Children need roughly this much sleep per 24 hours, naps included: newborns 14 to 17 hours, one- to two-year-olds 11 to 14, three- to five-year-olds 10 to 13, and school-age children 9 to 12. What matters is not hitting the hours exactly but that the child falls asleep within twenty minutes, sleeps through and wakes refreshed without needing to be woken.
Tuesday evening in Vasastan. A two-year-old fell asleep in the pushchair on the way home from förskola (municipal preschool, from age one) at a quarter past five, slept for twenty-five minutes, and at half past eight is still awake and full of energy. His seven-year-old big sister went to bed at eight and is asleep. Same family, same evening, two completely different sleep needs. Here is how it fits together, and how to work out the times that suit you.
How much sleep do children need?
The ranges below are wide, and that is intentional. Children differ, and a child at the bottom of the range is just as healthy as one at the top. The figures are per 24 hours, naps included.
| Age | Sleep per 24 hours | Daytime naps |
|---|---|---|
| Newborn, 0 to 3 months | 14 to 17 hours | Many short stretches, no rhythm yet |
| 4 to 11 months | 12 to 16 hours | 2 to 3 naps, usually morning, lunchtime and sometimes late afternoon |
| 1 to 2 years | 11 to 14 hours | 1 to 2 naps, becoming one nap at around 15 to 18 months |
| 3 to 5 years | 10 to 13 hours | One nap that disappears some time between two and a half and four |
| 6 to 12 years | 9 to 12 hours | None |
Count backwards from wake-up time
Bedtime is not a time you choose, it is a consequence of when the child has to get up. Start from the morning: if the child has to be up at half past six to get to förskola in time, and needs eleven hours, they need to be asleep by half past seven. That means the bedtime routine has to start by seven at the latest, and dinner has to be on the table by half past five.
| Child is woken | Needs | Asleep by | Routine starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06:30 | 12 hours (two-year-old with no nap) | 18:30 | 17:45 |
| 06:30 | 11 hours (four-year-old) | 19:30 | 18:45 |
| 07:00 | 10.5 hours (seven-year-old) | 20:30 | 19:45 |
| 07:00 | 10 hours (ten-year-old) | 21:00 | 20:15 |
This is where it tends to go wrong in Stockholm families. Pick-up at a quarter past five, home at half past, dinner at six, and then it is seven before anyone has even thought about a bath. The child falls asleep at half past eight and is woken at half past six: ten hours for a three-year-old who needs twelve. You do not see it in a day. You see it in November, as a child who cries about everything at around four o'clock.
Daytime naps: how many and how long
Daytime sleep is what shifts most during the first years. Babies sleep when they are tired, whatever the time. At around four to six months a rhythm of two or three naps emerges. Some time between 15 and 18 months most children move to one nap after lunch, and that nap in turn disappears between two and a half and four years.
- Awake time between naps is a better measure than the clock for babies: roughly one to two hours at four months, two to three hours at eight months, three to four hours at one year
- A nap that falls too late pushes the whole evening back. A nap after three o'clock for a two-year-old makes for a late evening
- A nap that is too long can cause trouble too. Many two-year-olds do best on one to one and a half hours, and need waking
- When the nap goes the evening needs to move half an hour or more earlier for a few weeks. We have a separate guide on When do children stop napping? Signs, age and how to make the transition
Signs that your child is getting too little sleep
- Falls asleep within minutes in the car, the pushchair or on the sofa
- Has to be woken every morning, and is grumpy for half an hour afterwards
- Whining, outbursts or tears at roughly the same time every afternoon
- Hyperactivity in the evening: the child gets wound up, not tired, when overtired
- Trouble falling asleep at night even though it is late, for the same reason
- More infections than usual, and trouble concentrating for school-age children
Overtiredness often looks like too much energy, not too little. That fools many parents into putting the child to bed later, when it actually needs to be earlier. Try a bedtime half an hour earlier for a week before you draw any conclusions.
Two sample schedules
Two-year-old with one nap
| Time | What |
|---|---|
| 06:45 | Wakes |
| 12:30 to 14:00 | Nap, woken if it runs over |
| 17:30 | Dinner |
| 18:15 | Bath or a wash, pyjamas |
| 18:45 | Book in bed |
| 19:00 | Lights out |
Seven-year-old with no nap
| Time | What |
|---|---|
| 07:00 | Wakes |
| 17:30 | Dinner |
| 19:00 | Screens off |
| 19:30 | Shower, teeth |
| 19:50 | Reading, own book or read aloud |
| 20:15 | Lights out |
Schedules are a tool, not a rule. What should stay the same every day is the order and the approximate times. Saturday can be an hour later. If Monday is hard, the weekend was too late.
When something is not right
A child who is well outside the ranges, who snores or has pauses in breathing at night, who wakes screaming several times every night for weeks, or who is tired all day despite many hours of sleep, is worth raising with BVC (the child health clinic every family is enrolled in) or your vårdcentral (local health centre). We also have a guide on Laboured breathing while your child sleeps. But in most families it is not about illness, it is about an evening that is an hour too late, and that can be changed in a week.
How we do it with our families
Doaa looks after two siblings in Sundbyberg, one aged two and one aged five, three afternoons a week. The two-year-old happily falls asleep in the pushchair on the way home at five, and that ruins the evening for the whole family. So Doaa lets him walk the last stretch, or carries him, and keeps him awake with songs until they are home. She has dinner ready by half past five, because the parents get in at a quarter to six and want to do the bath themselves. The note says when the two-year-old napped at förskola and for how long, because that decides whether he goes to bed at half past six or seven.
This text is general information and does not replace advice from BVC, your vårdcentral or 1177 (the national healthcare helpline). If you are worried about your child, call 1177. In an emergency, call 112.
Would you like a nanny who knows your child, knows how things usually are and notices when something is different? Book a free first meeting with the nanny in your home.
Read more: Bedtime routine for children · Children who wake up too early · When do children stop napping? Signs, age and how to make the transition · Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my child is getting too little sleep?
The clearest signs are that the child falls asleep as soon as they are still, for example in the car or the pushchair, that they are impossible to wake in the morning, and that they get whiny or have outbursts at the same time every afternoon. A well-rested child wakes by themselves and copes with the afternoon.
Can a child sleep too much?
Rarely. Children who are allowed to sleep freely sleep roughly what they need. A child who sleeps considerably more than the range for their age, and is still tired and listless during the day, may have something else going on, such as an infection or disturbed night sleep from snoring. Ask BVC or 1177.
When should children stop napping?
Most stop some time between two and a half and four years. The sign is that the child does not fall asleep at nap time, or that the evening gets late and difficult on the days they have napped. The transition takes a few weeks, and during it the evening needs to move earlier.
Does sleep in the pushchair or car count?
Yes, sleep is sleep. But unfortunately a short nap in the car at five o'clock counts too, and it can ruin an entire evening. Try to put the daytime nap early in the day, and rather wake the child after twenty minutes in the car than let them sleep an hour at around five.