Home Baby Sleep 7 to 12 Months

Baby Sleep 7 to 12 Months

How much sleep does my 7 to 12 month old baby need?
How do I know it’s time for my baby to sleep?
An example of a 6 to 8 month old sleep routine
An example of a 9 to 12 month old sleep routine
A 6 to 12 month old bedtime routine
When my baby won't settle to sleep
Parental Presence (for babies over 6 months)
Baby Safety (SIDS Guidlines)
Baby Sleep FAQ's

How much sleep does my 7 to 12 month old baby need?

As your baby gets older, they will need less sleep. By the time they're about one year old, they will need around 11-14 hours of sleep every 24 hours. They will sleep for longer at night and have around 2 naps during the day.

If your baby is happy during wake periods during the day, they have had enough sleep.

How do I know it’s time for my baby to sleep?

Babies show ‘tired signs’ when they are getting tired and need sleep. These signs include grimacing, yawning, grizzling, frowning, sucking, staring, snuggling in, jerky movements, becoming over active, clenching fists, rubbing eyes, fussiness or crying.

Responding early to these tired signs prevents your baby becoming distressed and makes it easier to them to sleep.

An example of a 6 to 8 month old sleep routine

Night time sleep: By 6 months, the period of sustained night time sleep will have lengthened to 6 hours a night, twice a night. They will still wake briefly 1 - 3 times during these longer stretches and some babies may be able to self-settle back to sleep.

Daytime naps: 2 daytime naps (2-3 hours in total)

6-8 month old wake window: 2 to 3 hours or so.

Feeding: Every 4 hours.

An example of a 9 to 12 month old sleep routine

Night time sleep: By 12 months, the rate your baby sustains night-time sleep and self-settles steadily increases from 8 - 12 hours. That's the true meaning of sleeping through the night.

Daytime naps: 2 daytime naps (2-3 hours in total)

9 - 12 month old wake window: 3 - 4 hours or so.

Feeding: Every 4 hours. By 12 months, they should be eating at normal meal times plus snacks.

A 6 to 12 month old bedtime routine

A quiet soothing bedtime routine builds the foundation for a good sleep. It can help your baby fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

1

Give your baby a soothing and relaxing bath.
2

Give your baby a gentle massage with some baby oil.
3

Put your baby in their nappy and pyjamas.
4

Read stories or rhymes, sing songs and/or lullabies in a soft, low and quiet voice.
5

Talk quietly and cuddle your baby.
6

Put your baby on their back in the cot awake (calm/drowsy). Comfort your baby with gentle ‘ssshhh’ sounds, gentle rhythmic patting, rocking, or stroking.
7

As your baby calms or falls asleep, move away from the cot or leave the room. If your baby becomes distressed, return and comfort them before moving away or leaving the room again.

Some babies may need you to stay in the room until they are asleep

When my 7 to 12 month old baby won't settle to sleep

If your baby doesn't settle, you might need to try some other settling techniques such as Parental Presence.

Comfort settling

If your baby can't fall asleep on their own, use this technique to help.

1

Wrap your baby with their arms up on their chest so they can move them to their mouth if they need to.

Or use a sleeping bag with fitted armholes and no hood (following Red Nose safe baby sleeping bag guidelines.
2

Talk quietly and cuddle your baby to help them calm.
3

Put your baby on their back in the cot, awake and in a calm and drowsy state.
4

Comfort them with a gentle 'ssh' sound, rhythmic patting, rocking or stroking until they are calm or asleep.
5

As your baby calms or falls asleep, move away from their cot or leave the room.
6

If your baby starts to become distressed, return and comfort them using step 3 before moving away from their cot or leaving the room again.
7

You may have to repeat this several times before your baby is able to settle to sleep.
8
If your baby does not settle, pick them up and cuddle them until they're calm. Then either:
- re-attempt comfort settling
- use the soothing in arms settling method
- get your baby up and try again later
9

As your baby learns to settle, it will take less time to calm them.

Parental Presence (for babies over 6 months)

You may prefer this option if your baby has never been separated from you at sleep time.

1

Talk quietly and cuddle your baby to help them calm.
2

Put your baby on their back in the cot awake (calm/drowsy). Comfort your baby with gentle ‘ssshhh’ sounds, gentle rhythmic patting, rocking, or stroking.
3

Once your baby is calm, lie down or sit beside the cot within sight of your baby and pretend to be asleep.
4

If your baby remains awake, give a little cough or quietly say ‘ssshh time to sleep’ so your baby knows you're still in the room.
5

If your child becomes distressed, do the least amount to calm them. Start with step 3 but you may need to go through steps 1-3 again. Then lie or sit beside the cot.
6

You may have to repeat this several times before your child is able to remain calm and become drowsy or fall asleep.
7

Stay in the room until your child is asleep during the day and sleep in the same room as your child during the night.
8

Continue this for at least 1 week or until your child has 3 nights in a row of relatively uninterrupted sleep.
9

You can now begin to leave the room before your child is asleep.

If your baby is finding it difficult to settle, you could also try the Soothing in Arms settling technique in 3-6 month baby sleep.

Unfortunately, some days your baby will find it very difficult to settle. No matter what you try, it doesn't work. If you start to feel tired, frustrated, upset or anxious, it’s very likely that your baby will also remain upset and unsettled.

Some other things you could try include:

a cuddle or holding your baby close (this may include skin to-skin contact)
rhythmic movement and walking
using a pram or sling
soft music
a dummy
a warm bath and/or baby massage

Baby Safety (SIDS Guidelines)

Baby safe sleeping is very important.

Sleep baby on the back from birth, not on the tummy or side
Sleep baby with head and face uncovered

Baby Sleep FAQ's

Call Tresillian’s parent helpline 1300 272 736

Be persistent; keep trying at every sleep, even if it didn’t work the sleep before

Bring a routine into bedtimes

Talk to your baby about what is happening e.g.: it’s time for bed now, I can see you are sleepy, I am going to wrap you now, so you are nice and warm and can have a good sleep etc.

You may want to start with a cuddle and then transition to the cot, with some hands on patting or rocking, and verbal reassurance

Sing throughout the attempt

Respond to your baby if they become distressed and need your help to go to sleep

Consider coming for a stay in a Tresillian residential service, so we can to help you with developing all these new skills and practices.

Call Tresillian’s parent helpline 1300 272 736
Introduce an evening sleep routine of dinner, bath, milk feed, teeth cleaning, story and bed
Reduce evening household stimulation eg:TVs, screens, lighting
Be present - You may need to sit in their room with them, or hold their hand, cuddle to reassure and/or provide physical support while they go back to sleep
Communicate with your child. This is a really difficult developmental stage for children, where they may be experiencing separation anxiety, reassure them, and let them know that you are there, but it is time to go to sleep.
Look at their physical environment; make sure they aren’t getting cold, have a wet/dirty nappy, or are they eating enough during the day?
Consider coming for a stay in a Tresillian residential service, so we can to help you with developing all these new skills and practices.

It's very common for babies to “start" night waking more often at 6-7 months, due to them becoming more aware of when they come into their light sleep cycles.

When settling your baby, make sure they're wrapped or use a sleeping bag with fitted arm holes and no hood.

Try lots of reassurance

1) Talk quietly and cuddle your baby until calm

2) Put your baby on their back in the cot awake (drowsy)

3) Comfort your baby with gentle ‘ssshh’ sounds, gentle rhythmic patting, rocking or stroking until baby is calm or asleep.

As your baby calms, move away from the cot or leave the room but if your baby becomes or stays distressed return and comfort your baby using the steps 1-3.

This is also very common, when babies start to move around more or standing up in their cot, this can disturb their sleep, so they wake up more often. At this age babies understand your tone of voice, and you can guide them by gently saying things like "It’s time to lay down to go to sleep" and then showing or guiding them how to do that.

The early riser is a common concern and it can be challenging to change this. It often improves with age and as the day naps lessen. It helps to consider how your child settles to sleep and support them to learn self settling skills. Also this is a time of the morning when the basal body temperature is at its lowest so ensure they are warm enough. It can take time for children to sleep longer in the morning so set realistic goals and be consistent with self settling methods.

There are lots of variations in the sleep patterns of infants. No two babies are alike. For many babies waking once or twice during the night is normal. It does not mean you are a failure in anyway. Perhaps you could ask the mothers what they mean by ‘sleeping through the night’. You might find that they feed before midnight and again at around 4.00am to 5.00am.

No, Tresillian does not recommend or use controlled crying. Parents are encouraged to learn to identify their baby’s cues and state of wakefulness and recognise the intensity of the baby’s cry; this may include picking the baby up and cuddling and soothing baby, repositioning and patting baby or offering a feed or trying to settle at a later time.

Crying it out seems to be the new name to describe ‘controlled crying’ which was a popular teaching to sleep method used in the 1980's. But since then new research about infant mental health has shown that there are more gentler and effective ways to support good sleep behaviours. Tresillian uses an evidenced based method called responsive settling where we encourage parents to gently practice the skills for independent sleep with their baby by soothing baby if they get distressed. Many parents find this approach much easier to use and less stressful as baby does not have to cry for prolonged periods.

Call Tresillian’s parent helpline 1300 272 736
Make an appointment with your local child and family health nurse
Call a friend, neighbour, family member and ask them to come over and collect a BBQ chook and salad on the way, and bring their best settling cuddles!
Join a mother’s group for moral support and information on baby cues/communication

Importantly, If you are trying something and it isn’t working, try something else. Some suggestions might be:

Go for a walk outside with the baby in a carrier or pram
Sing a song that you find calming
Use background music to soften unexpected household noise
An embracing dance (and croon) with your baby
Remove all stimulation – lights, TV, screens, and do some regular “shushing” sounds…think steam train…”shush, shu, shu shush, shu, shu shush, shu, shu, shushhhhh”
Try a warm bath and massage
If you have someone else to help you (e.g partner), get in the bath with your baby, and when you are both relaxed, try a breastfeed in the bath. Note: this is a two person exercise getting the baby into and out of the bath!
Put the baby down in a safe place, like their cot, and remove yourself from the room and take 10 deep breaths – this might be the time you need to “phone a friend/partner” for physical help for self-care
Look at your baby and try to think about what they are trying to tell you – hungry, wet/dirty, needs a cuddle