9 Month Old Sleep Schedule

Trying to figure out the best 9 month old sleep schedule for your little one can be daunting. Especially since there is a lot going on at 9 months. Between potential sleep regressions, and feeling like your baby is at an age where they shouldn’t be waking in the night anymore, there are a lot of pieces to iron out. 

 

In this blog post I’m going to talk about: 

 

How much sleep does my 9 month old need? 

 

What should my 9 month old’s sleep schedule be? 

 

Why does my 9 month old keep waking in the night?

 

Is there a sleep regression at 9 months? 

 

Let’s dive in and help you get your little one on the perfect 9 month old sleep schedule! (Hint: the perfect sleep schedule is not the same for every baby! But don’t worry, you’re in the right place! Read on to learn more!)

 

 

How much sleep does my 9 month old need? 

 

First of all, every baby has their own unique sleep needs. Yes, there are sleep averages and these can be super helpful, but the MOST important thing is that you learn to tune into your baby to determine what their optimal sleep needs are. 

 

The average sleep needs of a 9 month old are: 

 

Age Number of naps per day Ideal length of naps Awake time between naps Awake time before bed Average amount of daytime sleep  Average amount of nighttime sleep Average amount of TOTAL sleep 
9 months 2 60-90 min 2-3 hours 4 hours 3-4 hours 11-12 hours  14-15 hours

 

I recommend using these sleep averages as a starting point and then tweaking them to find what works best for your baby. Some babies have higher sleep needs and some have lower sleep needs. What matters most is that your baby goes to sleep relatively easily, wakes up happy, is cheerful (for the most part) during their wake windows, and is meeting their developmental milestones. 

 

9 month old asleep in crib |The Peaceful Sleeper

 

 

What should my 9 month old’s sleep schedule be? 

 

The truth is that the sleep schedule that your 9 month old SHOULD have is the one that works best for them. This comes back to the sleep averages piece; every baby is unique and as such the best thing we can do is find what works best for them. 

 

The sample sleep schedules below are helpful to have a place to start. I recommend you experiment and tweak wake windows as you work to determine your 9 month old’s ideal sleep schedule. 

 

9 month old on a solid 2 nap schedule: 

Time  Length of Nap
Wake Up 7:00am 
1st Nap 9:00am-10:30am 90 min 
2nd Nap 2:00pm – 3:30pm  90 min 
Bedtime  7:00pm 

Total sleep: 15 hours 

 

 

9 month old on a solid 2 nap schedule: 

Time  Length of Nap
Wake Up 6:00am 
1st Nap 8:00am-10:00am 120 min 
2nd Nap 2:00pm – 3:30pm  90 min 
Bedtime  7:00pm 

Total sleep: 14.5 hours 

 

 

9 month old schedule for 2 solid naps and a cat nap: 

Time  Length of Nap
Wake Up 6:30 am 
1st Nap 8:30am – 10:00 am 90 min
2nd Nap 12:00-1:00 pm  60 min
Cat Nap  3:30-4:00 pm 30 min 
Bedtime  7:30 pm

Total sleep: 14 hours 

 

 

9 month old schedule for low sleep needs baby: 

Time  Length of Nap
Wake Up 6:30 am 
1st Nap 9:00am-10:00am 60 min 
2nd Nap 1:30pm – 2:30pm 60 min 
Bedtime  7:00 pm 

Total sleep: 13.5 hours 

 

 

9 month old schedule for high sleep needs baby: 

Time  Length of Nap
Wake Up 7:30am 
1st Nap 9:30am-11:30am  120 min 
2nd Nap 2:00pm-4:00 pm  120 min 
Bedtime  7:30 pm 

Total Sleep: 16 hours

 

 

Why does my 9 month old keep waking in the night 

 

There are many different reasons why a 9 month old baby would wake in the night. If you can get to the why behind the wake up then you can choose strategies to address the wake up. 

 

Here are the main reasons why babies wake in the night:  

  • Hunger
  • Overtiredness
  • Habit
  • Inability to self soothe

 

Hunger: 

It is very typical for 9 month old babies to have one feeding in the night. It is not until close to 12 months that most babies drop this last feed.  If your baby has more than one feed/wake up, then there could be another reason why they are waking. Keep reading!

 

Overtiredness: 

When babies are overtired, they often wake more in the night- remember, sleep begets sleep! Overtiredness can look like being fussy as soon as they wake from a nap or early on into a wake window, fighting sleep, short naps, false starts, more night wakings and early morning wakings. If you suspect overtiredness, the best thing you can do is tweak their schedule to get them more sleep. Shorten wake windows, add in a cat nap before if needed and help your baby extend any short naps. 

 

Habit: 

If your 9 month old is waking more than once in the night for a feeding then it is more likely a habit and less likely they are actually needing those calories in the night. Of course, you should talk to your pediatrician to ensure they agree that your little one can work on dropping one or some of their night feeds. Before you work on dropping a night wakings, I highly recommend ensuring your baby has independent sleep initiation skills and can connect sleep cycles. I walk you through this whole process as well as how to drop night wakings AND give you several different approaches in my 4-24 month course

 

9 month old waking at night |The Peaceful Sleeper

 

Inability to self soothe: 

If your baby is waking in the night and doesn’t want to eat, they just need your support settling back to sleep, then you have the option of teaching them how to self-soothe and go back to sleep on their own. This is part of sleep learning. My 4-24 month sleep learning course teaches you 4 different approaches and how to tailor each approach to your baby. Or you can hop on the phone with one of our amazing sleep consultants and they will work collaboratively with you to create an individualized sleep learning plan. 

 

 

Is there a sleep regression at 9 months? 

 

When trying to figure out your 9 month old’s sleep schedule, it’s important to take into consideration that there is often a sleep regression around 8 months as well as 10 months. Since every baby is different, your baby could very well combine these two sleep regressions and have theirs around 9 months. 

 

With the 8-10 month sleep regressions, we often see a regression with naps. This can look like sudden short naps, or fighting naps. If your baby is still taking 3 naps a day then I would suggest making the drop to 2 naps a day. I have a whole blog post on how to do that here! 

 

If they are already on two naps and sleep is falling apart (either with naps or nighttime sleep) then the best thing you can do is stay consistent. Continue to offer time and space for sleep and find that balance between fostering independent sleep but also responding to their emotional needs. The goal is to get through the sleep regression without accidentally creating any new undesirable sleep habits 

 

Sleep regressions are totally normal and part of your baby’s development. It’s also normal to feel overwhelmed and a little stressed when they happen.  If you are struggling with a sleep regression and not sure the best way to handle it, we would love to help! We can hop on the phone for a 30 minute consult and help you make a plan to get sleep back on track as quickly as possible!

 

 

 

Recap on the 9 month old sleep schedule

 

As a baby’s sleep needs are ever-changing, it can be hard to keep up with what the best sleep schedule is. You don’t have to navigate this alone! We have so many different resources and support options to help you ensure you have the best 9 month old sleep schedule for YOUR little one!

 

My 4-24 month package includes a course on helping your baby learn independent sleep skills as well as a whole guide on how to navigate every sleep regression! I also talk about the sleep needs for every age and stage. 

 

If you prefer to work directly with a sleep consultant, we have lots of different support options, ranging from a 30 minute consultation to daily support for as long as you would like! Check out all of our consultation options here

 

 

 

Christine Lawler

Christine Lawler

MS, LMFT, Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant

Hi! I’m so glad you’re here! I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, practicing for over 13 years. I’ve set out to do ALL of the research and I created a method to optimize baby sleep that is tuned in, empowering and WORKS. There absolutely should be joy in motherhood, and I have learned that every baby CAN get better sleep!

Read more about my team here.

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