A Sleep Schedule
From Four Months Up To 1 Year Old

Between four and six months, your baby's sleep schedule becomes more regular. It is the time when the chaos of the first months finally seems to make place for more structure. Many parents and babies really enjoy this time as it brings a bit more rest and time to enjoy each other.

Your baby may or may not quite sleep through the night yet. You may still be looking for longer naps, or more suited nap and night bed times.

Do keep up with the sleep schedule, it continues to structure your baby's sleep and help her develop the sleeping skills she needs: easy settling into longer stretches of sleep and self soothing when waking up at night.

In a typical sleep schedule between four months and one year old a baby will have:

• two or three naps: mid-morning, early afternoon and late afternoon

• a 12-hour "night" with one or more feedings - or no feedings for some

Even if it helps your baby sleep, the newly found regularity may also give you some restrictions too. You may be less mobile and/or find yourself rescheduling your day around nap times.

It may not even be possible to stick to the schedule when you have older children and/or work arrangements. Therefore it remains important that you schedule sleep times that suit you well.

Let's have a look at schedule tips for naps first, then on to the nights ...

Sleep schedule tips for naps

Naps remain an important part of the sleep schedule. How many hours sleep she needs varies a lot from baby to baby but regular rest moments during the day keep her from getting over-tired. A baby who is over-tired at night will find it difficult to settle. It will then also be more difficult to sleep through the night.

For a good nap time schedule:

1. Stick to fixed nap times

   

   Be determined: when it is nap time, it is nap time. Put your baby to bed (or cot, or stroller, or baby sling ...), even if you are unsure she's very sleepy this time. It is the regularity of the schedule that will help her sleep.

   A good illustration is that many babies that do not nap easily at home, suddenly take good naps when they go to daycare or creche. That is because there is usually a strict scheme and - not in the least - there is no other option. The carers usually don't have the time to help each baby nap individually.

   Of course you are not a creche. If your baby is very easy with sleeping at nap times, you can be pretty flexible and shift nap times with about half an hour or so. If your baby is not easy with naps, try to be as strict as within ten minutes, it can really help her.

   Also, towards one year old, many babies will go from three to two naps, or from two to one.

2. Experiment with nap times

   If your baby has a difficult time settling or sleeping a longer stretch, it is a good idea to experiment a bit with the nap time. Move it forward or backward in time, and see what happens.

   When my girl was 8 months old, we shifted her nap to one hour earlier than usual. She suddenly had three-hour naps! Before it was barely an hour.

   Of course, with every experiment, give it a week or so to see what happens before changing something again.

3. Do not skip all naps in the hope of a longer night

   When a baby sleeps poorly at night, it can seem like an obvious choice to skip a nap, or all naps during the day. However that usually does not help. It just makes a baby overtired, and that results in worse nights.

   Skipping a nap can be a good idea in some situations though. For example, if your baby has been taking three naps a day for a long time, and suddenly starts waking up earlier in the morning. Then one less nap can help, but do check that she does not become too tired at the end of the day.

Sleep schedule tips for nights

Many parents find their baby sleeping through the night around 6 to 12 months, but many also continue to have one or several night feedings. A lot of it will depend on their physical ability to sleep for longer without food or attention.

For a good night time sleep schedule:

1. Stick to a fixed night bed time

   Also here, be determined. Light or dark outside, tired or not tired: bed time is bed time. This may seem more strict than it is, no need to time your baby with a stopwatch of course.

   Just keep the schedule regular and recognisable for your baby. It will help her to the best sleep.

2. Experiment with night bed times

   Many parents may find this strange, but I have experienced it myself, and many other parents with me. If your baby's usual bed time for the night is let's say 9pm and she has two or three awakenings during the night. Then shifting the bed time to earlier, even quite drastic to 7.30pm, can result in a wonderful sleep through night!

   This is not a magical formula that always works of course, but it does in quite a few situations, and definitely worth a try. You can also go earlier by just half an hour, see what happens, then the next week another half hour ...

   Naturally, do not try out a new bed time every other night. Always give it a week or so before you will see the effect. It is also best to experiment in a period when your child is not ill, or teething.

3. Do not delay night bed time in the hope of a longer night

   Although it seems logical to sleep until later if they go to bed be later, in general, that does not work. There is a good chance that it will have the inverse effect.

Finding a regular sleep schedule for your baby towards one year old usually is not too difficult. If you remain determined, but also flexible enough to keep the schedule pleasant for both of you, you are helping your baby a long way towards good sleep.

Do not worry if things still seem chaotic to you. A lot is going on in baby's life: teething, discovering their surroundings, learning to turn over, crawl, preparing those first steps, ...

That is a lot to cope with for a little child and can affect her sleeping. With a good sleep schedule you have the best chances to find good sleep along the way.

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