Normal Infant Sleep: Month by Month in the First Year
Why This Page Exists
We have unrealistic expectations about baby sleep. We expect babies to sleep through the night, sleep in their own room, take predictable naps, and let us have our evenings back.
The reality is often very different. And that gap between expectation and reality is why so many parents feel like they’re failing.
You’re not failing. Your baby is probably doing exactly what babies do.
Month 1: The Fourth Trimester Begins
It’s normal for your baby to:
- Only want to sleep ON you
- Only want to sleep in arms
- Feed all day and all night
- Refuse the bassinet or crib
- Take a 3-hour nap during the day and wake every hour at night
- Be up in the middle of the night
- Need to nurse/rock/bounce to sleep
- Be woken by their own hands (startle reflex)
It’s normal for YOU to:
- Feel overwhelmed
- Feel resentful toward your partner
- Feel like you don’t know what you’re doing
- Have the baby blues
- Struggle with breastfeeding
What you can do:
- Use a carrier, stroller, swing to get naps
- Consider safe bedsharing if crib sleep isn’t happening
- Feed on demand
- ASK FOR HELP — make a specific list of what would actually help
- Say “no” to house guests
- Watch for postpartum depression (talk to your doctor if something feels off)
- Practice self-care — find 2-3 small things daily that make you feel good
Months 2-3: Still in Survival Mode
It’s normal for your baby to:
- Experience everything from Month 1
- Be more fussy (peaks around 6 weeks as their “stimulus barrier” disappears)
- Sleep most of the day
- Go through a growth spurt at 3 months (eat, eat, eat)
What you can do:
- Keep wake windows short (40 min – 1 hour)
- Don’t expect longer night stretches to last — this often changes at 4 months
- If breastfeeding, don’t skip night feeds even if baby sleeps longer (it affects supply)
Month 4: The Big Shift
It’s normal for your baby to:
- Start waking every 1.5-2 hours at night (the “4-month progression”)
- Struggle to fall asleep with usual methods
- Have long wakeful periods in the middle of the night
- Need to eat at night — please don’t withhold nutrition
- Take 20-40 minute naps
What you can do:
- Prepare yourself — this doesn’t last forever
- Feed on demand, day and night
- Get out of the house while baby is still portable
- Don’t expect a schedule yet
- Keep wake windows around 90 minutes
- Build a “menu” of ways to help baby sleep: nurse, rock, snuggle, sing, pat
See also: www.islagrace.ca/4-month-progression
Months 5-6-7: Development Explosion
It’s normal for your baby to:
- Still eat at night
- Still take short naps (though they may start to lengthen)
- Fight bedtime
- Experience more separation anxiety
- Wake early
- Need more snuggles during the day
- Be more distracted during feeds
- Go through another growth spurt around 6 months
What you can do:
- Offer smaller, more frequent feeds
- Continue building your “menu” of soothing methods
- Watch wake windows (1hr 45min – 2.5 hours)
- Use motion for the last catnap if needed
- Remember they’re still easily overstimulated
- Do NOT start solids before 6 months hoping it will help sleep (it won’t)
See also: www.islagrace.ca/6-month-progression
Months 8-12: Separation Anxiety Peak
It’s normal for your baby to:
- Have bedtime battles (even if bedtime was easy before)
- Drop the third nap
- Need mom MORE
- Wake and need to eat at night again
- Need more snuggles at bedtime
- Have one or two long wakes in the middle of the night
- Experience peak separation anxiety (especially if learning to walk or starting daycare)
- Refuse the afternoon nap
- Take longer and longer to fall asleep if you only have one way to put them down
What you can do:
- SUPPORT them through this — they need you more right now
- Cap the morning nap to protect the afternoon nap
- Start building attachment to a lovey
- Give them space to practice new skills during the day
- Don’t make major changes during peak separation anxiety
The Big Picture
What’s actually normal in the first year:
- Waking at night (even after 12 months)
- Needing help to fall asleep
- Short naps
- Wanting to be close to you
- Not following the books
- Changing patterns just when you thought you had it figured out
What’s NOT required:
- Sleeping through the night by any particular age
- Self-soothing (they can’t — their brains aren’t developed for it)
- Sleeping in their own room
- Falling asleep independently
- Following a schedule
You’re Not Failing
If your baby wakes at night, you’re not doing anything wrong. If your baby needs you to fall asleep, you’re not creating bad habits. If your baby’s sleep doesn’t look like the books, your baby is still normal.
You’re doing a great job. Trust yourself. Trust your baby.
For personalized support: www.islagrace.ca/sleep-coaching
Use code SLEEP10% for 10% off any course.
