The 1st month of having a newborn is filled with lots of snuggles and endless learning.

Sure, you can read all the books and Siri questions at all hours of the night – but that will lead to information overload and a lot of conflicting answers.

I know that new parent life is chaotic and nuts and beautiful and stressful and scary all at the same time, so to make things a little bit easier, I’ve outlined the most important and helpful information and created this blog post 1 Month Old: Sleep Details You Need To Know.

A newborn’s schedule is unpredictable; however, having somewhat of a routine will help to set you and baby up for success now and for the future months.

I’ve taken a few of my most frequently asked newborn questions and I’m spilling all the details here. ⬇

✨ At 1 month old, a baby should be getting about 16-20 hours of sleep within a 24-hour period. This includes overnight sleep and naps.

✨ Their wake windows range from approximately 45-75 minutes (wake windows are the time baby wakes up from a sleep until the time they go down for another sleep). During these first couple months, it’s normal for each wake window to basically consist of a diaper change, a feed, and 5 minutes of play and snuggles before baby gets sleepy and ready to go down for another nap.

✨ Naps at this age vary A LOT. Typically, a 1 month old will have anywhere from 4-8 naps in one day. These naps might last half hour, 1 hour, 2 hours, or even 3 hours. If you lucked out and have a great napper, just be sure to cap each nap at 3 hours so that you are still staying on top of their nutritional needs (at this age, babies usually need to feed every 2-3 hours).

FREEBIE ALERT : Download your free nap guide for ages 0-3 years so you’re prepared for each nap transition your little one will experience.

✨ Bedtime at this age can range from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. It’s great to get your 1 month old on a consistent schedule with an early-ish bedtime; but it can be really hard to do! Working on sleep-shaping and bedtime as a newborn will help those earlier bedtimes happen sooner.

✨ Here’s a sample sleep schedule for you to get an idea of what the day might look like. Keep in mind that all babies are different and the newborn stage is unpredictable. Use this as a flexible guide to help you gage wake windows and naps; you are not expected to follow the schedule to a T.

8:00 AM wake up

9:00 – 10:00 AM nap

11:00 – 12:30 PM nap

1:30 – 2:45 PM nap

4:00 – 5:30 PM nap

6:30 – 7:15 PM nap

8:15 PM bedtime

✨ To help set you little one up for sleep success, you can begin sleep-shaping until they are old enough to sleep train. Check out my Newborn Guide with Sleep-Shaping Solutions to start creating healthy sleep habits for your little one right away. Sleep-shaping is safe and great to implement right when you get home from the hospital.

✨ A few things I recommend for newborn sleep:

Swaddling – when you swaddle a baby, they feel comfortable and secure because it’s similar to the closeness they felt in the womb. The swaddle should be tight up top but loose enough around the hips and knees to allow for some movement. Always stop swaddling when your little one shows signs of rolling. Other recommendations are white noise, a dark room, and pacifiers (pacifiers actually have so many benefits).

Was this helpful? Share with your new mama friends!

Are you ready for better sleep? I begin my sleep packages as young as 12 weeks old. Schedule a free consultation call and let’s chat.

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