Sleep & Growth Connection

Sleep and growth are linked. Much of the body’s growth hormone is released during deep sleep, which is one reason babies and children need so much of it. That does not mean extra sleep makes a baby grow faster, or that a few bad nights slow growth; it means regular, sufficient sleep is part of healthy growth.

How much sleep is typical? For newborns up to 3 months, 14 to 17 hours in 24 hours is the usual range (National Sleep Foundation). For babies 4 to 12 months, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 12 to 16 hours including naps, and for children 1 to 2 years, 11 to 14 hours. The AAP endorses these ranges. They are ranges, and plenty of healthy babies sit near either end.

Newborns sleep in short stretches around the clock because they need to feed every 2 to 3 hours. Longer night stretches usually appear somewhere between 3 and 6 months, though many babies keep waking at night well past 6 months.

Sleep often gets worse for a while around 4 months, 8 to 10 months and 12 months. Parents call these sleep regressions. They tend to line up with developmental changes such as rolling, crawling or standing and with growth spurts, and they usually pass within a few weeks.

Safe sleep, from the AAP’s 2022 recommendations: put your baby to sleep on their back for every sleep, on a firm, flat surface such as a crib or bassinet mattress with a fitted sheet. Keep pillows, blankets, bumpers and soft toys out of the sleep space. Share a room, not a bed, ideally for at least the first 6 months. Avoid inclined sleepers and letting a baby sleep in car seats or swings outside the car.

Talk to your pediatrician if your baby snores loudly most nights, has pauses in breathing, is very hard to wake, or is so sleepy that they miss feeds, especially in the first weeks.

If your baby is growing along their curve and reaching milestones, their sleep is very likely fine, even if it does not match the numbers above. Growthling shows each weight and length measurement on the WHO chart so you can see that curve over time.

Sources: American Academy of Sleep Medicine consensus statement on recommended sleep for children (2016, endorsed by the AAP); National Sleep Foundation sleep duration recommendations; AAP, “Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2022 Recommendations for Reducing Infant Deaths in the Sleep Environment.” This article is general information, not medical advice.