A 12-month-old needs about 13 to 15 hours of total sleep per 24-hour period, including naps. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine places this age right at the boundary between two guideline ranges: 12 to 16 hours for infants 4 to 12 months, and 11 to 14 hours for children 1 to 2 years. In practice, most one-year-olds land somewhere in the middle, with roughly 10 to 12 hours at night and 2.5 to 3 hours spread across daytime naps.
Nighttime and Daytime Sleep Breakdown
At 12 months, most of your child’s sleep happens overnight, typically in a stretch of 10 to 12 hours. The remaining 2.5 to 3 hours come from naps during the day. Most one-year-olds still take two naps: a longer morning nap of about 2 to 3 hours and a shorter afternoon nap lasting around an hour. Some children start resisting the second nap around this age, but most aren’t truly ready to drop to one nap until closer to 14 or 15 months.
Wake windows, the stretches of time your child can comfortably stay awake between sleep periods, run about 3 to 4 hours at this age. A typical pattern looks like this: wake around 6:15 a.m., first nap about 3 hours later (around 9:15), second nap roughly 3 to 3.5 hours after the first nap ends (around 2:15), and bedtime 3.5 to 4 hours after the second nap. That puts bedtime in the 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. range for most families.
A Sample Daily Schedule
Every child’s rhythm is a little different, but here’s a realistic framework for a 12-month-old’s day:
- 6:15 a.m. Wake and morning feeding
- 7:30 a.m. Breakfast (solids)
- 9:15 to 10:45 a.m. Nap 1 (about 1.5 hours)
- 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Lunch
- 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. Nap 2 (about 1 to 1.25 hours)
- 5:00 p.m. Dinner
- 7:00 to 7:30 p.m. Bedtime
The key isn’t matching exact clock times. It’s watching those wake windows. If your child wakes earlier or later than 6:15, shift the whole schedule accordingly, keeping 3 to 4 hours between sleep periods.
Night Waking Is Still Common
If your 12-month-old still wakes at night, you’re in good company. A large birth cohort study found that 46% of 12-month-olds wake during the night. Boys were slightly more likely to wake than girls. Night waking at this age is not a sign of a sleep problem. It’s a normal pattern that many children gradually grow out of over the following months.
The 12-Month Sleep Regression
Right around the first birthday, many parents notice their previously good sleeper suddenly fighting naps, waking more at night, or taking much longer to fall asleep. This is the 12-month sleep regression, and several developmental shifts converge to cause it.
Physically, your child is likely pulling to stand, cruising along furniture, or starting to walk. That burst of motor development creates a kind of restlessness that makes it hard to settle down. Emotionally, separation anxiety often peaks around this age, so being placed alone in a crib can trigger more protest than it did a few weeks earlier. Teething pain adds another layer of disruption for many children.
The good news: sleep regressions at 12 months rarely last longer than a few weeks. Keeping your routines consistent during this stretch, same bedtime, same pre-sleep ritual, same sleep environment, helps your child move through it faster. This is not the time to drop a nap or make major schedule changes, even if your child is refusing the second nap. That resistance is usually temporary.
Sleep Environment at 12 Months
The AAP continues to recommend keeping the crib free of loose blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, and bumpers throughout infancy. At 12 months, many parents assume it’s safe to add a pillow or soft toy. The official guidance still advises against it. A firm mattress with a fitted sheet remains the safest setup. If you’re worried about warmth, a wearable blanket or sleep sack is a safer alternative to a loose blanket.
Signs Your Child Is Getting Enough Sleep
Total hours matter, but they’re not the only signal. A well-rested 12-month-old generally wakes in a good mood, can stay alert and engaged during wake windows without excessive fussiness, and falls asleep within about 15 to 20 minutes of being put down. If your child consistently falls asleep the moment they’re placed in the crib, that can actually indicate overtiredness, meaning they may need an earlier bedtime or longer naps.
On the other end, a child who fights sleep for 30 or more minutes at every nap and bedtime may not be tired enough yet. Stretching wake windows by 15 to 30 minutes can sometimes resolve this. Small adjustments tend to work better than big schedule overhauls, since children this age respond well to gradual shifts.