High Sleep Needs Baby vs Low Sleep Needs Baby: How to Tell the Difference

All these other babies are sleeping 12-13 hours overnight. Ahhhh. 

You’re left wondering: “why won’t MY baby sleep that long?!” or even worrying “am I doing something wrong!?”

 Enter… the low sleep needs baby!

As adults we only need 7-9 hours of sleep each night (also LOL at this, ‘cos you may not be getting that right now ‘cos #parenthood, BUT it is just temporary, I promise).  

Regardless, that is not the case with our babies. 

Some tiny newborn babies can need up to 20 hours of sleep per day (in a 24 hour time frame, including nights and naps). 

I know, it’s crazy. But it’s not true for all babies. 

Some babies are considered to have lower sleep needs. Being that they fall on the lower end of the sleep needs spectrum in comparison to others their age. 

For example, in my practice, most babies will sleep on average 11-12 hours per night (often split with a feed or 2 at first) plus naps. That is bang on average. 

A higher sleep needs baby can sleep from 12-13 hours per night plus longer naps than average (depending on their age). 

A baby with lower sleep needs may only sleep 10-11 hours max, and have shorter naps in the day.  

Here is a little chart showing the spectrum of sleep needs over a 24 hour period. This chart is organized by age. As you can see, the younger your baby is the more sleep they should be getting. 

Here is a real life “Low Sleep Needs” example: 

Amy, 9 months old, is a low sleep needs baby. She seems to only ever get 10-11 hours max of sleep overnight, and she sleeps about 2 hours in the day. This puts her at needing about 2-3 hours less sleep than the average 9 month old. 

So how do we tell if Amy has lower sleep needs, or if she’s just chronically sleep deprived. 

Well first of all, Amy is sleeping well overnight! She goes to bed around 7pm and sleeps all the way until 6am, sometimes with a night feed, sometimes all the way through. Amy also has 2 naps per day about 1 hour each. Amy wakes up happy in the mornings and after naps. She is gaining weight steadily, meeting milestones, and generally a happy little girlie. In terms of total sleep, she is getting between 12-13 hours of sleep per day. This is definitely on the lower end, but not concerning considering she is thriving. 

If Amy was not getting enough sleep she may be experiencing grumpiness without reason, consistent early morning wakings (before 6AM), short naps (under an hour) and regular major meltdowns.

Now here is a real life example of “high sleep needs baby:”

Archie, a high sleep needs baby, is also 9 months old. Archie regularly sleeps 12-13 hours per night (usually split with a night feed or 2). Often sleeping from 6pm to 7am. Archie also has 3-4 hours of daytime sleep split between 2 naps. Archie wakes up happy in the mornings and after naps. He is gaining weight steadily, meeting milestones, and generally a happy little boy. In terms of total sleep, he is getting between 14-16.5 hours of sleep per day. This is definitely on the higher end of the spectrum, but not concerning as he is thriving and doing well. 

To put it simply, a higher sleep needs baby may thrive with a little more sleep than average, and a lower needs baby may be doing great on the lower end or slightly less.

With that said, a lower sleep needs baby still needs to sleep more than an adult. This can be in your arms, or in their crib. But it doesn’t stop the fact that they need it. 

Our babies are growing and learning at full speed compared to us. To support growth, they require frequent milk feeds (either breastmilk or formula), and the addition of solid foods after 6 months old.

But it doesn’t stop there. Sleep is an integral part of growth. 

Without adequate sleep, there is no processing of what they’ve learned throughout the day. It is vital to our development and maintenance of health as humans. 

So let me just put this simply. ALL babies need lots of sleep. However, some do need more (or slightly less) than others. 

If you're dreading bedtime, naps, and you’re constantly exhausted, I can help you!

Hi, I’m Alice, certified sleep consultant, mum of 2 and owner of Cozy Baby Sleep. 

I’ve helped over 4500 families get better sleep with a lot less stress over the years, and I can help you too! 

Let me teach you how to help your baby sleep 10-12 hours overnight, and better yet, not using an extinction/ignore method. In fact, I’ll give you a few methods that YOU get to choose from, along with vital preparation tips that go hand in hand with sleeping longer stretches overnight. 

Whether you have a newborn, baby or a toddler, I have an affordable program to help you!

Just click your baby’s age below to get started right now:

• Newborn Sleep Course (and PDF Guide)
  0-3 months
• Baby Sleep Course (and PDF Downloads)  
  4-24 months
• Toddler Sleep Guide  
  2-4 years