3 month old sleep schedule

A sample day for a 3 month old: 3 or 4 naps, about 1.25 to 2.5 hours awake at a stretch and 14 to 17 hours of sleep in 24 hours. Here are the times, and how to fit them to your baby.

Sleep in 24 hours
14 to 17 hours, naps included (National Sleep Foundation)
Naps
3 or 4 naps
Awake between sleeps
About 1.25 to 2.5 hours (a rule of thumb)
Night feeds
Many babies this age still wake to feed at night. A stretch of 5 to 8 hours is a good night.

A sample day at 3 months

Built from a 7:00 am wake-up. Times can move 15 minutes either way.

  1. 7:00 amWake upStart the day at about the same time every day
  2. 8:15 amto 9:45 amNap 1After 1 hr 15 min awake
  3. 11:15 amto 12:30 pmNap 2After 1 hr 30 min awake
  4. 2:15 pmto 3:30 pmNap 3After 1 hr 45 min awake
  5. 5:15 pmto 6:00 pmNap 4After 1 hr 45 min awake
  6. 7:30 pmBedtime routineSame steps, same order, every night
  7. 8:00 pmIn bed, lights outAfter 2 hr awake
4 hr 45 minnaps
11 hrnight, bedtime to wake-up
15.75 hrin 24 hours

Nap times are worked out from rule-of-thumb awake times. They have not been tested in studies, and healthy babies vary.

Build this around my wake-up time

Bedtime for a 3 month old

In the sample day, lights out is at 8:00 pm, 2 hr after the last nap ends. The bedtime routine starts 30 minutes before that.

Bedtime follows from the wake-up time and the naps, not from the clock. If your day starts at 6:30 am, bring every time forward by 30 minutes. If it starts at 8:00 am, move every time an hour later.

How much sleep does a 3 month old need?

The National Sleep Foundation recommends 14 to 17 hours of sleep in 24 hours for babies up to 3 months. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine gives no figure under 4 months, because normal sleep varies so widely at this age.

The sample day adds up to 15.75 hours: 4 hr 45 min of naps and 11 hr from bedtime to wake-up. The night figure includes any feeds and wakings, so the sleep itself is a little less.

These are ranges for most children, not targets to hit. The National Sleep Foundation notes that an hour or two either side of its range can be appropriate.

Wake windows at 3 months

About 1.25 to 2.5 hours between sleeps. That is the range Cleveland Clinic publishes for this age.

Wake windows are a rule of thumb. They have not been tested in research and no medical body publishes a table of them. The first stretch of the day is usually the shortest and the last one before bed the longest.

Watch your baby as well as the clock. Yawning, staring and fussing are signs that sleep is close, and when the clock and your baby disagree, go by your baby.

Naps at 3 months

At about 3 months, day sleep settles into three naps for many babies: one in the middle of the morning, one in the middle of the afternoon and a short one in the early evening (Ferber, 2006). The sample day shows four because many 3 month olds still take a fourth short nap.

Short naps are common at this age. In a study of 841 babies, naps got shorter between 1 and 5 months before they grew again.

Night feeds at 3 months

Many babies this age still wake to feed at night. A stretch of 5 to 8 hours is a good night.

Feed your baby whenever they are hungry, day and night. Do not try to stretch or drop night feeds at this age. Keep night feeds dark and quiet, so nights feel different from days.

Can you sleep train a 3 month old?

No. Babies under 4 months are too young for sleep training. They still need to feed at night and their sleep has no regular pattern yet.

What helps now: a short bedtime routine, dark and quiet night feeds, and laying your baby down drowsy but awake once a day so that falling asleep in the crib becomes familiar.

Safe sleep

For every sleep, naps included: on the back, on a firm, flat surface that is not inclined, with a fitted sheet and nothing else in the crib or bassinet. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping the crib or bassinet in your room for at least the first 6 months and advises against sharing a bed with a baby.

Stop swaddling as soon as your baby shows any sign of trying to roll over. Do not use weighted swaddles, sleepers or blankets.

Get this schedule built around your baby

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Related guides

Sources

  • Hirshkowitz M, et al. National Sleep Foundation sleep time duration recommendations. Sleep Health, 2015.
  • Paruthi S, et al. Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations: A Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2016.
  • Cleveland Clinic. What Are Baby Wake Windows? And How Long Should They Be? April 2024.
  • Nemours KidsHealth. Sleep and Your Baby, by age; Naps.
  • Nationwide Children's Hospital. Sleep in Infants; Sleep in Toddlers.
  • Moon RY, et al. Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2022 Recommendations for Reducing Infant Deaths in the Sleep Environment. Pediatrics, 2022.

General information for parents, not medical advice. Independent, not affiliated with the American Academy of Pediatrics or any medical body. Talk to your pediatrician about your baby's health.