A newborn sleeps in short bursts around the clock. By their first birthday, most babies are on two solid naps and sleeping through the night. The changes happen fast, and you will feel like the schedule shifts the moment you figure it out.
In the first 12 months, your baby's total sleep drops from about 16 hours a day to roughly 13. Nap counts fall from "however many they take" to two predictable daytime sleeps. Night wakes can go from every two hours to none at all.
Behind these changes is your baby's developing brain. Newborns spend roughly half their sleep in active REM sleep, which is lighter and more easily disrupted than deep sleep. Over the first few months, their sleep cycles mature from two basic stages into the four-stage pattern adults use, and by around three to four months, the circadian rhythm — your baby's internal body clock that knows night from day — starts to kick in.
This guide walks through what to expect at each stage: newborn (0-3 months), the 3-6 month shift, 6-9 months when naps consolidate, and 9-12 months when separation anxiety and early waking creep in. Each age bracket includes a sample hourly schedule so you can see what a day actually looks like, hour by hour.
None of this is a rigid timetable. Some babies need more sleep than others, and every baby has off days. Use these schedules as a rough map, not a rulebook. If your baby is going through a rough patch, check whether it might be the 4-month sleep regression — it lines up with the biggest schedule change in the first year.
Before we get into age-specific schedules, here is the big-picture view of how baby sleep evolves from birth to the first birthday.
| Age | Total Sleep (24h) | Naps | Night Wakes | What's Changing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-3 months | 14-17 hours | 4-6 naps | Every 2-4 hours | No day-night rhythm, feeding drives sleep |
| 3-6 months | 12-15 hours | 3-4 naps | 1-2 wakes | Circadian rhythm kicks in, naps start consolidating |
| 6-9 months | 12-14 hours | 2-3 naps | 0-1 wake | Three-to-two nap transition, solids introduced |
| 9-12 months | 12-14 hours | 2 naps | 0-1 wake | Separation anxiety, early waking, motor milestones |
This table is the cheat sheet. The rest of this guide breaks down each age window in detail.
The newborn stage is chaotic. Your baby does not know day from night, feeds every two to three hours, and the concept of a "schedule" is a distant fantasy. That is normal.
Total sleep in this window is roughly 14 to 17 hours across 24 hours, broken into chunks of 2 to 4 hours at a time (Red Nose Australia, 2024). Newborn sleep cycles are about 45 to 60 minutes and split roughly 50-50 between active REM and quiet sleep. That high REM proportion means they surface often and wake easily. They also do not produce melatonin yet, so there is no day-night rhythm in the first weeks. This is biology, not something to fix.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 6:30 am | Wake and feed |
| 7:00 am | Short awake window (nappy change, tummy time, cuddle) |
| 7:30 am | Nap 1 |
| 9:30 am | Wake and feed |
| 10:00 am | Awake window |
| 10:30 am | Nap 2 |
| 12:30 pm | Wake and feed |
| 1:00 pm | Awake window |
| 1:30 pm | Nap 3 |
| 3:30 pm | Wake and feed |
| 4:00 pm | Awake window |
| 4:30 pm | Nap 4 (short, 30-45 min) |
| 5:30 pm | Wake, feed, quiet awake time |
| 6:30 pm | Bath and bedtime routine |
| 7:00 pm | Feed and bed |
| 10:30 pm | Dream feed or first night wake feed |
| 2:30 am | Night feed |
| 5:30 am | Night feed |
This schedule assumes five naps, which is common at this age. Some newborns take six. Some take four longer ones. Follow your baby's lead. Expect sleep blocks of 2 to 4 hours around the clock, with longer stretches emerging gradually from six to eight weeks (Red Nose Australia; Raising Children Network). You may hear about the "5-3-3 rule" online — it is not evidence-based and Australian sleep authorities do not endorse rigid feeding-sleep schedules for newborns.
Newborns arrive with no sense of night and day. For the first few weeks, they sleep and wake on a 24-hour loop that has nothing to do with the sun. You cannot fix this overnight, but you can nudge it: keep daytime feeds in bright, noisy rooms and night feeds in the dark with minimal interaction.
Cluster feeding usually hits in the late afternoon and evening. Your baby wants to feed every hour, sometimes every 30 minutes, for a stretch of two to four hours. It is exhausting but temporary. Cluster feeding helps build your milk supply and usually peaks around six weeks before fading.
The witching hour, which often overlaps with cluster feeding, is a stretch of unexplained crying that hits between 5 pm and 11 pm, peaks around six weeks, and fades by three to four months. It is not the same as colic, which is defined as crying for three or more hours a day, three or more days a week, for at least three weeks. The witching hour is shorter-lived and usually passes sooner. What helps: holding, rocking, a baby carrier, stepping outside for fresh air, and trading off with your partner so one of you gets a real break (Raising Children Network).
A catnap is a nap that lasts 20 to 40 minutes — one sleep cycle, never linking into the next. In the newborn period, this is normal. Your baby's sleep architecture is not mature enough to connect daytime cycles, and it will not be for months. The concern usually starts around three to four months, when babies begin consolidating naps and a 30-minute nap becomes a sign that something needs adjusting. For now, focus on total sleep across 24 hours rather than nap length.
Red Nose Australia recommends room-sharing — your baby sleeping in a cot or bassinet in your bedroom — for the first six to twelve months. Room-sharing reduces the risk of SIDS by up to 50 per cent and makes night feeds easier.
Set up the cot with a firm, flat mattress and a fitted sheet. Nothing else: no bumpers, pillows, soft toys, or loose bedding. Room-sharing does not mean bed-sharing. Your baby needs their own sleep surface, even in your room. When you are ready to stop room-sharing, look for signs your baby is settling well and sleeping longer stretches — there is no single right age to transition, just the right time for your family (Red Nose Australia).
This is when things start to make sense. Your baby's circadian rhythm kicks in around three to four months, and a more predictable pattern takes shape. Total sleep drops to roughly 12 to 15 hours a day, with three to four naps becoming three solid naps by around five months.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 6:30 am | Wake and feed |
| 7:30 am | Awake window (play, tummy time, outdoor walk) |
| 8:30 am | Nap 1 (45 min - 1.5 hrs) |
| 10:00 am | Wake and feed |
| 11:00 am | Awake window |
| 11:30 am | Nap 2 (45 min - 1.5 hrs) |
| 1:00 pm | Wake and feed |
| 2:00 pm | Awake window |
| 2:30 pm | Nap 3 (30-45 min catnap) |
| 3:30 pm | Wake and feed |
| 5:00 pm | Awake window, solids if started |
| 6:00 pm | Bath and bedtime routine |
| 6:30 pm | Feed and bed |
| 10:30 pm | Dream feed (optional, wean by 5-6 months) |
| 3:00 am | Night feed (if still waking) |
Some babies drop the dream feed and night feed in this window. Others keep one feed until well past six months. Both are normal.
At this age, wake windows stretch from about 1.5 hours at three months to roughly 2.5 hours at six months. The trick is catching your baby before they hit overtired. An overtired baby fights sleep harder and wakes more often.
Tired signs to watch: staring off into space, rubbing eyes, pulling ears, red eyebrows, and that specific fussy cry that means "I am done." When you see these, get them down fast. A baby who has moved past tired into overtired can take 20 extra minutes to settle.
A catnap is a nap that lasts 20 to 40 minutes — just one sleep cycle — and does not connect into the next. It is frustrating, especially when you spent 15 minutes settling them.
Catnapping peaks between three and five months. At this age, babies have not yet learned to link sleep cycles during the day. They surface from light sleep at the 30-minute mark and cannot drift back down on their own.
What helps: dark room, white noise, consistent nap routine, and giving them five to ten minutes to resettle before you go in. Some babies grow out of catnapping on their own. Others need practice and patience. It is not your fault and it is not a sign of bad sleep habits. It is developmental.
By six months, most babies have settled into a three-nap pattern that transitions to two naps around seven to eight months. Total sleep is about 12 to 14 hours across 24 hours, with two solid daytime naps and a longer night stretch.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 6:30 am | Wake and feed |
| 7:30 am | Solids breakfast |
| 8:30 am | Awake window (crawling practice, floor play) |
| 9:30 am | Nap 1 (1-1.5 hrs) |
| 11:00 am | Wake and feed |
| 12:00 pm | Solids lunch |
| 1:00 pm | Awake window |
| 1:30 pm | Nap 2 (1-1.5 hrs) |
| 3:00 pm | Wake and feed |
| 4:30 pm | Awake window, solids dinner |
| 6:00 pm | Bath and bedtime routine |
| 6:30 pm | Feed and bed |
If your baby is still on three naps, the third nap becomes a short bridge nap (20-30 minutes) to get them to bedtime without overtiredness. Some babies drop it abruptly. Others need it for weeks.
The three-to-two nap transition usually happens between six and eight months. Signs your baby is ready: the third nap becomes a battle, bedtime gets pushed past 8 pm, or they wake from the third nap after five minutes and seem fine.
When you drop it, you will need to stretch wake windows slightly and bring bedtime earlier — sometimes as early as 6 pm — to prevent overtiredness. The transition can take a week or two of awkward days where the schedule does not quite work. That is normal.
When your baby hits a motor milestone, sleep often falls apart for a few days. Sitting up in the cot at 2 am, crawling in their sleep, pulling to stand and then crying because they cannot get back down — all of it is common.
Give lots of floor practice during awake windows so the novelty wears off. If they stand up in the cot and cannot sit back down, go in, lay them down quietly, and leave. Repeat as needed, calmly. This phase passes, usually within a week or two.
By nine months, most babies are solidly on two naps, with total sleep around 12 to 14 hours a day. The two-nap schedule usually holds until somewhere between 12 and 18 months, when the one-nap transition begins.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 6:30 am | Wake and feed |
| 7:30 am | Solids breakfast |
| 9:00 am | Awake window (cruising, walking practice) |
| 10:00 am | Nap 1 (1-1.5 hrs) |
| 11:30 am | Wake and feed |
| 12:30 pm | Solids lunch |
| 1:30 pm | Awake window |
| 2:00 pm | Nap 2 (1-1.5 hrs) |
| 3:30 pm | Wake and feed |
| 5:00 pm | Solids dinner |
| 6:00 pm | Bath and bedtime routine |
| 6:30 pm | Feed and bed |
Some babies start fighting the second nap around 10 to 11 months. That does not mean they are ready for one nap. It is often a phase tied to separation anxiety or teething. Try to preserve the second nap unless your baby consistently refuses it for two weeks straight and handles the longer wake windows without meltdowns.
Separation anxiety peaks around nine to ten months. Your baby suddenly realises you exist even when they cannot see you, and bedtime becomes a tearful protest.
What helps: a consistent bedtime routine — same order, same duration every night — a comfort object like a small soft toy if over seven months, and not sneaking out. Say goodnight and leave with confidence. If you keep coming back because they cry, they learn that crying brings you back. Give them space to settle, and if you need to go in, keep it brief, quiet, and boring.
Waking for the day at 5 am when you went to bed at midnight is a special kind of misery. At this age, early waking often has a cause you can address: too much daytime sleep — cap naps at 3 hours total — too little daytime sleep — overtired babies wake early — too much light in the room, or hunger.
Check the room is dark enough, treat any waking before 6 am as a night wake — dark, quiet, no interaction — and make sure the first nap does not start too early, or it reinforces the early wake.
Safe sleep rules do not change much across the first year. The basics stay the same from newborn to toddler.
Red Nose Australia, the country's leading authority on SIDS prevention, has six evidence-based recommendations:
These recommendations apply at every age, whether your baby is two weeks or eleven months old.
All cots sold in Australia should meet the mandatory standard AS/NZS 2172. Second-hand cots can be risky: check for gaps wider than a soft drink can between bars, no cutouts or decorative holes, and a firm mattress that fits snugly with less than a 25mm gap at the sides (Raising Children Network).
Safe sleep matters at every age. Whether your baby is a newborn or approaching their first birthday, the same rules apply: back to sleep, clear cot, room-share for at least six months. Red Nose Australia has free safe sleep resources at rednose.org.au.
Feeding and sleep are intertwined for the whole first year. A hungry baby will not sleep, and an overtired baby will not feed well.
In the newborn phase, the priority is full feeds during the day. If your baby snacks for five minutes and falls asleep, they wake hungry 45 minutes later. Try to keep them awake long enough for a proper feed: tickle their feet, change their nappy mid-feed, strip them down to a singlet so they are not too warm and cosy.
A dream feed is a feed you give while your baby is mostly asleep, usually around 10 or 11 pm, before you go to bed yourself. It can buy you a longer first sleep stretch. Dream feeds work for some babies and not for others. Try it for three nights and see.
Night weaning — reducing or dropping night feeds — is a separate decision from sleep training. Some babies drop night feeds on their own around four to six months. Others need one feed until nine months or beyond. If you want to night-wean, talk to your Maternal and Child Health Nurse first to make sure your baby is getting enough during the day.
The eat-play-sleep rhythm works well for many families, but it falls apart when your baby needs to feed before a nap to settle, or when a growth spurt throws the whole schedule out the window. Follow your baby, not the textbook. If they are hungry, feed them. If they are tired, put them down. The order matters less than whether both needs are met.
Feeding and sleep training are separate decisions. You do not need to night-wean before teaching your baby to self-settle. If you are unsure, check out our guide to sleep training methods for Australian parents.
Australian summers and winters both create sleep challenges. What works in a Melbourne June does not work in a Brisbane January.
Australian summers are brutal for baby sleep. Rooms stay hot well past sunset, and daylight stretches past 8 pm in some states. A room temperature above 24 degrees Celsius makes it harder for babies to settle and stay asleep.
What helps:
Do not point a fan or air conditioner directly at the cot. Red Nose Australia advises keeping the room at a comfortable temperature, between 18 and 22 degrees where possible.
In winter, the challenge flips: keeping your baby warm enough without overheating. Overheating is a SIDS risk factor, so dressing correctly matters.
A TOG (Thermal Overall Grade) rating tells you how warm a sleep sack or swaddle is:
| TOG Rating | Season | Room Temperature |
|---|---|---|
| 0.2 to 1.0 | Summer | 22-26°C |
| 1.0 to 2.5 | Spring / Autumn | 18-22°C |
| 2.5 to 3.5 | Winter | Below 18°C |
Dress your baby in layers underneath the sleep sack: a singlet and a long-sleeved bodysuit for cold nights, or just a singlet for mild winter evenings. Check the back of their neck to gauge temperature. If it is sweaty, they are too hot. Hands and feet can feel cool even when the baby is warm.
A room thermometer is a small investment that takes the guesswork out of dressing for sleep. For more detail on TOG ratings by season, see our TOG and temperature guide.
Every schedule breaks. Teething, sickness, travel, daylight savings, and the infamous sleep regressions all throw things off. It does not mean you failed.
Teething can disrupt sleep for a day or two as each tooth cuts through. A low-grade fever is possible, but if the temperature is high or the fussiness lasts more than a few days, it is probably something else. Pain relief before bed, if your GP or MCHN approves, can help everyone rest.
Illness throws sleep out the window and that is fine. Your baby needs comfort more than they need a schedule. Feed on demand, hold them, and go back to your routine when they are well.
The four-month sleep regression is real and developmental: your baby's sleep cycles mature from two stages — active and quiet — to four stages like adult sleep. They wake more between cycles because the pattern is new. Read our full guide to the 4-month sleep regression for what to expect and how to get through it. The eight-month and twelve-month regressions are more about motor milestones and separation anxiety than actual sleep architecture changes.
When the disruption passes, ease back into your routine over three to four days. Do not expect the schedule to click back on day one. Start with consistent wake-up time, then rebuild naps, then bedtime. Your baby will find their rhythm again. They always do.
You do not have to figure this out alone. Australia has free, expert parenting support available in every state and territory.
Tresillian (NSW, ACT, and Victoria) and Karitane (NSW) offer free residential stays, day programs, and phone support for parents struggling with baby sleep, feeding, and settling. You can self-refer — no GP referral needed.
Their services are staffed by child and family health nurses who have seen every sleep scenario you can imagine and a few you cannot. If your baby does not sleep, they will not judge you. They will help you build a plan.
Tresillian: 1300 272 736 or tresillian.org.au
Karitane: 1300 227 464
Every state and territory runs a free Maternal and Child Health (MCH) service. Your MCHN visits you at home in the first weeks and continues seeing your baby at key ages through the first three years. They check growth, development, feeding, and sleep at each visit.
If you are worried about your baby's sleep, bring it up at your next appointment. They can assess whether something medical is at play, like reflux or food intolerance, and connect you to specialist services if needed.
We tested white noise machines, swaddles, and baby monitors available in Australia — all Red Nose safety checked, no sponsors, no fake reviews.
See Our Best Picks →The 5-3-3 rule is a gentle scheduling guideline: five hours between morning wake and first nap, three hours between first and second nap, and three hours between second nap and bedtime. It works for babies around six months and older who are on a predictable two-nap schedule. It is not evidence-based and Australian sleep authorities do not endorse it for newborns.
You can start a flexible routine from about six to eight weeks, but a true schedule usually clicks into place between three and four months when your baby's circadian rhythm develops. Before that, follow your baby's cues and do not stress about the clock.
Newborns (0-3 months) sleep 14-17 hours across 24 hours. At 3-6 months, total sleep drops to 12-15 hours. By 6-12 months, most babies sleep 12-14 hours, with the majority at night and two to three hours split across daytime naps. See the summary table at the top of this guide for the full breakdown.
Short naps (catnapping), early morning waking, frequent night wakes, difficulty settling independently, and sleep regressions at four, eight, and twelve months top the list. Most are developmental and temporary rather than signs something is wrong. If you have tried consistent settling for two weeks with no improvement, talk to your child health nurse.
A gentle routine can begin around six to eight weeks. A predictable schedule with set nap times usually becomes possible between three and six months, once your baby's circadian rhythm is established and wake windows are consistent.
There is no single answer. Many babies consolidate night sleep into stretches of six to eight hours between four and six months. Some take until nine months or beyond. Sleeping through the night is a developmental milestone, not something that can be forced.
Shift the whole schedule by 10-15 minutes per day over four to six days leading up to the time change. For the spring forward (October in Australia), move everything slightly earlier. For the fall back (April), shift later. Morning sunlight helps reset their body clock.
Yawning, rubbing eyes, pulling ears, staring off into space, red eyebrows, reduced activity, and that particular fussy cry are classic tired signs. The key is catching them early. An overtired baby who has sailed past these cues fights sleep harder and takes longer to settle.
← Read our 4-Month Sleep Regression Guide
