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11 Month Old Sleep Schedule: Wake Windows, Naps & Night Sleep
If your 11 month old sleep schedule suddenly feels like it has gone completely off the rails, you are definitely not alone.
Eleven months is one of those ages where sleep can get a little weird. Your baby is becoming more mobile, more aware of when you leave the room, more opinionated about naps, and VERY interested in practicing all those exciting new skills.
The good news? Most 11 month olds still do beautifully with a pretty predictable two-nap schedule.
At this age, I typically start with wake windows of about 3 to 4 hours, two naps totaling around 2 to 3 hours, and roughly 11 to 12 hours of nighttime sleep. But remember, those are starting points, not rules. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that babies ages 4 to 12 months get 12 to 16 total hours of sleep in a 24-hour period, including naps.[1]
The goal is not to force your baby into someone else's perfect schedule. It's to find the rhythm that gives your baby enough sleep pressure to sleep well without becoming overtired.
Table of Contents
A sample 11 month old sleep schedule
Wake windows for an 11 month old
How many naps an 11 month old needs
Whether 11 months is too early for one nap
How much daytime sleep is enough
Bedtime and morning wake time
Sleeping through the night at 11 months
Why an 11 month old may wake crying
Milestones and the 11 month sleep regression
What Is a Good Sleep Schedule for an 11 Month Old?
Most 11 month olds do best with two naps and progressively longer wake windows throughout the day.
A really reasonable starting point might look like this:
7:00 a.m. — Wake for the day
10:00–11:15 a.m. — Nap 1
2:30–3:45 p.m. — Nap 2
7:30 p.m. — Bedtime
That gives you wake windows of approximately 3 hours, 3 hours 15 minutes, and 3 hours 45 minutes.
Please do not panic if your baby does not follow those exact times.
Some 11 month olds need a little more awake time. Some need less. Some will happily nap for 90 minutes twice a day, while others give you one solid nap and one 45-minute nap and call it good.
This is why I like using both wake windows and your baby's sleepy cues, rather than treating the clock like it is in charge of your household.
What Are the Best Wake Windows for an 11 Month Old?
For most 11 month olds, I would start with wake windows somewhere around 3 to 4 hours.
Think of wake windows as a troubleshooting tool, not a scientific formula.
A baby's first wake window is often the shortest. The final wake window before bedtime is usually the longest because we want enough sleep pressure built up to carry them into nighttime sleep.
You might start around:
First wake window: 3 hours
Second wake window: 3 to 3.5 hours
Before bedtime: 3.5 to 4 hours
Then watch what your baby tells you.
If they are consistently fighting a nap for 20 or 30 minutes, chatting in the crib, or taking a very short nap and waking happy, they may need a little more awake time before that sleep period.
On the other hand, if your baby is melting down before nap time, falling asleep the second you pick them up, waking upset from short naps, or suddenly having more nighttime wakings, overtiredness could be part of the equation.
If you recently transitioned from a younger schedule, our 10 month old sleep schedule can also help you see how sleep needs gradually shift as your baby approaches their first birthday.
How Many Naps Should an 11 Month Old Take?
Most 11 month olds still need two naps per day.
I would usually aim for roughly 2 to 3 hours of total daytime sleep, divided between those two naps.
That could look like:
Two 60-minute naps
One 90-minute nap and one 60-minute nap
Two 75-minute naps
One longer nap and one shorter catnap
There is no magical nap combination that every baby needs.
What matters more is what happens across the entire 24-hour day.
Is 11 Months Too Early for One Nap?
Usually, yes.
If your 11 month old suddenly refuses their second nap for four days, please don't immediately toss out the two-nap schedule.
Temporary nap refusal is extremely common at this age. Babies are busy learning new skills, experimenting with independence, and becoming much more aware of what is happening outside their crib.
One longitudinal study following more than 700 babies found that the average number of naps at 12 months was still about 1.9 naps per day.[4] In other words, two naps are still very normal around the first birthday.
Before moving to one nap, I would first ask:
Have we gradually stretched the wake windows?
Is the first nap happening too early?
Is the first nap so long that there isn't enough sleep pressure for nap two?
Is this happening consistently, or has it only been a few days?
Is bedtime becoming difficult too?
Are developmental changes or separation anxiety showing up?
If your baby really does seem ready, our guide on when to drop to one nap walks you through the signs I look for before making the switch.
I would much rather adjust a two-nap schedule first than transition an 11 month old too early and suddenly have an overtired baby waking at 4:52 a.m. ready to PARTY.
Is 2 Hours of Daytime Sleep Enough for an 11 Month Old?
Yes. For many 11 month olds, two hours of daytime sleep can be perfectly appropriate.
Remember that sleep needs exist on a spectrum.
The bigger question is whether your baby is getting enough total sleep across 24 hours. Babies between 4 and 12 months are generally recommended to get 12 to 16 hours of total sleep, including naps.[1]
So if your baby takes two hours of naps and sleeps 11 or 12 hours overnight, that may work beautifully.
Signs that your current amount of daytime sleep is working include:
Your baby wakes reasonably happy from naps.
Bedtime is going smoothly.
Your baby is not chronically melting down before sleep.
Nighttime sleep is fairly consolidated.
Morning wake time is reasonable for your family.
If your baby is getting two hours of daytime sleep but is waking repeatedly overnight, fighting bedtime, or starting the day exceptionally early, I would look at the entire schedule before simply adding more nap time.
What Time Should an 11 Month Old Go to Bed and Wake Up?
For many families, a bedtime somewhere around 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. works well, with morning wake time approximately 10 to 12 hours later.
A common rhythm is about 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., but your baby does not get a gold star for sleeping exactly twelve hours.
Some babies naturally give you an 11-hour night. If your baby sleeps from 7:30 p.m. until 6:30 a.m., takes good naps, and seems well rested, I wouldn't try to "fix" that simply because another baby's schedule looks different.
The schedule should fit your baby's sleep needs and your family's life.
If nap two ends early one day, bedtime may need to move earlier. If naps run a little later, bedtime may shift later too.
Think rhythm, not rigidity.
Should an 11 Month Old Be Sleeping Through the Night?
Many 11 month olds are capable of long stretches of nighttime sleep, especially once feeding, schedule, and independent sleep skills are well established.
But "sleeping through the night" does not necessarily mean your baby never wakes.
Humans naturally move through sleep cycles and partially wake between them. Research looking at infant sleep near the end of the first year shows quite a bit of individual variation, and nighttime waking can still occur at 12 months.[4]
The question I care about more is:
What happens when your baby wakes?
A baby who briefly moves around, fusses for a minute, finds a comfortable position, and falls back asleep is doing something very different from a baby who wakes five times every night and needs extensive help returning to sleep.
If night waking is becoming exhausting, start by looking at:
The daytime schedule
Wake windows
Nap length
Bedtime timing
How your baby falls asleep initially
Hunger or feeding needs
Teething or illness
Developmental changes
Separation anxiety
If you aren't sure which piece is creating the problem, this is exactly the kind of detective work we walk through inside The Peaceful Sleeper App, with age-specific sleep courses, live coaching, and support from baby through toddlerhood.
Why Is My 11 Month Old Waking Up Crying at Night?
An 11 month old suddenly waking up crying at night does not automatically mean something is wrong with their schedule.
This age is FULL of development.
As babies approach their first birthday, the CDC notes that many are working on skills such as pulling to stand, cruising along furniture, waving, understanding simple language, and looking for hidden objects.[2]
Their brains and bodies are busy.
Here are a few of the most common things I would investigate.
Separation Anxiety
Separation anxiety commonly develops during the second half of the first year and can cause babies to wake crying and actively look for a parent at night.[3]
Your baby may suddenly protest bedtime even though nothing about the routine has changed.
This does not mean you've created a bad habit or ruined independent sleep.
Stay warm and responsive while also being predictable. Our guide to sleep regressions and separation anxiety goes deeper into balancing reassurance with consistency.
New Developmental Skills
Has your baby recently learned to pull up in the crib?
Congratulations. You may now own a tiny person who wants to practice standing at 2:00 a.m.
Give your baby lots of opportunities during the day to practice whatever new skill they're obsessed with. If they can pull to stand but haven't figured out how to sit back down comfortably, practice that skill over and over during awake time.
Too Much or Too Little Sleep Pressure
This is where I start looking closely at the schedule.
If your baby isn't tired enough at bedtime, you might see:
Long periods awake during the night
Bedtime resistance
Happy crib parties
Early nap refusal
If your baby is overtired, you might see:
Crying at bedtime
Frequent night waking
Very early mornings
Short, upset naps
Sometimes a 15- or 30-minute wake-window adjustment makes a surprisingly big difference.
Teething or Illness
If waking is suddenly much more intense than usual, especially if your baby seems uncomfortable during the day too, don't assume everything is behavioral.
Teething, congestion, ear infections, or other illness can absolutely affect sleep.
When your gut says your baby seems physically uncomfortable or something feels different, talk with your pediatrician rather than trying to sleep-train your way through a medical problem.
Is There an 11 Month Sleep Regression?
There isn't a developmental switch that flips on your baby's 11-month birthday and creates an official sleep regression.
But sleep disruption around this age is very real.
The end of the first year combines several things that can affect sleep at once: increasing mobility, separation anxiety, changing sleep needs, nap resistance, and new cognitive and communication skills.
And then, right around the corner, you may run into what families commonly call the 12 month sleep regression.
My advice is to avoid changing everything at once.
Keep the bedtime routine predictable. Keep offering age-appropriate naps. Adjust wake windows thoughtfully. Give your baby lots of time to practice new skills during the day.
Then give changes enough time to actually tell you whether they're working.
One More 11 Month Sleep Safety Reminder
At 11 months, your baby is still under one year old, so the American Academy of Pediatrics' infant safe-sleep recommendations still apply.[5]
Continue to:
Place your baby on their back at the beginning of each sleep.
Use a firm, flat sleep surface designed for infant sleep.
Keep pillows, loose blankets, stuffed animals, bumpers, and other soft objects out of the crib.
Let a baby who can independently roll both directions choose their own sleep position after being placed down on their back.
Your very mobile almost-one-year-old may look incredibly toddler-ish all of a sudden, but we still want to follow infant safe-sleep guidelines until that first birthday.
Finding the Right 11 Month Old Sleep Schedule
A solid 11 month old sleep schedule usually doesn't need to be complicated.
Start with two naps, approximately 3- to 4-hour wake windows, around 2 to 3 hours of daytime sleep, and a consistent bedtime.
Then watch your baby.
If nights suddenly get messy, resist the temptation to immediately drop a nap, dramatically stretch every wake window, or overhaul your entire routine. Look at the whole picture first.
At this age especially, developmental changes and separation anxiety can temporarily shake up a schedule that was working beautifully just last week.
And if you're looking at your baby's sleep thinking, “Okay Chrissy, but WHICH part am I supposed to change?” that's exactly why we created The Peaceful Sleeper App.
Inside the app, you'll get sleep support that grows with your child, including our sleep courses, weekly live coaching, community support, and resources for babies through toddlers.
You don't need a Pinterest-perfect schedule.
You just need one that works for your baby and your family.
Sources & Footnotes
American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Pediatric Sleep Duration Recommendations — Recommends 12 to 16 total hours of sleep per 24 hours, including naps, for infants ages 4 to 12 months.
CDC: Milestones by 1 Year — Current developmental milestones and sleep guidance for babies approaching their first birthday.
American Academy of Pediatrics: Separation Anxiety & Sleeping Trouble in Young Children — Explains how separation anxiety during the second half of the first year can temporarily disrupt nighttime sleep.
Longitudinal Study of Sleep Behavior in Normal Infants During the First Year of Life — Study of more than 700 infants showing substantial individual variation in sleep and an average of approximately two daytime naps at 12 months.
American Academy of Pediatrics: How to Keep Your Sleeping Baby Safe — Current AAP infant safe-sleep recommendations through the first year.
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