If you’ve ever asked yourself, “is my baby getting enough sleep?” then you’re in the right spot!

“My baby is sleeping X amount of hours in the day and night, is this enough?” is another common question that is frequently asked by many parents, whether they are a first-time parent or a seasoned one. If you’ve ever wondered or been caught up in the comparison game or worry about sleep amounts, I hope this blog helps to reassure you along your family’s sleep journey.

What you’ll learn from this blog:

• Suggested total sleep amount your baby and/or child may need
• Your baby’s unique sleep needs
• How to know if your baby is getting enough sleep

Suggested sleep amounts for your baby and/or child

The National Sleep Foundation published a review document that was created from a panel of 13 sleep medicine and research experts. The panel summarized the findings from 864 scientific articles. The purpose of this document was to address the relationship between sleep and health outcomes in children 0-18 years old and provide a recommendation for total duration of sleep in a 24-hour period. 

One notable feature of these findings is that it’s a range, not a concrete number of hours. This means there is no specific perfect amount of sleep for one individual baby or child, but rather a range to allow different sleep needs to be accounted for. So if your niece is sleeping 12-hours and your baby is only sleeping 10-hours, it’s ok! There is no perfect number of hours, just the number that your unique baby is needing to thrive and be healthy. 

Total Sleep Needs

Age	Recommended Total Sleep Amount
0-3 months	14-17 hours
4-12 months	12-15 hours
1-2 years	11-14 hours
3-5 years	10-13 hours
6-13 years	9-11 hours
14-17 years	8-10 hours

Your baby’s unique sleep needs

Given the wide range of recommended sleep, it’s clear that not every baby needs the same amount of sleep! In fact, even if you have twins, one may have higher sleep needs than the other. Each baby has a unique profile that helps them shape the perfect amount of sleep for their unique development.

Given the range, some babies may be considered low, average, or high sleep needs. But what does that mean and how can I classify my baby?

Low, average, high sleep needs

High = your baby needs more sleep than the average baby. They may sleep the maximum recommended amount regularly

Average = your baby sleeps the average amount for a baby their age. They fall right in the middle of the recommended amount

Low = your baby needs less sleep than the average baby. They may sleep the least amount of recommended hours and still be happy, healthy and thriving.

So you’ve seen a schedule online and want to try it out… and it’s not working! You’re annoyed and frustrated that your baby is still taking crap naps and waking 60 minutes after bed (hello, false start!). This would be the first clue that your baby may need more/less awake time than noted. Most schedules you see online are averages, but it’s important to find your baby’s sweet spot. The sweet spot can be discovered by adjusting their wake time by 15-30 minutes either direction, as you see fit. Your baby is going to communicate to you and you’ll need to be the detective and see what they are trying to tell you. If you’re done playing detective and looking for a solid plan made unique for your baby, find me here and let’s get connected.

How to know if your baby is getting enough sleep

Simply put, you want to evaluate your whole baby. Here’s a few guiding questions for you. If you’re worried about your baby’s development, please contact your child’s primary care provider to review your child’s unique story further.

• Are they generally happy throughout the day, after naps and in the morning?
• Are they alert and active during their day in an age-appropriate way?
• Do they fall asleep in the middle of daycare playing or school class?
• Are they hitting age-appropriate milestones?
• Are they eating well and gaining on their own curve?
• Are they able to interact and engage with you and others in an age-appropriate way?
• What’s your parental intuition telling you about their development and health? 

 When evaluating your baby, it’s important to observe and assess over the span of weeks (or even months) rather than isolated events, to determine a pattern of behaviour and help guide you in deciding next steps based on what they need. 

Your sleep matters, too!

The recommended amount of sleep for an adult aged 18-64 years is 7-9 hours per night. Are you hitting this regularly? If you’re not, and your kids are keeping you up for hours in the night, let’s get you resting better. You matter!

Wishing you a restful night,

Chelsea

 

Chelsea is Mom of 2 and a Certified Baby, Toddler and Child Sleep Consultant supporting families within Hamilton and beyond with hands-on, no cry-it-out, responsive methods. She has a Master’s of Professional Education and over 10 years of professional experience supporting families in the community. She works collaboratively with families to empower them with the confidence and tools they need to reach their unique sleep goals. Hear from other rested families here and book a free call with Chelsea here to discuss how she can support your family’s journey to more sleep.

Sources:

Hirshkowitz, M., Whiton, K., Albert, S. M., Alessi, C., Bruni, O., DonCarlos, L., Hazen, N., Herman, J., Adams Hillard, P. 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. (2015). National Sleep Foundation’s updated sleep duration recommendations: final report. Sleep health, 1(4), 233–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2015.10.004

Paruthi, S., Brooks, L. J., D’Ambrosio, C., Hall, W. A., Kotagal, S., Lloyd, R. M., Malow, B. A., Maski, K., Nichols, C., Quan, S. F., Rosen, C. L., Troester, M. M., & Wise, M. S. (2016). Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations: A Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 12(6), 785–786. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.5866