Sleep training baby guide: how much sleep, how safe, and what helps
Whether to try sleep training with your baby is a choice rather than a requirement, and the bigger goal in infancy and childhood is enough safe sleep: between 9 and 16 hours a day, naps included, depending on age. In a 2016 trial of 43 infants aged 6 to 16 months, two methods, graduated extinction (controlled crying in the UK) and bedtime fading, helped babies fall asleep faster and wake less often at night.
Broken nights are common in the early years, and they say nothing about how well you are doing. Most questions about baby sleep come down to how much, how safely and how to settle, and each has a reasonably clear, evidence-based answer.
How much baby sleep is normal at each age?
Babies of 4 to 12 months need 12 to 16 hours a day, naps included, and the need falls to 9 to 12 hours by ages 6 to 12; the table below gives every step in between. These are the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's consensus ranges (Paruthi et al., 2016), so a child at either end of a band can be well rested. In the UK, the NHS gives similar ballparks: about 15 hours at 6 to 12 months, 12 to 14 hours at age 2 and about 12 hours at ages 3 to 5. The two sets of numbers overlap, which is a comfort if you are reading advice from both sides of the Atlantic.
Because the ranges count the whole day, naps are part of the picture. A baby who sleeps a little less at night may be making it up in the afternoon, and the totals leave room for that. How she seems during the day is worth noticing alongside the clock.
Sleep questions fit naturally into childhood health checks, where you can talk them through.
| Age | Sleep per day, naps included |
|---|---|
| 4 to 12 months | 12 to 16 hours |
| 1 to 2 years | 11 to 14 hours |
| 3 to 5 years | 10 to 13 hours |
| 6 to 12 years | 9 to 12 hours |
Area, target, practical steps
| Area | Target | Practical steps |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep | 9 to 16 hours a day, depending on age. | Naps count toward the total, so a long afternoon nap and a shorter night can still add up. The table in the next section shows each age range. |
| Sleep routine | A consistent bedtime routine. | Bath, book, bed in the same order each night is a simple pattern many families find easy to keep. |
| Safe sleep | Every sleep on the back, in their own crib or bassinet. | A firm, flat mattress with no pillows or bumpers, in the parents' room for at least the first 6 months. The NHS gives the same room-sharing advice in the UK, where a crib is usually called a cot. |
| Screens | None under 2, apart from video calls; under 1 hour a day for ages 2 to 4. | Many families find that keeping screens out of bedrooms and away from meals makes the limit easier to hold. |
| Teeth | Brushing twice a day, the second time last thing at night. | A rice-grain smear of fluoride toothpaste under 3 and a pea-sized amount from 3 to 6. Spit without rinsing, and supervise until about age 7. |
| Sun safety | Babies under 6 months out of direct sun; older children in hats, shade and broad-spectrum sunscreen. | The AAP's minimum is SPF 15, and SPF 30+ clears it comfortably. |
| Smoke-free home | A smoke-free home. | A smoke-free home is part of the safe sleep set-up in the AAP's 2022 guidance, alongside the firm, flat mattress. |
| Body confidence | Talk that centers on what bodies can do. | Many families find it helps to skip good-or-bad food labels and comments on weight, and to praise strength, balance and stamina instead. |
| Body safety | Correct names for body parts from the start. | It's worth teaching that their body belongs to them and that no one should ask them to keep secrets about touching. |
| Vulval health | Comfortable, unirritated skin. | Wiping front to back and cotton underwear help, as does skipping bubble baths if she is prone to soreness. Pain on peeing is worth a visit to the pediatrician (the GP in the UK). |
Sleep training baby methods: do they work, and are they safe?
The early evidence is encouraging, though it is small. In the same trial, infant cortisol, a stress hormone, was slightly lower in the sleep-trained groups, and attachment security was no different between groups.
The trial was small, tested only two methods and covered only babies aged 6 to 16 months, so it's fair to read it as reassurance rather than a final word, and it says little about younger babies or older toddlers.
Safe sleep stays the same whichever route a family chooses. The AAP notes that sharing a room without sharing a bed can reduce the risk of SIDS (cot death in the UK) by as much as 50%.
For parents wondering what else shifts as a child grows, what changes in childhood follows those developments stage by stage.
When is it worth seeing a doctor about sleep or daily habits?
A few signs are worth bringing to the pediatrician (in the UK, the GP) promptly. On sleep, that includes a child whose sleep stays well below the ranges in the table for a good while, or who seems tired and low however long she sleeps.
Pain on peeing is another: gentle care at home suits ordinary soreness, but pain deserves a look. A child crossing centile lines on her growth chart, or losing or gaining weight rapidly, is also worth raising, as the pediatrician can look at the whole picture.
Questions about sleep or settling are welcome at any visit. Many families bring them to a well-child visit; in the UK, a GP or health visitor can help, and asking early is common.
For the years after this one, teenage sleep picks up the story for girls heading into puberty.
Facts
Common questions
How much sleep does a newborn need?
The WHO's 2019 guideline gives 14 to 17 hours a day, naps included, from birth to 3 months, which the age table above does not cover. The NHS says about 18 hours for a newborn. Newborn sleep arrives in short stretches around the clock, so totals are the useful measure, not a fixed night.
Does swaddling or a baby monitor lower the risk of SIDS?
Neither does, according to the AAP's 2022 guidance. What lowers risk is position and surface: back-sleeping for every sleep, since side-sleeping is as risky as stomach-sleeping, on a surface that is flat, meaning not inclined more than 10 degrees. A monitor may bring peace of mind, but it is not a substitute for those basics.
Is baby sleep advice different in the UK?
The substance is the same and the vocabulary shifts. A crib is a cot, a pacifier is a dummy, and SIDS is often called cot death. Everyday sleep questions often go to a health visitor, a GP or a baby clinic rather than a pediatrician.
What if I would rather not sleep train?
That is a sound choice too. The sleep totals and safe sleep set-up on this page apply either way. If nights are wearing you down, a chat with your pediatrician (a GP or health visitor in the UK) is a good place to start, and your own rest counts as part of the picture.
What can go into a bedtime routine?
Beyond bath, book, bed, many families add a dark, quiet room and switch screens off in the hour before bed. The NHS describes a simple routine of bath, story, dim lights and a cuddle. Doing the steps in the same order each night is what tends to signal that sleep is coming.
Next steps
A good place to start is the age table: see where your child's sleep falls, then pick one small change from the lifestyle list, perhaps the order of the bedtime routine or brushing last thing at night. If you're weighing sleep training, there's no rush to decide, and many families find it helps to read about both methods first. Any of the signs above are worth bringing to your pediatrician, or your GP or health visitor in the UK. Then keep what works and leave what doesn't. Sleep is not one size fits all, and you know your child and your household best, so what fits is yours to decide.
See a doctor promptly if you have
- pain on peeing
- a child crossing centile lines on the growth chart, or rapid weight loss or gain
Also in infancy & childhood
The same topic in the stage before and after
Sources
The guidelines and studies this page draws on.
- Paruthi et al., 2016, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine: AASM sleep duration recommendations for children, American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2016)
- A Parent's Guide to Safe Sleep, American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) (2022)
- To grow up healthy, children need to sit less and play more (Guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep for children under 5), WHO (2019)
- Helping your baby to sleep, NHS (undated)
- Gradisar et al., Behavioral Interventions for Infant Sleep Problems: A Randomized Controlled Trial (Pediatrics), as summarized in American Family Physician, American Family Physician (AAFP) (2016)
- Sun Safety and Protection Tips, American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) (undated)
- Delivering Better Oral Health, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (2021)