Women Pregnancy

Normally, babies spend dozens or hours a day sleeping, but as they grow, their sleeping hours will be naturally reduced. A baby will have his normal sleeping hours at the age of 12 months, but the length of hours they actually need is depend on certain factors including their age.

Here are some general guidelines of the normal sleeping hours a baby or child needs based on their age:

- 1 to 4 weeks : 15 to 16 hours/day

The newborns normally sleep about 15 to 18 hours a day, but only for short terms, between two to four hours each. Premature babies might sleep longer with shorter terms.

The newborns however don’t have their own internal biological clock yet; their sleeping patterns are not related to the cycles of night and day. They will wake up whenever they feel like it, which gives parents certain hassles.

- 1 to 4 months: 14 to 15 hours/day

At the age of 6 weeks, a baby starts to have a settled sleeping time, and you might notice this regular sleeping pattern. They start to sleep longer for about 4 to 6 hours especially at night time. At this age, they seem to be well-aware of the day and night conditions.

- 4 to 12 months: 14 to 15 hours/day

The ideal sleeping hours for babies at this range of age is actually 15 hours, but babies with more than 11 months of age only get their rest for about 12 hours. This period is actually the best moment to manage them to have a healthy sleeping habit. Because normally at this age, they start to socialize more and their sleeping patterns can tend to be more like the adults’.

Babies at this age normally have 3 napping times: around 9.00 for about an hour, 12.00 to 14.00 for about 1 or 2 hours, and 15.00 to 17.00.

- 1 to 3 years: 12 to 14 hours/day

At the age of 18 to 21 months, the babies might skip the morning nap and sleep for only once in a day. While they actually need up to 14 hours a day to sleep, normally they only get 10 hours tops. They go to bed around 19.00 or 21.00 and wake up at 6.00 to 8.00 in the morning.

- 3 to 6 years: 10 to 12 hours/day

Children at this age normally go to bed around 19.00 or 21.00 and wake up at 6.00 or 8.00, just like the previous ages. Their nap hours will gradually reduce, and this condition normally started at the age of 3 and would not change ever since.

- 7 to 12 years: 10 to 11 hours/day

At this school age, children will spend most of their times with socializing, and doing school or family activities. Their sleeping hours will be gradually reduced, and they will go to bed around 21.00 every night, with 9 hours total.

- 12 to 18 years: 8 to 9 hours/day

The need of sleep will still be similar with the previous range of ages, but at these adolescent ages children might face social pressure which would affect both the length and quality of their sleep. Therefore, one or two hours of extra sleep or nap might be able to help this condition.