Six months is a lovely age, and a busy one. Your baby is rolling, babbling, maybe starting solids, and their sleep is changing too. Parents often ask me what their six-month-old should be doing. Here's what's typical, and why your baby might not match it exactly.
How much sleep does a 6-month-old need?
Most babies between four and twelve months need somewhere between 12 and 16 hours of sleep in 24 hours, including naps. At six months, that usually looks like:
- Night sleep: around 11 to 12 hours, often with one wake-up
- Day sleep: around 2.5 to 3.5 hours, spread over two or three naps
That's a wide range, and it's meant to be. Some babies are naturally lighter sleepers than others. If your baby is happy, feeding well and growing, they're probably getting what they need.
Wake windows at six months
A wake window is the time your baby is awake between one sleep and the next. At six months, most babies manage roughly two to three hours. The first stretch of the day is usually the shortest, and the one before bed should always be the longest.
Wake windows are a very basic starting point, and two babies of the same age could need very different amounts of awake time. Your baby is far more likely to be undertired than overtired. (See my article "The myth of overtiredness" for more on that.)
How many naps?
At six months, most babies will be on between two and three naps. By eight months, your baby should be ready for two.
Signs your baby might be ready for two naps:
- They regularly refuse the third nap, or take ages to settle for it
- The last nap is pushing bedtime later and later
- Early morning waking has crept in
Nap transitions don't need to be too complicated. Expect some protest at the longer wake times from your little one. After all, babies don't tend to like change. Just because your baby seems a little grumpy doesn't mean you need to put them down straight away. They will adjust.
If you'd like to see what a typical day looks like at each age, my free nap cheat sheet has a sample day for every stage.
Bedtime
Most six-month-olds do well with a bedtime between 6:30pm and 8:00pm. The "right" bedtime for your baby will depend on how much sleep they need over a 24-hour period, and how much of it they have taken during the day. Babies love predictability, so keeping your bedtime routine the same every night helps your baby know that sleep is coming.
Is it normal for my 6-month-old to wake at night?
Yes. Lots of six-month-olds still wake once or twice, and many still need a night feed. Every baby is different, so if you're not sure whether your baby still needs to feed at night, your health visitor or GP is the best person to ask.
Frequent waking can also come from things that have nothing to do with hunger: new skills like rolling and sitting, teething, illness, changes in routine or a big developmental leap. These phases usually pass.
What's worth looking at is when waking has become a pattern that isn't passing, and the whole family is running on empty.
Safe sleep at six months
Whatever your routine looks like, the safe sleep basics stay the same:
- Always put your baby down on their back for every sleep, day and night
- Use a firm, flat, waterproof mattress in a clear cot, with no pillows, bumpers or soft toys
- Keep the room at a comfortable temperature, ideally 16 to 20°C
- Once your baby can roll both ways on their own, you don't need to keep turning them onto their back, but still put them down on their back
You can read the full guidance from The Lullaby Trust in the UK and the American Academy of Pediatrics in the US.
When the numbers don't add up
Schedules and wake windows are a guide, not a rulebook. If you've tried adjusting naps and bedtime and your baby is still waking a lot, catnapping or fighting every sleep, it's usually a sign that something more individual is going on: how your baby falls asleep, their temperament, their feeds or their environment.
That's exactly what I look at when I work with a family. Every plan I write is built around your baby, not a one-size-fits-all schedule.
If that sounds like your house right now, book a free 15-minute call. Tell me what's going on and I'll tell you honestly whether I can help.