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The sleep of a 6-month-old baby

Six months is the age when everyone starts asking whether they sleep through. The question is a trap, because nobody means the same thing by it.

In the research, "sleeping through" means six hours straight. Not twelve. On that definition, a majority of six-month-olds manage it at least one night in two — which also means a significant proportion do not, and those children are perfectly fine.

It is also the month when the rhythm simplifies. The late-afternoon nap starts to drop out, and three naps gradually become two.

Sleep per 24 h

12 – 15 h

Of which at night

10 – 12 h

Naps

2 – 3

Awake window

2 h 30 – 3 h

One cycle lasts

~ 60 min

Before putting down

~ 15 min

The key point at this age

The night feed: need or habit?

By around six months, most babies no longer need to eat at night nutritionally. Which does not mean they will stop asking: feeding is also a way of settling back to sleep, and the habit long outlives the need. Telling the two apart is not obvious, and it is exactly the sort of question for your GP rather than a forum — especially if weight gain is a topic.

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They fall asleep

Their night at 6 months, minute by minute

    The whole night, at a glance

    To send to your partner, the nanny or the grandparents.

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    The timer: when can I put them down?

    Start it the second they fall asleep in your arms.

    --:--before putting them down

    While you wait, keep them against you and try not to move. The countdown will tell you when their sleep is deep enough for the transfer.

    Keep this tab open. The timer stays accurate even if the screen turns off.

    Two naps, and the wakings return

    The rhythm simplifies — two well-established naps — but separation anxiety arrives, and with it a wave of night wakings that has nothing to do with sleep.

    • The move from three naps to two usually happens between six and nine months, and in fits and starts.
    • Around eight months they understand you exist even when they cannot see you: a real step forward — and one that wakes them.
    • Sitting or standing up in the cot at night is common: they are practising, even half-asleep.
    • Teething disrupts things, but rarely for more than a few nights in a row.

    The classic trap

    A baby who slept well and starts waking again at eight months has not "lost" what they learned. They are going through a developmental stage, and it settles.

    Falling asleep alone at this age

    ✓ Possible

    Falling asleep alone is established for many, but separation anxiety can set it back for a few weeks. That is not a loss of skill, it is a parenthesis.

    Put down awake, a child of this age usually takes 10 to 20 minutes to fall asleep. That squirming is normal.

    How much sleep they need, age by age

    The shaded band is the normal range over 24 hours. Hover to read an age range.

    0h4h8h12h16hbirth6 mo1 year18 mo2 years30 mo3 years
    Total sleep over 24 hOf which at night

    Hover over the curve to read an age range.

    The questions of this age

    How many hours does a six-month-old sleep?

    Between 12 and 15 hours out of 24, of which 10 to 12 at night, with two to three naps. The range is deliberately wide: two children of the same age can be two hours apart and both be within the norm.

    When do you move from 3 naps to 2?

    Most often between six and nine months, and in fits and starts. The reliable signal is that they refuse the late-afternoon nap consistently for one to two weeks. Two bad days are not enough to decide.

    My six-month-old still wakes three times a night — should I worry?

    No, it is common, and it says nothing about your child’s health. What it usually says is how they fall asleep at bedtime: a baby who needs you to tip into sleep will need you at every cycle end. You look at the 8 p.m. bedtime, not the 2 a.m. wakings.

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