SLEEP TOTALS
How much sleep does my baby or toddler actually need in a day?
There is a lot of noise online around how much babies and young children “should” be sleeping.
And sure, I think we can all agree that getting enough sleep is vital to our health and well being. But what constitues 'enough’ sleep in the early years?! Does every child need 12 hours overnight and 2 hour naps during the day, like the sleep trainers claim? What does the research have to say about how much sleep kids need?
In 2015, the National Sleep Foundation assembled a multidisciplinary panel of experts to conduct a systematic literature review of 277 different sleep studies (Hirshkowitz et al.). Among other things, the panel reached consensus on what constitutes healthy sleep duration for specific age groupings. Since the panel was made up of experts with a variety of educational and professional backgrounds, the results lend themselves well to robust credibility.
Based on their findings, the panel concluded that “appropriate sleep durations” in 24 hours were as follows:
Newborn: 14-17 hours
4 to 11 months: 12-15 hours
1 to 2 years: 11-14 hours
3 to 5 years: 10-13 hours
But! They found that for some children, ranges outside of these averages “may be appropriate” (these would be what we’d consider low sleep needs children or high sleep needs children):
Newborn: 11-19 hours
4 to 11 months: 10-18 hours
1 to 2 years: 9-16 hours
3 to 5 years: 8-14 hours
What’s important to note that these totals include naps, too.
Sleep is highly variable
As you can see, the research shows us that sleep is highly variable. Some children have much lower sleep needs than others, and do just fine with that amount of sleep!
Because there is such a wide range of normal when it comes to sleep needs, you could have two babies the exact same age whose sleep needs vary by a few hours each day. It’s easy to see how the days (and nights) of these two families are probably going to look much, much different from one another!
Parents of “low sleep total” kids can quickly start to feel like they’re doing something wrong if their little one is sleeping less than their peers, but remember - the research tells us these ranges in sleep needs are normal, and the children who fall on the lower end of average continue to develop normally (and thrive!). Some little ones just need less sleep, and while that’s hard on us as their caregivers, there isn’t anything wrong with them or how they’re sleeping.
What does this mean for bedtimes?
If you have a child with lower sleep needs, it stands to reason that bedtime in your house might be later than what you see online or what time your friends’ kids go to bed. This isn’t because you don’t have a good enough bedtime routine, you created “bad habits,” you have too few boundaries, or you’re doing something wrong. Your child just needs less sleep! And while that’s certainly hard at times, it’s not representative of a sleep “problem.”
What does it mean if my baby isn’t sleeping well?
If your little one is experiencing frequent wakes, split nights, or really early rising, one thing to rule out is whether we’ve overestimated how much sleep our child needs in a 24 hour period. If they’re still napping during the day, it’s worth considering whether it’s time to cap - or cut - one of their naps.
The chart below can be a helpful guide, but remember it’s just that - a guide. Many families find that their child cuts a nap earlier than what’s listed here, and this helps them sleep much better overall than when they held onto the nap based on age’s sake alone.
To figure out what’s right for your child, it can be helpful to calculate how many hours of sleep they tend to need in a 24 hour period (tallying up naps and nights over the course of a few days, and then taking the average).
So for example, if you find your little one only needs 12 or 13 hours of sleep total in 24 hours, and they’re still napping for between two and three hours a day, they probably only need 10 hours of sleep overnight! That may not seem like enough compared to others, but it might be just right for your little one. You might also find that if you cap their nap at an hour and a half or two hours, you’re able to get another hour of sleep out of them in the night.
Many parents are often hesitant to drop naps because their child isn't at the “right” age yet. But again, it’s important to remember that the chart is just averages. Many kids will drop a nap before (or after) those ages and be just fine!
Above all, remember this: Some kids need a lot of sleep, while others need less — and most are still considered within the range of normal. Go based off what your child is showing you, not what some stranger online says your child needs or what your friend’s baby can do!
References:
Hirshkowitz, M., Whiton, K., Albert, S. M., Alessi, C., Bruni, O., DonCarlos, L., Hazen, N., Herman, J., Katz, E. S., Kheirandish-Gozal, L., Neubauer, D. N., O'Donnell, A. E., Ohayon, M., Peever, J., Rawding, R., Sachdeva, R. C., Setters, B., Vitiello, M. V., Ware, J. C., & Adams Hillard, P. J. (2015). National Sleep Foundation's sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep health, 1(1), 40–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2014.12.010
What makes my approach different:
The whole gist behind most sleep training programs is that you have to follow their rules for it to work… even if it feels awful.
That’s not what we do here. I will never ask you to do anything that goes against your intuition.
You’re the expert, and you get to call the shots.
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