An 8-month-old needs 12 to 16 hours of total sleep per 24-hour period, including naps. That recommendation comes from guidelines endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics for infants ages 4 to 12 months. Most of that sleep happens at night, with the remainder split across two daytime naps.
Total Sleep and How It Breaks Down
At 8 months, aim for about 2.5 to 3.5 hours of daytime sleep divided between two naps, with the rest of the 12 to 16 hours happening overnight. A typical pattern might look like 10 to 12 hours of nighttime sleep plus two naps of roughly 1 to 1.5 hours each. No single nap should go longer than 2 hours, since an extra-long nap can push bedtime later or make the second nap difficult.
Wake Windows Between Naps
The stretches of awake time between sleep periods matter just as much as the sleep itself. At 8 months, most babies do well with 2.25 to 3.5 hours of awake time between sleeps. Earlier in the day, your baby may only last about 2.25 hours before the first nap. The final stretch before bedtime is usually the longest, closer to 2.75 to 3.5 hours.
If your baby is rubbing their eyes or getting fussy well before these windows close, they may be overtired from a short previous nap. If they’re fighting sleep and seem wide awake at nap time, the wake window may need to stretch a bit longer. These ranges shift week by week, so what worked at 7 months may need tweaking.
The 8-Month Sleep Regression
Around this age, many babies who previously slept well start waking more at night or resisting naps. This is commonly called the 8-month sleep regression, and it’s driven by a burst of developmental change happening all at once. Your baby may be learning to crawl, pull to stand, or sit independently. Their awareness of the world around them is expanding rapidly, and that can make it harder for their brain to wind down.
Separation anxiety often starts or intensifies around 8 months too. If your baby cries or becomes upset the moment you step away from the crib, that emotional development is likely the cause. Teething is another factor parents frequently blame for sleep disruption, though the evidence is more nuanced than you might expect. A longitudinal study using video monitoring found no significant differences in objective sleep quality between teething nights and non-teething nights, even though more than half of parents reported that teething disrupted sleep. That doesn’t mean your baby isn’t uncomfortable, but it suggests teething alone may not be the main reason for nighttime wake-ups.
Sleep regressions typically last two to four weeks. Keeping routines consistent through this stretch helps your baby settle back into their pattern once the developmental leap passes.
Nighttime Feedings at 8 Months
Many 8-month-olds no longer need to eat overnight, but it depends on how they’re fed and how they’re growing. Breastfed babies at this age may still take anywhere from zero to three nighttime feeds. Formula-fed babies generally need zero to one. Most formula-fed infants begin dropping night feeds naturally around this stage.
If your baby is eating solid foods during the day, gaining weight steadily, and your pediatrician is satisfied with their growth curve, overnight calories are probably no longer a nutritional necessity. That said, weaning night feeds works best when both you and your baby are ready for it. Rushing the process when a baby is in the middle of a sleep regression or teething discomfort can backfire.
Sleep Training at This Age
Eight months is well within the window for sleep training if your baby hasn’t learned to fall asleep independently yet. Most pediatric guidelines suggest babies are ready starting around 4 months and 14 pounds, so by 8 months the groundwork is there.
The approaches vary widely in how much crying they involve and how quickly they work. Methods where parents leave the room entirely tend to show results in three to four days. The graduated approach, where you check on your baby at increasing intervals, usually takes seven to ten days. Gentler methods, like sitting in a chair beside the crib and gradually moving it farther away each night, can take up to four weeks.
The most important factor isn’t which method you choose. It’s consistency. Your baby is learning a new expectation about what happens at bedtime, and switching approaches mid-course resets that learning. Pick a method that every caregiver in the household can commit to, and stick with it long enough to see results.
Crib Safety for Mobile Babies
By 8 months, your baby can likely roll in both directions and may be sitting up or pulling to stand. That changes what’s safe in and around the crib. If you have a mobile hanging over the crib, take it down once your baby can sit up. It becomes an entanglement risk at that point. Lower the crib mattress to its lowest setting once your baby can pull to stand, so climbing out becomes much harder.
The crib itself should have a firm, flat mattress with nothing else in it: no blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, or bumper pads. Even at 8 months, a bare crib remains the safest sleep environment.