Is my 11-month-old getting enough sleep?

The band to aim at is 12 to 15 hours a day, with 10 to 12 at night and 2 naps making up the rest. The most useful test isn't the total but the late afternoon: a baby who can hold a 3 to 4 hour wake window without falling apart is well rested. If yours is exhausted by mid-afternoon most days, look at nap timing first, then talk to your pediatrician.

My 11-month-old refuses the morning nap. Is it time for one nap?

Probably not yet. The 2-to-1 transition usually begins between 13 and 15 months, and refusal at 11 months is more often a timing issue. Try moving the first nap later, closer to the 4-hour end of the wake window, for a week or two. If your baby genuinely takes only one nap on a given day, an earlier bedtime that evening keeps the day from ending in overtiredness.

Can my baby have a pillow or blanket yet?

Not until 12 months. Until then the guidance is unchanged: back sleeping, firm flat mattress, and a crib with nothing loose in it — no pillows, comforters, bumpers or soft toys. A correctly sized sleep sack is the safe way to keep your baby warm. After the first birthday your pediatrician can advise on what is appropriate for your child.

Does learning to walk disrupt sleep?

Often, yes, and briefly. Large motor milestones tend to come with a week or two of extra night waking and crib practice sessions. It's a sign of progress rather than a problem with your routine. Give your baby plenty of chances to walk and to sit back down during the day, keep the pre-sleep half hour calm, and hold your usual response at night.

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Baby sleep schedule at 11 months: naps, wake windows and nap refusal

At 11 months your baby needs 12 to 15 hours of sleep a day, with 10 to 12 hours at night and 2 naps. Wake windows now reach 3 to 4 hours — the top of that range is a serious stretch of awake time, and it explains why the morning nap can suddenly feel optional.

Almost every parent of an 11-month-old goes through a week where the morning nap is refused outright and the transition to one nap seems to have arrived. It usually hasn't. Eleven months is early, and the refusal is more often about a wake window that needs stretching than about a nap that needs dropping.

12–15 h

Total sleep / 24 h

10–12 h

Night sleep

Naps per day

3 h–4 h

Wake window

First steps and a fast-growing vocabulary land around now, and both show up at bedtime. A baby who has just learned to walk will stand in the crib to practice, and one who has just found a word will use it in the dark. Extra physical activity during the day and a calm, unhurried last half hour before sleep are the two most useful levers you have.

If the morning nap is being refused, try pushing the first wake window closer to 4 hours before you conclude anything. A slightly later first nap often restores it and rebalances the afternoon. The 2-to-1 transition normally starts between 13 and 15 months, so at 11 months the working assumption should be that both naps still belong in the day.

A sample day

Below is one way an 11-month day can be arranged, on 2 naps with wake windows of 3 to 4 hours. Read it as one possible version of the day: if your baby resists the morning nap, shifting it later usually works better than removing it.

Time	What happens
7:00	Wake-up and first feed
10:00	Nap 1 · approx. 75 min
14:30	Nap 2 · approx. 90 min
19:30	Bedtime routine and lights out

A sample day to give you a rough idea — every baby is different. Adjust the times to your child's sleep cues, and talk to your pediatrician about anything that worries you.

Does this 11 months schedule match your day?

Lulla times the naps and tells you when the wake window is closing, so you do not have to keep count in your head.

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Tips for this age

Before deciding the morning nap is over, push the first wake window toward 4 hours for a week and see whether the nap comes back.
Cap the afternoon nap if it starts eating into bedtime, because a nap that ends late leaves too little time to build sleep pressure.
Lulla shows the wake window running in real time, which is the difference between a nap offered at the right moment and one offered 40 minutes too early.
Keep the crib empty until your baby turns one — pillows, blankets and soft toys can wait a few more weeks.
If your baby is waking hungry every night and daytime eating has changed, mention it at the 12-month check-up rather than adjusting feeds on your own.

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Common questions

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Sources

The figures on this page follow the guidance of these organizations. This information is educational and does not replace advice from your pediatrician.