How much should a 3-month-old sleep?

Thirteen to 16 hours over 24, which is about an hour less than a newborn needs. Roughly 9 to 10 hours fall at night and the rest is spread across 4 daytime naps. The drop is normal — your baby is awake and taking the world in for longer stretches. What matters is the daily total and how your baby seems between sleeps, not any single nap.

Why does my 3-month-old only nap for 30 minutes?

Because a sleep cycle at this age lasts roughly 30 to 45 minutes, and connecting one cycle to the next is a skill that is still developing. Catnaps are extremely common at 3 months and usually stretch out over the following months. In the meantime, a dark quiet room and a wake window that has not run past 105 minutes give the best chance of a longer nap. Four short naps still add up.

Can I start a bedtime routine at 3 months?

Yes, and it's a good time to. A short, fixed sequence — bath, pajamas, feed, song, lights out — becomes a reliable cue within a couple of weeks. Keep it under 30 minutes and end it in the room where your baby will sleep. You're not sleep training; you're giving a predictable signal, which is the part your baby's developing rhythm can actually use.

When should I stop swaddling?

As soon as your baby shows any sign of rolling — pushing up on their arms, turning onto their side, arching over — even if that happens before you feel ready. A swaddled baby who rolls onto their front cannot push back up, and that is the risk. Move to a sleeveless sleep sack, expect a few unsettled nights, and keep everything else about the routine identical. Your pediatrician can confirm readiness at the next visit.

← All agesSleep by age

Baby sleep schedule at 3 months: four naps, wake windows and routine

Three months is the first real turning point. The daily total drops to 13 to 16 hours, night sleep holds at 9 to 10 hours, and the daytime settles into 4 naps rather than a scattering of short ones. Wake windows now run 75 to 105 minutes, so your baby is awake for a meaningful chunk of the morning.

With four naps and longer awake stretches, a rough shape appears in the day for the first time. It's still a shape rather than a timetable — the naps drift, some run 30 minutes and some 90 — but you can finally hang a short bedtime routine on the end of it.

13–16 h

Total sleep / 24 h

9–10 h

Night sleep

Naps per day

75 min–105 min

Wake window

This is a good month to start a wind-down you can repeat anywhere: bath or wash, pajamas, a feed, a song or a short story, lights out. The order matters more than the content, because the sequence itself becomes the signal. Three or four steps is plenty. Done nightly, it does more for sleep at this age than any clock does, and it travels with you to the grandparents' house.

Short naps are the standard complaint at 3 months. Many babies wake at the 30 to 45 minute mark because that's roughly one sleep cycle, and linking cycles is a skill that develops over the following months. A dark room, a consistent pre-nap routine and a wake window that has not overshot 105 minutes give the best odds. If a nap stays short, shorten the next window slightly rather than pushing on.

A sample day

Here is one way a 3-month-old's day can fall, with 4 naps and wake windows of 75 to 105 minutes. Treat the times as a starting point, not a target: on a day when the first nap runs 25 minutes, everything after it moves earlier, and that is fine.

Time	What happens
7:00	Wake-up and first feed
8:30	Nap 1 · approx. 60 min
11:00	Nap 2 · approx. 60 min
13:45	Nap 3 · approx. 45 min
16:15	Nap 4 · approx. 30 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 3 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.

Download Lulla now Download on the App Store

Tips for this age

Stop swaddling at the first sign of rolling — if your baby is pushing up or turning onto their side, switch to a sleep sack with the arms free.
Darken the room for daytime naps too; at 3 months light is starting to influence melatonin, and a dark room helps the short cycles link.
Log the naps for a week in Lulla, because the pattern of which nap is reliably long and which is a catnap tells you where to put the routine.
Keep the crib bare and your baby on their back, even now that they are stronger and starting to move — nothing loose before 12 months.
Bring anything that unsettles you to the 4-month check-up: reflux, noisy breathing during sleep, or a baby who never seems rested.

Track your baby's sleep with Lulla

Sleep timer, wake windows and daily stats — free and ad-free.

Download Lulla now

Download on the App Store

Common questions

Keep reading

Sources

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