There is more advice about baby sleep than almost any other parenting topic — and most of it contradicts the rest. If you've gone looking for a "sleep schedule week by week," you've probably found a dozen tidy timetables that all disagree, and a nagging worry that your baby is somehow doing it wrong.
Here's the honest version. Babies vary enormously, real sleep is messier than any chart, and most of what looks like a "sleep problem" is just normal development nobody warned you about. This is a rough map of what tends to happen at each age — not a rulebook to measure your baby against.
Newborn: 0–3 months
There is no body clock yet. A newborn doesn't know day from night, and their sleep is driven almost entirely by feeding, not by the hour on the clock. Expect short stretches — often two to four hours — around the clock, and a total that's high but broken into small pieces.
Two things worth knowing:
- You cannot "spoil" a newborn or create bad habits at this age. Holding, feeding to sleep, contact naps — none of it sets up a problem. Follow the baby.
- Wake windows are tiny. Many newborns can only stay comfortably awake for around 45–60 minutes before they need to sleep again. An overtired newborn is often harder to settle, not easier.
3–6 months: rhythms start to emerge
Somewhere in here, a pattern begins to appear — longer stretches at night for some babies, more predictable naps, the start of an actual day/night difference.
This is also where the famous "four-month regression" shows up. It's badly named. It isn't a backslide — it's a permanent maturing of how your baby sleeps, as they move into more adult-like sleep cycles. Sleep can get briefly worse while that change beds in. It passes.
Catnaps are common now. A baby who takes short 30–45 minute naps isn't broken; short cycles are normal at this age.
6–12 months: longer, but not linear
Night sleep often consolidates further, and naps usually settle into a rough shape — commonly a transition from three naps to two across this window. But it's rarely a straight line, because a lot else is happening:
- Separation anxiety peaks in the second half of the first year and can disrupt settling.
- Teething and illness interrupt sleep unpredictably.
- Big milestones — rolling, sitting, crawling, pulling to stand — often mean a baby who suddenly wants to practise at 2am.
A "good sleeper" who suddenly isn't hasn't regressed as a person. They've usually just hit one of these.
The myth worth letting go of
No honest guide can promise to make your baby "sleep through." Plenty of babies still wake overnight well into the first year, and for breastfed babies especially, overnight feeds can be normal and expected for months. Waking is not a sign you've done something wrong.
What you can do is understand your baby's stage, keep them safe while they sleep, and get real support when you're running on empty.
Where to get real help
If sleep is genuinely overwhelming, Australia has free, expert services:
- Tresillian and Karitane — free national parenting and sleep support, including phone lines and residential help.
- healthdirect (1800 022 222) — free 24-hour health advice.
- Your child health nurse through your local Maternal & Child Health service.
And always follow Red Nose safe-sleep guidance — back to sleep, on a firm flat surface, in their own safe sleep space in your room — regardless of age or "schedule."
The honest bottom line
You're not doing it wrong. You're doing it tired — and that's a different thing entirely. Your baby's sleep will change more times in the first year than you can count. Understanding the stage you're in beats chasing someone else's timetable every time.
We put the honest, age-by-age version in one calm read. The Newborn Sleep Guide covers what's normal at each stage, the safe-sleep non-negotiables, and a judgement-free look at settling approaches — no dogma, no fantasy timetable.
👉 Read The Newborn Sleep Guide — $9 — or get it inside The Complete MumVee Bundle — all 6 guides, $49, alongside our flagship What Nobody Tells You ($19).
General information only — not medical advice. If something feels wrong, call your child health nurse, GP, or the free national lines above.