How much should a 4-month-old sleep?

Twelve to 15 hours a day: about 10 to 11 at night, with the rest across 3 to 4 naps. The regression doesn't change how much sleep your baby needs — it changes how many times they surface and how easily they get back down. If the 24-hour total stays roughly in range and your baby is growing and feeding well, the difficult phase is a matter of time.

What is the 4-month sleep regression?

It is the permanent reorganization of your baby's sleep. Newborn sleep gives way to cycles with distinct stages, like an adult's, and between those cycles there are brief wake-ups. A baby who needs help to fall asleep — rocking, feeding, motion — will ask for that help at each one. That's why a baby who slept well suddenly wakes repeatedly. It's maturation, not illness.

How long does the 4-month regression last?

The change in sleep architecture is permanent, but the disrupted phase is not. For most families the worst of it eases within two to six weeks, especially where routines stay steady and wake windows of 1.5 to 2 hours are kept sensible. If frequent night waking drags on much longer, or comes with other symptoms, ask your pediatrician to rule out causes such as reflux or an ear infection.

How many naps does a 4-month-old need?

Three or four. Four-nap days usually run with wake windows closer to 1.5 hours; three-nap days stretch toward 2. Both are normal at this age and many babies alternate depending on how the previous night went. Watch the last nap of the afternoon in particular: keeping it short and early protects the bedtime that follows it.

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Baby sleep schedule at 4 months: the 4-month regression, naps and wake windows

At 4 months your baby needs 12 to 15 hours of sleep a day. Night sleep grows to 10 to 11 hours — the longest yet — and the daytime settles into 3 to 4 naps. Wake windows widen again, to 90 to 120 minutes, which is 1.5 to 2 hours between sleeps.

This is also the month with a reputation. The 4-month sleep regression is not a step backward and not something you broke: it's your baby's sleep permanently reorganizing into adult-like cycles. Nights often get worse before they get better, and the babies who slept beautifully at 3 months are frequently the ones whose parents notice it most.

12–15 h

Total sleep / 24 h

10–11 h

Night sleep

3–4

Naps per day

90 min–2 h

Wake window

Around 4 months the architecture of sleep changes for good. Your baby stops sleeping in the newborn pattern and starts cycling through distinct sleep stages, with brief surfacings between cycles. If falling asleep currently requires being rocked, fed or held, your baby will ask for exactly that at every one of those surfacings. That's the regression: a developmental step forward with a temporary cost to your nights.

Because the change is permanent, there's nothing to wait out and nothing to fix — but there's something to work with. Keep the wake windows honest at 1.5 to 2 hours, hold the bedtime routine steady, and give your baby chances to go into the crib drowsy but awake when they are calm. No method is the correct one, and you don't have to pick one. Consistency shortens the noisy phase; perfection is not required.

A sample day

The sample day below assumes 4 naps, which is the common shape at this age; on 3-nap days the wake windows stretch toward the 2-hour end. Treat it as a guide rather than a target, especially during a rough regression week.

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
19:15	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 4 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

Hold the safe-sleep rules through the regression: back sleeping, firm flat mattress, and nothing loose in the crib before 12 months. Broken nights tempt improvisation, and this is where it costs the most.
Darken the room for naps and nights, because melatonin now responds to light and darkness helps your baby link the new sleep cycles.
Give one low-stakes chance a day to go down drowsy but awake, usually at the first nap, when your baby is least overtired.
A broken night is hard to reconstruct from memory, and logging sleeps in Lulla shows whether the wake window before the wake-up was too short or too long.
Do not launch other big changes now — no room move, no dropping a feed — and if the wakings come with fever, inconsolable crying or refusing to feed, call your pediatrician; the regression does not explain everything.

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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.