Sleep is a hot topic for parents. We know that babies don’t sleep like adults and that you should expect to lose sleep during the first year of life. After countless hours without sleep, you start to wonder how much sleep do babies, toddlers, and kids need?
Any parent will tell you that the sleepless nights don’t stop when your baby gets older. Toddlers and older children can experience sleep regressions or periods of sleeplessness that will lead to you sleeping less. It is a trend that continues as they get older.
How much sleep do children need?
Let’s take a look at what you should expect, in general, from your children based on their ages.
Age of Your Child |
Total Sleep Per Day |
| Birth to 6 Months | 15-16 Hours |
| 6 Months to 12 Months | 12-15 Hours |
| 1-3 Years | 12-14 Hours |
| 3-5 Years | 10-12 hours |
The cycle of being overtired
Do you feel as if your baby won’t fall asleep or stay asleep? It’s a cycle that parents find themselves trapped in all the time.
When babies and even toddlers don’t receive the proper amount of sleep each day, they fall into the overtired cycle. They start to fight falling asleep, which is the opposite of what adults do when tired.
Lack of sleep can disrupt your baby’s brain function and development as well as slow down the metabolic processes in his body. It also can weaken your child’s immune system, which is already lower due to his age. Without proper sleep, his memory and cognitive skills can decrease.
Create a sleep routine
Sleep is developmental, which means you aren’t able to force your child to sleep more. No matter what your grandma says about rice cereal or starting solids at two months old, your child has to reach those developmental milestones on his own.
One way to help your child receive the best sleep possible is to create a sleep routine. Creating a sleep routine is not sleep training, so no matter your parenting philosophy, it’s something everyone can do.
Make sure that you create a sleepy environment with dim lights before bed. Follow similar steps, such as lotion, pajama time, reading a book, eating, then going to sleep. Their bodies will notice the routine and trigger sleep hormones to be released, leading to your baby falling asleep easier.
Creating the right sleep routine can be the key to getting the most sleep possible for everyone in the family.
