Baby Sleep at 8 Months: Sleep Needs, Wake Windows & the 8-Month Regression

Babies go through a huge leap in development in month eight, and it shows up in their sleep in a big way.

In this article you will find out what changes to expect, why they happen, and how to handle all of it. You will also get an overview of the most important sleep guidelines (wake window length, a typical daily routine, how many naps, and more).

How Much Should an 8-Month-Old Sleep?

If your baby's sleep is not going well right now, the first thing to check is how much sleep they actually need. In my sleep consulting work, I often find that this is exactly where the problem sits. Babies are sleeping too little, and at the wrong times.

At 8 months old, your baby needs roughly 14 to 15 hours of sleep within 24 hours. That breaks down into about 10 to 12 hours of night sleep and 2 to 4 hours of daytime sleep.

(Please keep in mind that every baby is different. There will always be babies who need more or less sleep than the average.)

Those 2 to 4 hours of daytime sleep are spread across three or two naps.

Daily Routine and Wake Windows at 8 Months

Wake Windows for an 8-Month-Old

8-month-old babies need wake windows of about 2.5 to 3 hours between sleeps.

The wake window before the first nap is usually the shortest of the day, normally around 2 to 2.5 hours. The longest one comes at the end of the day, at about 2.5 to 3 hours before bedtime.

In general, try to keep your baby from getting overtired before any nap, because overtiredness can make falling asleep a lot harder.

What Is the Best Bedtime for an 8-Month-Old?

A good bedtime at this age falls 12 to 13 hours after your baby wakes up in the morning. So if your baby wakes at 7:00 AM, a bedtime between 7:00 and 8:00 PM would be a good fit.

And especially once your baby drops that third nap (which usually happens at this age), you will want to move bedtime earlier.

Sample Daily Routine for an 8-Month-Old

A typical day for an 8-month-old baby could look like this:

(The exact nap times and bedtime naturally vary from baby to baby. These are meant as a rough guide.)

The 8-Month Sleep Regression: What You Need to Know

At 8 months, most babies go through a sleep regression. A sudden decline in sleep, fussy stretches, cranky moods, and trouble falling asleep are typical signs of a phase like this.

It is set off by the enormous developmental leaps your child is going through right now. Your baby is developing new physical and mental skills, and that can strongly affect sleep, especially falling asleep. Most babies also switch from three naps to two around this age. That transition can really shake up your daily rhythm and your sleep situation. Separation anxiety can show up in a big way, too.

How Do You Get Through This Sleep Regression?

These tips can help you come through this phase well:

• Remember that something good is happening for your baby. They are developing and learning a whole lot of new skills. And this is a phase that only lasts a limited time. Sometimes we cannot take our baby's struggles away. But we can be there for them and carry them through it (yes, quite literally some days).
• Give your baby plenty of reassurance and closeness.
• If you can, do your best not to establish unwanted new sleep habits (falling asleep in your arms, at the breast, and so on). Undoing them later can be a long and exhausting process. (If that has already happened, take a look at "My Baby Only Falls Asleep While Nursing. What Can I Do?" with three methods explained.)

You can find more information on the sleep regression in month eight in a separate article.

Why Does My 8-Month-Old Have Sleep Problems?

Several different factors strongly affect your child's sleep during this time, and they are all worth keeping an eye on.

Stranger Anxiety and Separation Anxiety

In month eight, your baby learns a very special skill: they can now tell faces apart. As exciting as that change is, it brings out a very familiar behavior, namely stranger anxiety, sometimes called eight-month anxiety. Faces your little sweetheart does not know suddenly feel scary, and they react accordingly.

This phase can of course start a little earlier, too. And depending on their personality, babies handle it with very different intensity.

Almost always, our little ones are understandably very clingy and in need of closeness during this phase. It is not unusual for them to want to spend the whole day in Mom's or Dad's arms. They also notice quickly when you are no longer right nearby, which can lead to sudden crying and separation anxiety.

This new need for parental security makes complete sense with such a big developmental leap. It is normal behavior at this age and part of your child's development. That is definitely worth keeping in mind, because your baby's days are more exciting than usual right now, and that often results in restless nights. After all, all of those experiences and new skills have to be processed.

Teething

Some babies get their first little teeth as early as month four. Others are still waiting for their first tooth at 12 months. So when we say that teething tends to be a "hot topic" around month eight, we are talking about averages. Either way, it is worth expecting that your little one will be dealing with "new" teeth around this time.

And as so often, babies react to teething very differently. Some barely show any reaction at all, while others suffer real pain, and they let you know about it. Especially at night.

The Urge to Move

Your baby keeps developing physically, and the urge to move often gets much stronger right around month eight. Babies this age can already get around pretty well. Some are army crawling, others are crawling properly. Depending on their personality type, they start exploring the house, and sometimes testing just how baby-proof it really is. I still remember how, with our first child, we had to rearrange one thing after another in our home. The plants were soon off the floor, the cords were tucked safely behind the shelf, and so on. For some babies this is absolutely necessary. Others you can set (or lay) down next to their toys and pick up again in exactly the same spot half an hour later.

Either way, this exploring phase and this urge to move can make nights more challenging. Suddenly the crib needs to be explored as well, and lying still is not nearly as popular anymore.

The Nap Transition

The naps often change around month eight as well. This is exactly the time when babies frequently switch from three naps a day to two. This new sleep pattern often turns everyday life upside down, and it takes some work to find a new rhythm and adjust your own daily structure to it.

You can also read "Is Your Baby Not Sleeping During the Day? What You Can Do Now" for more on short naps.

Your Baby's Language

Another exciting new development for 8-month-olds, both physically and mentally, is language. Your baby is processing and sorting your words and your speech more and more. They are slowly starting to tell words apart, even if they do not understand the meaning yet. On top of that, some children start babbling their first syllables around this age.

And these new skills can affect sleep, too. Because when the brain is working overtime, sleeping can be hard.

How You Can Help Your 8-Month-Old Sleep Better

With all of the factors we have covered affecting baby sleep, it is no wonder that so many parents report poor sleep in month eight.

The effects are often rough. Your whole sleep routine is upside down, and your days may be more exhausting than they have been in a long time. (Keyword: sleep regression.)

All of a sudden your baby has a hard time falling asleep, wakes often at night, naps are far too short, and your little one generally seems less settled. They fuss a lot, want to be with Mom or Dad constantly, and frustration seems inevitable for everyone involved.

It can even happen that the sleep regression stretches into month nine or even month ten. (In general, though, you can expect it to last 3 to 4 weeks.)