Before you start: age-based wake windows, nap counts and bedtimes are widely used rules of thumb that come from practice. They aren’t research findings, and they aren’t medical advice. Healthy babies differ a great deal. The single research-based recommendation on this page is total sleep per 24 hours from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), and it begins at 4 months.
Worth remembering: any calculator hands you an average. The real challenge is getting your own baby to follow it — and that’s the job of a custom plan and daily check-ins.
What the calculator shows is how a typical baby of that age behaves. Your baby might be far from it, for reasons no chart can pick up: the way they fall asleep, how they feed, their temperament, the shape of your family’s day. Actually Sleeping begins with your baby rather than with the average. Dr. Sam writes a schedule and plan for your baby, and our team fine-tunes it with you every day.
What’s behind the numbers
- Awake time is the usual range from one sleep to the next at that age. The day’s first window tends to be the shortest, and the one before bed the longest.
- First nap is simply your wake-up time plus that range.
- Bedtime is calculated backward from your wake-up time, based on typical overnight sleep for that age. Below about 3 months no bedtime is derived, since feeds still break up night sleep.
- All times are rounded to 5 minutes. Feeding on cue always takes priority over any clock time.
Complete table by age
The bedtime column is based on a 7 a.m. wake-up. Every column except the last is a rule of thumb.
| Age | Naps | Awake between sleeps | Typical overnight | Bedtime (7 a.m. wake-up) | AASM total sleep per 24 h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–4 weeks | 5 or more, no pattern yet | 45 min–1 h | Broken by feeds | No set bedtime yet | No AASM recommendation under 4 months |
| 1–2 months | 4–5 | 1–1.5 h | Broken by feeds | No set bedtime yet | No AASM recommendation under 4 months |
| 3 months | 3–4 (often 4, the last a catnap) | 1.25–2 h | 10–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. | No AASM recommendation under 4 months |
| 4 months | 3–4 | 1.5–2 h | 10–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 5 months | 3 | 2–2.5 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 6 months | 3 (some days 2) | 2–3 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 7 months | 2–3 | 2.5–3.25 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 8 months | 2 | 2.5–3.5 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 9 months | 2 | 3–3.5 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 10–11 months | 2 | 3–4 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 12–14 months | 2 | 3–4.5 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 11–14 h |
| 15–17 months (on one nap) | 1, about 1.5–3 h | 4.5–5.5 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 11–14 h |
| 18–23 months | 1, about 1.5–3 h | 5–6 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 11–14 h |
| 2–3 years | 1, about 1–2 h | 5–6 h | 10.5–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m. | 11–14 h at 1–2 years; 10–13 h at 3–5 years |
Including naps, the AASM recommends 12–16 hours per 24 hours at 4–12 months, 11–14 hours at 1–2 years and 10–13 hours at 3–5 years. Below 4 months it makes no recommendation, since normal sleep varies so much at that age. If your baby was born early, many families read charts like this one using corrected age.
If the numbers don’t match your baby
A window that’s too short and a window that’s too long can produce identical signs: short naps, early waking, more waking overnight. And if the true cause is the way a baby falls asleep, no amount of retiming will solve it. See why naps are only 30 minutes. Distinguishing these from the outside is difficult — which is why parents can spend weeks tweaking the clock with no improvement at night.
Turning a typical day into your baby’s day
Any calculator hands you an average; the real challenge is getting one specific baby to follow it. That’s what Actually Sleeping exists for: a custom plan written by Dr. Sam, bootcamp-style coaching before the first night, daily 1:1 check-ins, and naps coached until solid. The written guarantee: We guarantee that your baby will sleep 8–12 hours through the night within 14 days of consistent, correct implementation of your sleep plan. If that doesn’t happen, you get a full refund. In the client video reviews, parents explain how their baby’s day fell into place. If you’d rather have a bedtime calculated from the AASM hours, try the bedtime calculator.
Book the free consultation for a schedule built around your baby.
Ready for help with your own baby’s sleep?
With Actually Sleeping you get 1:1 coaching built around your child: Dr. Sam writes a sleep plan for your baby, we run bootcamp-style coaching before Night 1, and we check in every day until it is working. We have coached 700+ families, collected 129 video reviews, and put our promise in writing: 8–12 hours through the night within 14 days, or a full refund.
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Questions parents ask
Is there evidence behind wake windows?
No. Wake windows by age are conventions from practice — handy as a place to start. The figure grounded in research is total sleep: the AASM recommends 12–16 hours per 24 hours at 4–12 months and 11–14 hours at 1–2 years, naps included, and gives no recommendation under 4 months.
Do I need to wake my baby to stick to the calculator’s times?
The times reflect an average, not a rule for your particular baby. For young babies, feeding on cue takes priority, and your pediatrician’s advice outranks any chart. An Actually Sleeping plan decides when to protect or cap a nap specifically for your baby.
Why is there no bedtime shown for newborns?
Feeds break up newborn night sleep and the body clock is still maturing, so calculating a bedtime back from wake-up time would suggest precision that isn’t there. Over the first few months, bedtime usually shifts earlier by itself.
What if my baby falls between two age bands?
Check both rows — babies shift from one band to the next gradually, not on a particular birthday. Either way, the ranges are averages. A custom plan, fine-tuned through daily check-ins, sets awake times for your baby rather than for an age band.