I’m not a big believer in strict routines to help a baby nap well in the day and at night. Babies and children do need us to help structure their sleep by setting bed times and making sure they get good quality naps in the day. But I haven’t found one, perfect routine that works for all babies. Every baby is different. Getting sleep right for our little ones comes down to paying close attention to what they’re doing, what they need, and then guiding them into the ideal routine.

But recently, lots of you have been asking me to outline some sleep routines from birth to pre-school age. I understand why it makes life easier and less confusing if there is a rough guide to follow. So I’m going to tell you what I do and what works for me.

 Baby Sleep Newborn to 6 Weeks

Just enjoy this time! Let baby fall asleep wherever and whenever. You can help your baby start to learn the difference between day and night by making day time busy and bright, and night time quiet and dark. Give your baby the chance to learn to self settle by occasionally popping him in his cot or moses basket while he’s still awake. If he falls asleep, great. If not, give him a helping hand.

Baby Sleep 6 to 12 weeks

Start a bedtime routine to clearly mark the end of the day and the beginning of the night. Let your baby nap where she sleeps at night. Start to introduce sleep cues like soothing sleep sounds, darkness, a certain blanket or baby comforter cuddled while feeding.

During the day, put your baby down for a nap every 45 minutes to 1.5 hours (so a 6 week old baby should only be awake for 45 mins but by 12 weeks she will probably be able to stay awake for 1.5 hours). I generally suggest you push your baby along a little now and then so she gradually becomes accustomed to staying awake for longer. Right now, it is less important how many naps your baby has a day and much more important that she doesn’t stay awake for too long.

Baby Sleep 12 to 16 Weeks

Now you should find sleep starting to settle down into a bit of a predictable routine. Your baby may have four 45 minute naps, or 3 longer sleeps in the day. The maximum time awake between naps should be about 1.5 hours.

As you approach 16 weeks, push your baby’s awake time along a bit until he is comfortable staying awake for 2 hours.

Baby Sleep 4 Months to 9 Months

Now I recommend you follow the two hour rule, which means putting your baby back down for a nap after she has been awake for two hours. So long as she is able to self settle at night time and for her naps, you should see her gradually falling into a sleep pattern that works for her. Some babies have long morning naps, some prefer the afternoon sleep. Generally now, your baby will be having about 3 naps a day.

 Baby Sleep 9 to 12 Months

Your baby will now drop a nap. This is a difficult period as he doesn’t need three naps but two naps aren’t quite enough. The afternoons can be a bit difficult and your baby may sleep less well at night due to overtiredness. To make this as easy as possible for you both, gradually move the morning nap onwards by 30 minutes and do the same with the afternoon nap. Bring bedtime forward by 30 minutes. You may also find that going through the motions of the third nap for a week or two is very useful. Just putting your little one in his cot and leaving him for a little while is enough for him to recharge his batteries. And on days when he’s very tired, he may even have a cat nap. Don’t let him sleep for long though. Choose relaxing activities like buggy walks, car drives and playing quietly.

By 12 months of age your baby will be able to stay awake happily for 3 to 4 hours. A routine that many parents find useful at this age has become known as 2-3-4 which is basically an awake time of 2 hours in the morning, 3 hours between naps and then 4 hours until bedtime.

Toddler Sleep 12 to 16 Months

This is a relatively easy period. Most babies will have two naps a day totalling about 2 to 3 hours and are usually sleeping through the night. If your toddler isn’t sleeping through, take a look at our article, Stop Your Baby Waking at Night for advice.

Now what I do is slowly push the morning nap along a bit, week by week, and when this starts to affect the afternoon nap and bedtime, I gradually shorten the afternoon nap.  

So between 14 and 16 months, a sleep routine might look like this:

Wake: 6:30am

Nap:     9:30am

Wake: 11:45

Nap:     15:00

Wake: 15:45

Bed:     19:30

And this is gradually adjusted to look like this at 15 months:

 Wake: 6:30am

Nap: 10:00am

Wake: 12:15

Nap: 3:15

Wake: 15:45

Bed: 19:30

And then at 16 months

Wake: 6:30

Nap:10:30

Wake: 12:45

Nap: 15:30 until 16:00

This last nap might be missed on different days but you should always put your toddler down for it and go through the motions. Firstly because she may only need it every three days now but if you don’t put her down, how will you know? And secondly because even if she doesn’t sleep, the rest will do her the world of good and help her make it through to bedtime.

Toddler Sleep 16 to 20 Months

Between 16 and 20 months, continue to push the morning nap along a little. By 18 months it is ideal if you can reach a nap start time of between 11:00 and 11:30am. What’s important to remember at this stage is that the transition from one nap to two naps doesn’t happen overnight. What typically happens is that your baby can go without the second nap just fine one day, and then the next you will notice he is exhausted much earlier than usual. When this happens, just let him have a two nap day and put him down at 10:00am and then again in the afternoon.

The transition from two naps to one is more difficult than the move from three naps to two for two reasons. Firstly it takes longer, and secondly your toddler is more active and able to resist sleep. Do what you can to manage your child’s sleep at this time and try to avoid slipping into bad habits.

Toddler Sleep 20 Months Onwards

From now on, your child will usually just need one nap a day. This may vary in length depending on daily activities, growth spurts, illness and development leaps. But try to make it start at the same time every day because your toddler’s body clock will organise itself according to this.

Your toddler may sleep at 11:30am for some time and the nap may then gradually move along a little until it starts at 12:30 or 1:00 when your child is about 3 years of age. I tend to do lunch at 11:00 during this time so that little ones don’t get hungry and wake up early from their sleep.

So that’s how I manage sleep routines from babyhood to toddlerhood. The main thing I hope you will take from this is how flexible it is. There are no set times or exact instructions. Instead, it’s more like a gentle guiding hand, to help little ones get the sleep they need in the day.

And since good quality day time naps mean a good night’s sleep for you and little one, it’s worth it!

Tags: baby sleep, Baby sleep advice, baby sleep routines, Toddler sleep, toddler sleep advice, toddler sleep routines

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 7:49 am and is filed under Toddler sleep, baby sleep. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.