6 months- what a milestone, right!? While nobody wants to wish their child’s life away, when it comes to the 6 month old sleep schedule, improving night sleep, and nailing naps, 6 months is the sweet spot. From 6 months onwards changes slow down a bit. (take a breath!)

Neurologically speaking your child’s biological clock (hormones that influence sleep etc.) is now fully developed, which is supportive when establishing a more predictable 6 month old sleep schedule.

In this article you will find:

• How much sleep does a 6 month old need in the day vs night?
• How to know if your 6 month old is getting enough sleep?
• Over tired vs under tired during the 6 month sleep schedule?
• 2 options for a 6 month sleep schedule
• Most 6 month old sleep schedules have 3 naps – why?
• Can a 6 month sleep schedule help your baby sleep through the night?
• Can my baby fit a 6 month sleep schedule if they still cat nap?
• Why is my baby still not linking sleep cycles in their 6 month sleep schedule?
• What if I don’t want to follow a 6 month sleep schedule

How much sleep does a 6 month old need in the day vs night?

At this age we roughly aim for around 3.5 hours of day sleep + 10-12 hours overnight. This is what we include in our 6 month sleep schedule.

How to know if your 6 month old is getting enough sleep?

Knowing whether you LO is getting the overall amount of sleep they need i.e. whether the balance of day vs. night sleep is working for them, depends on a few factors:

• Overall mood (after waking from sleep i.e. during settling times), night wake frequency etc.  
• Their overall temperament for some it’s easy to spot when they are over/under tired, other children seem to be happy/ coping well, even when their sleep is really fragmented
• While every child is different and has their individual sleep needs, overall averages for their age are a great indicator for their 6 month sleep schedule/routine

Over tired vs under tired during the 6 month sleep schedule?

When it comes to pinpointing whether you child is over or under tired we can orientate us on the following signs:

• Settling (back) to sleep takes a long time, while your child simply seems not tired enough and once they are down, they wake up after 1 sleep cycle, super happy (can indicate under tiredness = lack of sleep drive)
• Settling (back) to sleep takes a long time, while your child is very upset and once they are down, they wake up after 1 sleep cycle or even within the first 20min, often accompanied by a fair bit of crying (can indicate over tiredness = extra cortisol interfering with sleep)
• If your child is a cat napper, establishing a long middle of the day nap will be an important step, as this big sleep gives them the rest they need for an active afternoon, without getting more & more over tired by bedtime
• While every child has its individual sleep needs, we can see that following the average age appropriate awake windows between sleeps & overall sleep amounts (day & night) are pretty spot on for most babies, this is what our 6 month sleep schedule does.

2 options for a 6 month sleep schedule 

We usually recommend 2 different options for your 6 month’s old sleep schedule, depending on what works best for your child/family:

Short morning nap + long middle of the day (+ 3rd nap)

7am – 

9.30am - 1st nap Short

12.30pm - 2nd nap Long

4.30pm – 3rd nap Short

6.30/7pm – bedtime  

Medium morning nap + medium middle of the day (+ 3rd nap)

7am – wake up 

9.30am - 1st nap Medium length

1pm - 2nd nap  Medium length

4.30pm – 3rd nap Short

6.30/7pm – bedtime 

Most 6 month old sleep schedules have 3 naps – why?

To support a great night’s sleep we want to avoid over tiredness by bedtime (extra cortisol), which means that most 6 month old sleep schedules will still need their short 3rd nap in the late afternoon, (especially if no long midday nap is consolidated/ established). Which drops on average by 6-8 months 

Can a 6 month sleep schedule help your baby sleep through the night?

Yes, very much so! 

We often see that frequent night wakes/ false starts are due to over or under tiredness by bedtime (more challenging for your baby’s body to settle back to sleep). While it’s common for your 6 months old to still need 1 night feed, this is usually a quick, straightforward one, if their body is ready for sleep and they get a chance to practice their self-soothing. 

Can my baby fit a 6 month sleep schedule if they still cat nap?

Our 6 months old sleep schedule is based on establishing a big middle of the day nap. For that your little one will need to learn how to connect their sleep cycles, rather than doing 30-45 min cat naps. 

While practicing this skill, we can usually work temporarily with little “bridging naps” (until 6-7 months) to avoid over tiredness. 

Why is my baby still not linking sleep cycles in their 6 month sleep schedule?

It can be frustrating to see your child struggling and waking up like clockwork after the 45 min mark. Just remember that day sleep is generally speaking more challenging to establish (no melatonin), especially consolidating naps. 

Patience, practice & consistency with your chosen settling approach is the key, while making sure that their awake windows and nap length are supportive of your goals! 

What if I don’t want to follow a 6 month sleep schedule 

Establishing/ following a 6 month old sleep schedule can feel quite overwhelming to start with i.e. feel quite restrictive: most of us like the idea of flexibility in our lives and a child that fits in.

For some children that can work well, it is easy to fall asleep when they need it, you can go with the flow and still have a good night’s sleep. 

Some people prefer to use a wake window strategy and simply put their baby down for a nap after 2.5 hours in the day rather than following a 6 month old sleep schedule.

The pro’s of this is that you are not having to clock time as much as when you follow a fixed routine. There is no waking a child from their naps, and some people feel this approach is more relaxed and easier.

The cons of this are extensive in my opinion! 

Listen to my podcast on routine vs wake windows HERE

There is a lot of science behind understanding how long a baby can stay awake/how much sleep they need. A few of the factors to consider when working with awake windows rather than routine, are…

• How long the nap was
• Time of day
• When the next nap will be
• When they ate
• How their night sleep was
• How long the previous nap was
• How much awake time they can handle

We consider all of this when creating our 6 month sleep schedule which takes away the need for you to extensively understand sleep in order to have a good sleeper.

Following a 6 months sleep schedule/routine will help you to keep your days predictable & flexible (within reason) + set your baby up for success: while we as adults often seek flexibility, for a lot of babies this is asking quite a lot, especially if this flexibility comes with an expense: over/ under tiredness throughout the day/ before bedtime means we add an extra challenge to your child’s sleep/ ability to learn more independent sleeping.

That said, we can work on sleep without a set routine, aiming to have the overall recommended amount of nap time fit within your child’s day, while still considering realistic awake times needed, especially before bed. 

At the end of the day it’s always a question of juggling your priorities and finding a compromise that works for you and your child: some babies are more likely to go with the flow than others. 

Is my 5 month old ready for the 6 month sleep schedule? (Signs they are ready for less day sleep) 

Awake & nap times based on age are always guidelines only: no hard & fast boundaries, simply set by your baby’s date of birth. The decrease of day sleep + increase of awake times is usually a gradual one, which some progress through faster, some need a little more time.  

Your 5 months old might be ready for the 6 month sleep schedule, if we can see a pattern of:

• Them needing more awake time before a nap (i.e. takes them a while to fall asleep)

• Midday nap consolidation: this is supported by a balance of awake time & morning nap length. As above: if settling to sleep initially is taking longer than expected, your baby wakes up after a short nap (possibly quite content), but consolidation is taking longer than we expect, your little one might be ready for nap lengths & awake times closer to what we see in a 6 months old sleep schedule a bit earlier ☺ 

• Same applies to bedtime & night wakes: if we feel that your LO (lack of) sleep drive is a contributing factor, we will look into their day sleep routine

Case study Carter, 6 months

Carter was a 6 months old boy, when the support started, who was born one day after his due date, weighing a healthy 3.5 kilos. His current weight was around 7.3 kilos when I started supporting him, which was great consistent weight gain.

Carter was mixed fed, having 5- 7 breastfeeds a day and a bottle of formula at night before bedtime. He had started on solids along the BLW philosophy. He recently had transferred to his cot for all sleeps, was practising his crawling skills and growing his first couple of teeth.

Mum Gen is a teacher and loves routine, while dad Matthew is a police officer working shifts and rather goes with the flow. Gen described herself as an attachment parent and she loves knowing that Carter relies on her for comfort. 

The challenges with sleep that Carter’s parents were experiencing were frequent but short naps, short awake periods (struggling to extend past 2 hours) and frequent night wakings (every 1-2 hours).

They wanted some support to teach Carter how to nap for longer, be able to have longer awake periods during the day and how to wake less at night.  

Changes put in place

• Carter used to have about 4 naps a day, each 30-90 minutes long, hands on re- settling/ dummy required, with awake times of about 1.5 hours between each nap ( mix of under tired/ over tired at end of day)

• we changed to 3 naps a day (S/L/S) with an awake time of 2.5 hours in between (increase sleep drive, avoid over tiredness at bedtime)

Based on our holistic approach at BSC we made sure that:

• Carter’s sleep environment was spot on

• The balance of day & night nutrition (milk & solids) age appropriate, realistic & aligned to our overall goals

• A settling method was chosen that suited the parents & Carter, making sure they felt comfortable being consistent with it 

Outcome 

• Awake and nap times were not followed on the dot, but well enough to set Carter’s body up for a better sleep, avoiding lack of sleep drive at bedtime/ extra cortisol due to over tiredness.  
• We immediately saw Carter being overall calmer/ more ready for sleep around settling times, easier to re-settling during the big middle of the day nap and night wakes reduced within a couple of nights to every 3-4 hours, rather than every 1-2 hours 
• In combination with a more structured approach on how to settle and re- settle Carter seemed to make enough of a difference for him to start settling easier for naps and needing less support to consolidate them- he was a quick learner with overall a quite contempt temperament
• Our main goals of having Carter sleep longer stretches at night (1 feed only) and have a longer awake period were accomplished within our 1 week support time. Longer naps were on their way, as Carter had started to connect sleep cycles more & more  independently.