Average Sleep
I compiled the information I found at babycenter.com, Sears, and Weissbluth, by age in the table below to summarize the total sleep, duration of night sleep, number of nighttime wakings, type of nap, duration of naps, and additional notes in the table below.

Total Sleep: Total amount of sleep in hours in a 24 hour period including naps. The amounts were primarily obtained from Sears, The Baby Book page 357 and the "How Much?" article. The first number (average) amount was also collaborated by BabyCenter.
Duration Night Sleep: Total amount of sleep at night obtained from Weissbluth page 42.
Nighttime Wakings: The amount of times the baby wakes up and requires assistance from mom or dad (needs to eat, needs diaper changed) to get back to sleep as documented by Weissbluth page 42. If the baby is breastfeeding the nighttime wakings to breastfeed may be more.
Naps: Morning (“M”), Afternoon (“A”), Evening (“E”) as documented by BabyCenter.
Duration of Naps: Total nap duration for morning, afternoon, and evening naps as applicable according to Weissbluth. After the child is four months old, the nap should be at least one hour. Some children may be able to have a forty-five minute nap but a nap less than thirty minutes is not adequate (Weissbluth 42).
Notes: Additional information such as how long sleep at night before waking to eat. The majority of the information was obtained from Disney article.

Age

Total Sleep (Hours)

Duration Night Sleep

Nighttime Wakings

Naps

Duration of Naps (Hours)

Notes

1st week

16.5 or
14 - 18

Don’t sleep more than 2 – 4 hours at a time.

0 - 1 Month

15.5 or
14 - 18

May only sleep 4 hours before waking.

1 - 2 Months

15.5 or
14 - 18

M, A, E

May only sleep 4 hours before waking. (My son slept 4 - 6 then 6 - 8 )

3 - 4 Months

15 or
14 - 16

10 - 12

0, 1, 2

M, A, E

2 - 4

By 4 months, usually can sleep 6 hours straight before waking to eat.

5 - 6 Months

14.25
14 - 16

10 - 12

0, 1, 2

M, A

2 - 4

May still take 3 naps. By 5 months usually can sleep 9 hours, by 6 months usually can sleep 12 hours before waking to eat.

7 - 8 Months

14 or
12 - 14

10 - 12

0, 1, 2

M, A

2 - 4

9 - 10 Months

14 or
12 - 14

10 - 12

M, A

2 - 4

11 - 12 Months

13.75 or
12 - 14

10 - 12

M, A

2 - 4

May only take one long nap

13 - 24 Months

12 - 14

10 - 12

2 - 4

2 - 5 Years

10 - 12

May still take a nap. Usually by 3 years old afternoon nap become less common.

It is recommended for the first two weeks to "wake your baby if he goes more than four hours without a feeding" (Disney). According to the Disney article, most babies can sleep without waking to eat according to the following schedule:

Age	Time Before Waking to Eat
3 weeks - 4 months	Range (2 - 6 hours)
4 months	6 hours
5 months	9 hours
6 months	12 hours

Each Baby Is an Individual
Remember that your baby is an individual and may not sleep the same as your friend’s baby. The above information is simply meant to provide the average sleep for most babies.

Remember, that the above schedule is the "norm" for most babies. Each baby is an individual and if "your child was a preemie or has acid reflux, he'll likely need to eat more often..." (Disney). We were very fortunate with my son and daughter in that overall they slept fairly well. I think it was a combination of our nighttime parenting, their temperaments, whether they were teething or not, and how much they were able to eat during the day. My son and daughter slept at night according to the following schedule:

Baby's Age	My Son's Time Before Waking to Eat	My Daughter's Time Before Waking to Eat	Total Sleep Time*
Newborn	4 hours	4 hours	14 - 18 hours
1 months	4 - 6 hours	4 - 6 hours	14 - 18 hours
2 months	6 - 8 hours	6 - 8 hours	14 - 18 hours
3 months	8 - 10 hours	6 - 8 hours	14 - 16 hours
4 - 6 months	8 - 12 hours	6 - 8 hours	14 - 16 hours
6 - 7 1/2 months	4 - 6 hours	10-12 hours	12 - 14 hours
7 1/2 -10 1/2 months	4 - 6 hours	5-12 hours	12 - 14 hours
10 1/2 - 13 months	12 hours	OPEN	12 - 14 hours
13 - 15 months	6 - 8 hours	OPEN	12 - 14 hours
16+ months	12 hours	OPEN	12 - 14 hours

*The total sleep time is the time for the entire day including naps according to Sears (357). My son and daughter generally slept the "average" total sleep time. As indicated in the table above, my son slept great until he was around 6 months. My daughter slept well although she started to wake up again around 7 1/2 months. Most research warns to eliminate the night feeding so the baby does not depend on a bottle or breastfeeding to fall asleep. Both of my children could initially fall asleep on their own without breast or bottle but when they woke up in the middle of the night it was easiest to just give them breast or bottle.
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More Information
For more information on sleep, please refer to “About Sleep,” "Nighttime Parenting," and "Tips:To Help Sleep," and “Sleep Resources.” More sleep articles coming soon.
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Works Cited

BabyCenter. "Sample Baby Schedules for 1- and 2-Month-Olds." BabyCenter. 15 Dec. 2009
<http://www.babycenter.com/0_sample-baby-schedules-for-1-and-2-month-olds_3657227.bc>.

---. "Sample Baby Schedules for 3- and 4-Month-Olds." BabyCenter. 15 Dec. 2009
<http://www.babycenter.com/0_sample-baby-schedules-for-3-and-4-month-olds_3657230.bc>.

---. "Sample Baby Schedules for 5- and 6-Month-Olds." BabyCenter. 15 Dec. 2009
<http://www.babycenter.com/0_sample-baby-schedules-for-5-and-6-month-olds_3657233.bc>.

---. "Sample Baby Schedules for 7- and 8-Month-Olds." BabyCenter. 15 Dec. 2009
<http://www.babycenter.com/0_sample-baby-schedules-for-7-and-8-month-olds_3657236.bc>.

---. "Sample Baby Schedules for 9- and 10-Month-Olds." BabyCenter. 15 Dec. 2009
<http://www.babycenter.com/0_sample-baby-schedules-for-9-and-10-month-olds_3657239.bc>

---. "Sample Baby Schedules for 11- and 12-Month-Olds." BabyCenter. 15 Dec. 2009
<http://www.babycenter.com/0_sample-baby-schedules-for-11-and-12-month-olds_3657182.bc>

Disney. "Parentpedia: Nighttime Feeding." Disney Family Parenting. 8 Dec. 2009
<http://family.go.com/parentpedia/baby/sleep/baby-nighttime-feeding>.

Sears, William M.D., Martha Sears, R.N., Robert Sears, M.D. and James Sears, M.D. The Baby Book:
Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby - From Birth to Age Two. New York: Little, 2003.

---. "How Much Sleep Does My Child Need?" AskDrSears.com. 25 Jan. 2010.
<http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/sl17.asp>.

Weissbluth, Marc M.D. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-By-Step Program for a Good Night’s
Sleep. New York: Ballantine, 2003.
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Last updated: January 2010

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Sleep Amount

Average Sleep Each Baby Is an Individual More Information Works Cited

Average Sleep

Each Baby Is an Individual

More Information

Works Cited