--- title: "Baby Sleep Schedules and Wake Windows: 0–24 Months | Dalo Baby" description: "Sleep totals by age from the AASM consensus, nap counts from the cohort data, and an honest account of where wake windows actually come from." canonical: https://dalofamilyapps.com/learn/sleep/baby-sleep-schedules-and-wake-windows --- [Home](/)/[Knowledge Hub](/learn)/[Sleep](/learn/sleep) # Baby sleep schedules and wake windows: 0–24 months [Dalo Baby Editorial](/learn/editorial-policy)Published September 4, 2026Last reviewed September 4, 20265 min read The AASM consensus recommends 12–16 hours of sleep per 24 hours at 4–12 months and 11–14 hours at one to two years, naps included, and says nothing about how to divide it. Below four months it makes no recommendation. Nap counts by age come from observational cohorts, and wake windows are a scheduling convention no health authority publishes. ![Baby sleep schedules and wake windows: 0–24 months](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2F50bd57da2c826aac5d1912fc407b49657a62d4c6-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D176%2C0%2C1024%2C768%26w%3D800%26h%3D600%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ## Key takeaways - Judge the day on the 24-hour total: AASM recommends 12–16 hours at 4–12 months and 11–14 hours at 1–2 years, naps included. - The AASM consensus makes no recommendation below four months — any firm hourly target for a newborn comes from somewhere else. - Wake windows are a scheduling convention, not a guideline. No health authority publishes them. - Nap counts by age come from observational cohorts graded low quality — descriptions, not targets. - Fix the day before you change the night, and change one thing at a time for five days before judging it. In this article 1. [Start with the 24-hour total, not the schedule](#start-with-the-24-hour-total-not-the-schedule) 2. [Wake windows are a heuristic, not a guideline](#wake-windows-are-a-heuristic-not-a-guideline) 3. [What the day usually looks like, by age](#what-the-day-usually-looks-like-by-age) 4. [The transitions, in order](#the-transitions-in-order) 5. [When the night is the problem](#when-the-night-is-the-problem) 6. [If the schedule is right and sleep still is not](#if-the-schedule-is-right-and-sleep-still-is-not) 7. [Safe sleep comes before any schedule](#safe-sleep-comes-before-any-schedule) 8. [How to use the rest of this section](#how-to-use-the-rest-of-this-section) Almost every baby sleep schedule you will find online is presented with more confidence than the evidence behind it can support. This page is the map of our sleep section, and it starts by being clear about which numbers come from a health authority, which come from cohorts describing what children happen to do, and which are conventions somebody invented. The difference matters, because it tells you which ones are worth arguing with. ## Start with the 24-hour total, not the schedule The American Academy of Sleep Medicine's consensus statement recommends 12–16 hours of sleep per 24 hours for infants aged 4–12 months, naps included, and 11–14 hours for one- to two-year-olds. It says nothing at all about how that total should be divided between night and day.[\[1\]](#ref-sl1) That is the number to judge a day against — not the nap count, and not somebody else's timings. 12–16 hours recommended sleep per 24 hours at 4–12 months, naps included — with no guidance on how to split it[\[1\]](#ref-sl1) One thing worth knowing before you read any newborn schedule: the AASM consensus covers four months and up. Below four months the task force found the evidence insufficient to make a recommendation at all.[\[1\]](#ref-sl1) So a page that gives a firm hourly target for a six-week-old is quoting something other than the consensus. At that age, patterns are genuinely irregular and vary hugely from baby to baby.[\[2\]](#ref-sl2) ## Wake windows are a heuristic, not a guideline No health authority publishes wake-window figures. They publish totals. Wake windows are a scheduling convention that parents and apps find useful — including ours — and they work well enough as a planning tool, but they are not a clinical standard and a baby who does not match the chart is not doing anything wrong. [Wake window stacking](/learn/sleep/wake-window-stacking) explains the one part of it that reliably helps: the last window before bed should be the longest of the day. The [wake window calculator](/tools/wake-window-calculator) will do the arithmetic from your own baby's age and times. Where the numbers come from Total sleep per 24 hours is published by health authorities. Nap counts by age come from observational cohorts describing what groups of children did. Wake window lengths come from neither — they are a convention. Treat them in that order of confidence. ## What the day usually looks like, by age Age Naps a day Sleep per 24 hours 0–3 months Irregular, no settled pattern No AASM recommendation below 4 months 4–6 months 3, sometimes 4 12–16 hours 6–9 months 3 dropping to 2 12–16 hours 9–12 months 2, well established 12–16 hours 12–18 months 2 dropping to 1 11–14 hours 18–24 months 1, in the afternoon 11–14 hours Descriptive, not prescriptive The nap columns come from cohort data: a two-nap pattern is well established by nine to twelve months, and a single afternoon nap between fifteen and twenty-four.[\[3\]](#ref-we) Total sleep declines steadily across the whole period, with a wide normal range at every age.[\[4\]](#ref-ig) If you want the developmental context alongside the sleep, our [milestones section](/learn/milestones) runs on the same age bands. It is worth knowing how thin the ground under all of this is. A systematic review of napping and child development from birth to five years found 26 studies, every one of them observational and every one graded low quality.[\[5\]](#ref-th) Nap counts by age describe what children did. They are not trial results, and they are not targets. ## The transitions, in order - [Cat napping](/learn/sleep/cat-napping) — why naps are 30–45 minutes, and why that is usually one complete sleep cycle rather than a nap that failed. - [The 3-to-2 nap transition](/learn/sleep/3-to-2-nap-transition) — usually between six and nine months. - [The 2-to-1 nap transition](/learn/sleep/2-to-1-nap-transition) — usually between thirteen and eighteen. Every one of these is easier to read from a week of data than from the last bad afternoon, and each of them temporarily makes an earlier bedtime the single most useful lever you have. ## When the night is the problem A long, cheerful wake-up in the middle of the night is a different problem from a baby who cannot settle, and it usually has a daytime cause. [Split nights](/learn/sleep/split-nights) covers the two-hour 2am party and how the day produces it; [wake window stacking](/learn/sleep/wake-window-stacking) covers the short final window that is the most common trigger. Fix the day before you change anything about the night. ## If the schedule is right and sleep still is not Behavioural sleep interventions are the most-studied thing in this whole field. The AASM's task force reviewed 52 treatment studies: 94% reported the interventions were efficacious, with over 80% of treated children showing clinically significant improvement maintained for three to six months.[\[6\]](#ref-mind) Several distinct methods are supported, they differ in what they are best at, and the honest comparison — including the option of doing nothing — is in [sleep training methods compared](/learn/sleep/sleep-training-methods-compared). - [The Ferber method](/learn/sleep/ferber-method) — graduated extinction; the strongest evidence for night wakings. - [The chair method](/learn/sleep/chair-method) — camping out; the better fit for babies with high separation anxiety. - [Pick up, put down](/learn/sleep/pick-up-put-down) — popular, and with no trial evidence at all. We say so. - [Bedtime fading](/learn/sleep/bedtime-fading) — for a bedtime that is simply too early. Change one thing and hold it five days Sleep is noisy from night to night, so a single change judged over two days tells you nothing. Change one variable, keep everything else still, and read the pattern at the end of the week. Most of the schedules that get abandoned as failures were abandoned on day three. ![](/_next/image?url=%2Fimages%2Fnap-plan-icon.webp&w=256&q=75&dpl=dpl_HDQuuA58EiAncPne4fumhEvNhdFC) Dalo Sleep Read the week, not the last bad night Dalo Sleep logs naps, wake windows and night wakings, so questions like "is the third nap actually failing?" get answered from a pattern instead of from memory. [Dalo Sleep](/apps/dalo-sleep) ## Safe sleep comes before any schedule Nothing on this page changes the basics: on the back, in a clear, flat, separate sleep space, for every sleep including naps.[\[7\]](#ref-sl5) Safe-sleep guidance also differs between countries in its details, more than most parents realise, so follow the version your own health service publishes rather than the loudest one online. ## How to use the rest of this section If your baby is under four months, expect irregularity and judge on feeding, weight and mood rather than on a schedule.[\[2\]](#ref-sl2) From four months, the 24-hour total is the measure that has an authority behind it, the nap pattern is a description you can work with, and wake windows are a planning convenience. Every article in this section cites its own sources and states where the evidence runs out — which, in infant sleep, is earlier and more often than the internet suggests. In this article 1. [Start with the 24-hour total, not the schedule](#start-with-the-24-hour-total-not-the-schedule) 2. [Wake windows are a heuristic, not a guideline](#wake-windows-are-a-heuristic-not-a-guideline) 3. [What the day usually looks like, by age](#what-the-day-usually-looks-like-by-age) 4. [The transitions, in order](#the-transitions-in-order) 5. [When the night is the problem](#when-the-night-is-the-problem) 6. [If the schedule is right and sleep still is not](#if-the-schedule-is-right-and-sleep-still-is-not) 7. [Safe sleep comes before any schedule](#safe-sleep-comes-before-any-schedule) 8. [How to use the rest of this section](#how-to-use-the-rest-of-this-section) ## References & disclaimer We link every source we used. Where guidance differs by country, we cite the authority that applies where you are. 1. 1. [Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations: A Consensus Statement](https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/full/10.5664/jcsm.5866) Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (AASM) · 2016 · Guideline 2. 2. [Your baby's sleep patterns](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/baby/baby-basics/newborn-and-baby-sleeping-advice-for-parents/your-babys-sleep-patterns/) NHS · Guideline 3. 3. [Naps in Children: 6 Months–7 Years](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7792496/) Sleep (Oxford Academic) · 1995 · Study 4. 4. [Sleep Duration From Infancy to Adolescence: Reference Values and Generational Trends](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12563055/) Pediatrics (AAP) · 2003 · Study 5. 5. [Napping, development and health from 0 to 5 years: a systematic review](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25691291/) Archives of Disease in Childhood (BMJ) · 2015 · Review 6. 6. [Behavioral treatment of bedtime problems and night wakings in infants and young children](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17068979/) Sleep (American Academy of Sleep Medicine) · 2006 · Review 7. 7. [Baby sleep patterns](https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/baby-safety/being-a-parent-or-caregiver/baby-sleep-patterns/) The Lullaby Trust · Organisation * * * Before you act on this This guide is general information about healthy, full-term babies. It does not replace advice from your paediatrician, health visitor, midwife or dietitian, who know your baby. If you are worried about your baby's feeding, growth, breathing or sleep, contact a health professional. ## Questions, answered How much sleep does a baby need in 24 hours? The AASM consensus recommends 12–16 hours per 24 hours for infants aged 4–12 months and 11–14 hours for one- to two-year-olds, naps included. It deliberately says nothing about how that total should be split between night and day. Below four months it makes no recommendation at all, because the task force judged the evidence insufficient. Are wake windows real, or made up? Somewhere in between, and it is worth being precise. Sleep pressure genuinely builds while a baby is awake — that part is real. The specific published figures are not: no health authority issues wake-window lengths, and they vary from chart to chart. Treat them as a useful planning convention rather than as a standard your baby is failing to meet. My baby does not match the schedule for their age. Is something wrong? Almost certainly not. The age bands in any schedule, ours included, come from observational cohorts describing what groups of children did, and the normal range at every age is wide. The questions worth asking are whether the 24-hour total is in range, whether your baby wakes cheerful, and whether they make it through their windows without falling apart. If all three are yes, the schedule is a description that does not happen to fit. Should I fix naps first or the night first? The day, in most cases. A short final wake window before bed is one of the most common causes of a long, content wake-up in the middle of the night, and a nap transition handled by holding the old bedtime is one of the most common causes of early waking. Change the day, hold it for five days, and only then decide whether the night still needs its own intervention. ![Dalo Sleep](/_next/image?url=%2Fimages%2Fnap-plan-icon.webp&w=128&q=75&dpl=dpl_HDQuuA58EiAncPne4fumhEvNhdFC) Get it on your phone Dalo Sleep [Dalo Sleep](/apps/dalo-sleep) ## Keep reading [ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2F578eb7b0a50d77606876dc160b56e3e46e07dd4a-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### Wake window stacking: why the last one should be longest Wake windows across a day are not equal. Sleep pressure builds with time awake, so the stretch before bed decides how the night goes — and it should be the longest of the day. ](/learn/sleep/wake-window-stacking)[ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2Fed5b6838e9c408a9a7230785fc9c8ecbf4c518c6-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### Cat napping: why naps are 30 minutes and how to extend them A 35-minute nap is usually one complete sleep cycle, not a failed nap. Why infant cycles are so short, when short naps genuinely need fixing, and what actually works. ](/learn/sleep/cat-napping)[ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2F2decdfbc248ade92ab7623cfffbe1fbd5779a145-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### The 3-to-2 nap transition: the signs, and how to make the move Most babies drop the third nap between six and nine months. How to tell a real transition from a bad week, what the new day looks like, and why bedtime has to move. ](/learn/sleep/3-to-2-nap-transition)[ ![](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F87uht7oc%2Fproduction%2Fc48a4c157727233f1ffc0caaf6a1c7f7c723b9c0-1376x768.jpg%3Frect%3D7%2C0%2C1363%2C768%26w%3D440%26h%3D248%26fit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75) ### The 2-to-1 nap transition: age, signs and a schedule that works Usually between 13 and 18 months, and often started too early. How to tell it from the twelve-month false alarm, how to move the nap towards midday, and how long the mess lasts. ](/learn/sleep/2-to-1-nap-transition) ## Try the free tools - [Baby wake window calculator](/tools/wake-window-calculator) ## Development milestones - [0-3 months](/learn/milestones/0-3-months) - [3-6 months](/learn/milestones/3-6-months) - [6-9 months](/learn/milestones/6-9-months) - [9-12 months](/learn/milestones/9-12-months) - [12-18 months](/learn/milestones/12-18-months) - [18-24 months](/learn/milestones/18-24-months) [← All sleep guides](/learn/sleep) [Read as Markdown](/api/markdown?path=%2Flearn%2Fsleep%2Fbaby-sleep-schedules-and-wake-windows)