We all know that sleep is one of the most important components in making sure your baby stays happy and healthy, but not everybody knows exactly how their sleep needs will change over time. As a child grows up, their need for sleep will alter, but still be crucial.
This may be that they sleep less hours of the day or drop day naps entirely, it all depends on their age, as well as the individual traits of each child. We’re going to take a look at how your baby’s sleep needs will change over time and what you can expect.
As we previously stated in our article on overtiredness in children, there is a basic outline for how much sleep your bub should get based on their age range. Sourced from a study by sleep.org, It is shown below, along with the average sleep these ages get:
- 0-6 months: 12-15 hours Night: 10-12 hours Day: 2-3 hours
- 6-12 months: 11-14 hours Night: 10-11 hours Day: 3 hours
- 1-3 years: 10-13 hours Night: 10 hours Day: 2 hours
- 3-5 years: 10-12 hours Night: 10 hours Day: 0-1 hours
- 6-13 years: 11 hours Night: 11 hours Day: 0 hours
- Teens: 8-10 hours Night: 8 hours Day: 0 hours
Now we could just leave it there, but that wouldn’t be very helpful. You’d know how much sleep they need, but not how to get them there. Firstly, it is important to remember that the majority babies under the age of 12 months will wake up 2-3 times a night for feeds.
This is completely natural and shouldn’t be seen as a problem, small children simply don’t have large enough stomachs to eat enough before bed to sustain them throughout the night. If your child wakes more than 3 times a night, this may be due to a different reason such as night terrors or feeling ill.
For children under the age of 3 it will be quite difficult to get them the sleep they need all in the night. They will need to nap about 2 times a day for no longer than 90 minutes at a time to make up that extra 2-3 hours of sleep required. Napping can be a big pain sometimes as a lot of children see naptime as a punishment and not a fun activity.
What we recommend as always is to set a daily routine so that naptime is never unexpected to them, this will not only help them adjust to the day sleeps but also ease them into a sleepy state once they’re used to it, as their bodies will prepare them for sleep. Children aged 3 and up should be able to sleep through the night and get the hours they need. If they’re having struggles getting to sleep or sleeping through the night, click below.