1, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
12:00pm - 1:15pm - nap#2, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
3:30pm - 4:15pm - nap#3, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
-- common for this nap to be a 30-45 minute catnap
5:30pm - dinner
6:00pm - bedtime routine, nurse/bottle at the beginning
6:45pm - bedtime (baby to be asleep at this time)

Babies should be sleeping approximately 11-12 hours at night + 1 nightfeeding is normal at this age (about 7 hours from the bedtime feeding).

7 months

Hanging onto 3 naps until as close to 8 months of age as possible is ideal in order to ensure a smooth 3-2 nap transition. This means that at this age, you may need to start capping naps to fit all 3 in before 5:00pm. While waking a sleeping baby is the pits, it can really help to avoid overtiredness down the road.

7:00am - up for the day, nursing/bottle
8:00am - breakfast
9:00am - 10:15am - nap#1, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
11:45am - lunch
12:30pm - 1:30pm - nap#2, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
4:00pm - 4:45pm - nap#3, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
5:45pm - dinner
6:30pm -  bedtime routine, nurse/bottle at the beginning
7:15pm - bedtime (baby to be asleep at this time)

Baby should be sleeping approximately 11-12 hours at night + 1 nightfeeding (at least 7 hours after the bedtime feeding).

8 months (start of transition)

The 3-2 nap transition begins at this age (or you should begin the transition if you haven't already as holding onto naps for too long can start to wreak havoc on nightsleep) and the schedule changes drastically from the beginning of 8 months to the end. You want to ensure to continue slowly stretching baby's awake times to move them to a solid 2 nap schedule (as getting stuck on 2 naps with short awake times can be a recipe for a bad night's sleep). No surprise here - an early bedtime is needed to account for the loss of the 3rd nap.

7:00am - up for the day, nursing/bottle
8:00am - breakfast
9:30am - 11:00am - nap#1, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
12:00pm - lunch
1:45pm - 3:15pm - nap#2, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
5:00pm - dinner (starting to offer the last nursing/bottle of the night with dinner or immediately before/after dinner at this age is a great idea to further separate feeding from sleeping)
5:45pm - bedtime routine
6:15pm - bedtime (baby to be asleep at this time)

8 months (part-way into the transition)

6:30am - up for the day, nursing/bottle
7:30am - breakfast
9:30am - 11:00am - nap#1, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
12:00pm - lunch
2:15pm-3:45pm - nap#2, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
5:45pm - dinner, last nurse/bottle with or immediately before/after dinner
6:45pm - bedtime routine
7:15pm - bedtime (baby to be asleep at this time)

Baby should be sleeping approximately 11-12 hours at night + 0-1 nightfeedings. If a nightfeeding still exists, it should be close to/after midnight (and at least 7 hours from the bedtime feeding).

9-11 months

Most babies at this age have now transitioned to a 2 nap schedule and will keep these two naps until 13-18 months (with 15 months being average).  We can often comfortably work on eliminating all nightfeedings at this point (if baby hasn't dropped them on his own and as long as your pediatrician is on board as well).  If baby is eating more than once, it is a safe bet that there is a sleep association problem.

7:00am - up for the day, nursing/bottle
8:00am - breakfast
10:00am - 11:30am -  nap#1, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
12:30pm - lunch
3:00pm - 4:00pm - nap#2, nurse/bottle upon wake-up
5:30pm - dinner, nurse/bottle with dinner or immediately before/after
7:00pm - bedtime routine
7:30pm - bedtime (baby to be asleep at this time) 

Babies should be sleeping approximately 11-12 hours at night.  No nightfeedings required at the end of the 9th month (although some parents wish to keep one and that is completely fine as well) unless directed otherwise by your doctor.  If you are working to eliminate nightfeedings, make sure you've tried moving the bedtime feeding away from the bedtime routine and instead, to immediately before/after dinner.

12-18 months

It is a big misconception that babies at one year of age only need one nap.  In fact, most babies still need 2 naps up to 15 months or beyond.  Babies at this age are able to comfortably sleep all night without feedings although many who have sleep associations will continue to wake for feedings into their second year of life.  The schedule below is an average for all babies who are still taking 2 naps, there are not many changes to their schedule until the afternoon nap is dropped around the 15-18 month mark.

6:30am - up for the day
7:15am - breakfast w/ milk or water
9:15am - snack w/ milk or water
9:45am - 11:15am - nap#1
12:15pm - lunch w/ milk or water
2:15pm - snack w/ milk or water
3:15pm - 4:00pm - nap#2 -- the afternoon nap becomes less restorative at this age, bedtime needs to be earlier to compensate
6:00pm - dinner w/ milk or water
6:45pm - bedtime routine
7:15pm - bedtime (baby to be asleep at this time)

Babies still need 11-12 hours of nightsleep at this age and most will not be waking up throughout the night for a feeding.

Sleep Needs:

6 months: some babies will start to show signs of the 3-2 nap transition at this age by refusing the 3rd nap or the 3rd nap begins too late in the day. We can help hold off the transition by capping the first two naps at around 1.5 hours a piece to ensure the 3rd nap can occur. About 3-3.5 hours in naps is average at this age, and 14.5 hrs/24 hour period.

7 months: at this age we see some babies start to drop their 3rd nap and move toward a 2 nap schedule. During this transition, you will want to use an early bedtime (sometimes as early as 5pm) to make up for the loss of that 3rd nap. The goal with babies still on a 3 nap schedule is to protect nightsleep at all costs. An early bedtime is far more restorative than a late crappy 3rd nap. 2.75-3.25 hrs in naps is normal at this age, and 14-14.5 hours of total sleep/day.

8 months: most babies at this age are solidly on 2 naps and are also moving towards a full, consolidated night of sleep (11-12 hours with no feeds). Nap amounts and total sleep needs are the same as at 7 months, but we will see that total dispersed between two longer naps (around 1-1.5 hours a piece).

9 months: all babies should now be on a 2 nap schedule until around 13-18 months (the most common age to drop to 1 nap is 15 months). 2.5-3 hours of naps and 14 hours of total sleep is average and a baby who is well-established on solids can now comfortably go a full night with no feeding (as per doctor's recommendations).  

10-14 months: at this age, we may have to start playing with our nap times/lengths to ensure that both naps are able to be taken without bedtime being pushed too late. Baby may also start to fight the 2nd nap and start to show signs of being ready to transition to 1. We want to avoid moving to 1 nap too early as the jump in awake time needed from a 2 nap schedule to a 1 nap schedule is quite significant. The longer we can hold off the transition, the smoother it will be.  Most children will be napping 2-3 hours/day at this point, and require 13.5-14 hours of total sleep per day.

bedtime:

6/7 months: Babies still need 3 naps at this age and most stay on a 3 nap schedule until 8/9 months of age.  Naps should be ending by 5:00pm with bedtime happening 2.25-2.75 hours after the last nap ends.  So a bedtime of no later than 7:45pm is age-appropriate.

8/9 months: This is the age where most babies will drop their 3rd nap and move to a 2 nap schedule.  This nap transition also means that we want to use a super early bedtime on the days where we can't fit in a 3rd nap or baby refuses it entirely.  Do not be afraid of putting your child down to bed as early as 4:45pm.  This does not mean that baby will be up at 4:00 in the morning!  Remember, less daysleep = more nightsleep.  You have just lost an entire sleep period so baby will need to make up for this loss of sleep during the night.  Our goal with babies younger than 9 months of age is to protect nightsleep at all costs.  There is no advantage to a late catnap and thus a later bedtime if baby is up every 3-4 hours at night crying.  All naps should be ending by 4:00pm with bedtime occurring 3-3.5 hours after the last nap ends.  This means a bedtime no later than 7:30pm.

10-18 months: This section is for babies within this age range but still on 2 naps.  Most babies keep 2 naps until 13-18 months, with the average being 15 months.  Do not be too quick to drop that second nap as the longer we can hold off this transition, the smoother it will be.  Again, all naps should be ending by 4:00pm with bedtime happening between 3-4 hours after the last nap ends.  Note: we would want to use the lower end of that range for younger babies closer to 10-12 months.  As well, as we approach the 2-1 nap transition the afternoon nap will shrink and become less restful.  This means that you will want to shorten the time between this nap and bedtime as well to keep baby well-rested.  Bedtime should be no later than 7:00-8:00pm.  If you are finding that baby starts to wake frequently at night or earlier in the morning than usual, try scaling back bedtime even more, possibly to even 2.5-3 hours after the last nap ends.  This is a normal pattern as we get closer to dropping the second nap.

13-18 months: This section is for babies who have transitioned to 1 nap.  At the beginning of the transition, the stretch between nap and bedtime will be longer as we push the morning nap later and later.  Once the one nap is solidly occurring around 12:00pm, we would want bedtime to be occurring about 4.5-5 hours after the nap ends.  And as always, naps should be ending by 4:00pm.