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Establishing good sleep habits: three to six months

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Key points about 3-6-month-old baby sleep habits

  • Babies aged three to six months sleep for around 14 hours each day (DHHS 2020).
  • It’s likely your baby’s sleep cycles will be getting longer. They may not wake as often or need as much help settling back down when they do wake.
  • If you don’t yet do this, it’s a good time to set a sleep routine. Following the same pre settling routines for each sleep can help create great sleep habits at this age.

What will my 3–6-month-old baby’s sleep schedule look like?

By now, getting up every two or three hours in the night for your baby may well be a thing of the past. By about three months old, your baby may sleep for 14 hours over the course of 24 hours, with 10 of these hours being at night (DHHS 2020, Teng et al 2012). The rest will be split between three daytime naps, which may drop to two when your baby is about six months old.

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About 3-6 month old baby sleep cycles

While the newborn cycle of deep sleep and light sleeplasts around 20 minutes, sleep cycles of older babies might be 30-50 minutes. (CCCH 2015). This means your baby is more able to sleep for longer stretches.

An average sleep schedule for babies aged 3-6 months

  • Total amount of sleep: 12-16 hours
  • Number of daytime naps: 2-4 naps
  • Amount of daytime sleep: 4-6 hours
  • Night time sleep behaviour: Your baby will likely sleep for longer stretches at night. You can still expect that your baby will wake at least once a night for feeding or comfort though.
    (BHC 2020)

You may still be getting up once or twice a night for feeds at three months. By the time your baby is six months, they may be able to sleep through the night. You can help them to do this by setting good sleep habits and a routine.

How can I establish good sleep habits in my 3-6-month old?

Here are some ways you might get your baby used to a sleep schedule.

Establish set bedtimes and naptimes

When your baby was a newborn, knowing when to put them down for the night would have been helped by looking for their tired signs.

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Now that your baby’s a little older, you can choose a bedtime, as well as naptimes. Along with settling when you see tired signs, regular bedtimes and naptimes can often help with sleep schedules.

A fairly standard settling time for babies aged 3-6 months is between 7pm and 8.30pm. Any later and your baby may become overtired and find it hard to settle. Your baby might not appear tired, late at night, and may seem lively. But that's often a sign that it's past a young baby’s bedtime.

Set naptimes the same way you set bedtimes. Plan them for a certain time each day, or be guided by when you can tell they are tired. You could settle your baby for a nap when you know they are going to need to recharge. As long as they’re getting enough sleep, either approach is fine.

Begin to create a bedtime routine

If you haven't already done so, start a bedtime routine, which includes:

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Whatever routine works for your family is fine, as long you try to follow the same one each night. That includes at weekends.

When your baby is unwell, don’t expect them to settle as easily. They’ll need more comfort and cuddles.

Wake your baby in the morning to reset their daily clock

If your baby tends to sleep for more than 10 hours at night, you may choose to wake them gently in in the morning to help them reset their daily clock. Your baby may benefit from having a pattern of sleeping and waking, and they will recharge with naps during the day. Waking them at the same time every morning can sometimes help them to get into a good sleep/wake cycle through the day.

What sleep problems can happen at 3-6 months of age?

Sleep problems at this age can include making the transition to a cot, and learning to sleep for longer patches at night. If your baby doesn’t settle well, or protests at night when settling, don't despair. There are strategies you can use to help them sleep.

When your baby is unwell, it's quite common for it to disrupt their sleep patterns. They may want to nap at different times during the day, which could make bedtime later. They may even resist going to bed at night, or start waking up during the night, when they tend to sleep through. There may also be changes in their feeding routine.

If this is the case, don't worry too much about the timings of their sleep. But do try to keep to the same bedtime routine. Once they’re feeling better, you can slowly shift the daytime naps and bedtime back to normal again.

Seek help from a professional if you find that your baby’s sleep patterns are affecting your mental health.

And have your baby checked by a doctor if they are sick.

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Read about establishing good sleep habits from six to nine months.

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BabyCenter's editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world. When creating and updating content, we rely on credible sources: respected health organisations, professional groups of doctors and other experts, and published studies in peer-reviewed journals. We believe you should always know the source of the information you're seeing. Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies.

BHC. 2020. Typical sleep behaviour (2) – babies 3 to 6 months Better Health Channel. www.betterhealth.vic.gov.auOpens a new window. [Accessed March 2023].

CCCH. 2015. Sleep and the early years. Centre for Community Child Health. Community Paediatric Review, 23, 4. www.rch.org.auOpens a new window [Accessed March 2023]

DHHS. 2020. Sleep and settling model of care: Research summary report. Department of Health and Human Services. www.health.vic.gov.auOpens a new window. [Accessed March 2023].

Teng A, Bartle A, Sadeh A, Mindell J. Infant and toddler sleep in Australia and New Zealand. J Paediatr Child Health. 2012 Mar;48(3):268-73.

Sally Bathgate
Sally Bathgate works as a freelance health and medical writer, generating content for a variety of health providers and medical companies.
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