11 Month Old Sleep Schedule: Naps, Wake Windows & Sample Day

If you’re mapping out an 11 month old sleep schedule, you’ve probably got a baby who’s cruising confidently, maybe standing alone for a wobbly second, and testing out a word or two beyond “mama” and “dada.” Almost everything feels like it’s happening at once this month — new mobility, new sounds, new opinions — and that whirlwind of development is exactly why sleep can feel a little less predictable even though the 2-nap rhythm has usually been steady for a while. A solid schedule is what keeps overtiredness — the trigger behind almost every sleep problem — from creeping in while your baby is busy practicing new skills. Here’s a realistic hour-by-hour sample, how many naps to expect, wake windows, what’s really behind any rough patches this month, and how much sleep an 11 month old typically needs.

How much does an 11 month old sleep?

On average, an 11 month old sleeps around 12.5–14 hours per 24 hours: roughly 10–11 hours at night and about 2–3 hours during the day split across 2 naps. These are rough averages, not a prescription — plenty of healthy babies sleep a little more or a little less. What matters isn’t hitting an exact number, but that your baby wakes reasonably rested and doesn’t build up overtiredness across the day.

Wake windows at 11 months

The wake window is how long your baby can stay awake and content between sleeps. At 11 months it’s usually between 3.5 and 4.5 hours, with two nuances that shape the whole day:

• The first window of the morning is the shortest (often ~3.5 hours).
• The last window before bedtime is the longest (it can stretch toward 4.5 hours for some babies).

Use age as a starting point and sleepy cues as your real guide: rubbing eyes, going quiet or clingy, losing interest in toys, or getting fussier than usual. Start the wind-down at the first cues, not once your baby is already overtired — at this age a lot of babies are so absorbed in cruising, standing, and exploring that they push straight past their tired signals if you wait too long.

Age	Wake window	Naps/day	Total sleep ~24h
10 months	3–4 h	2	~13–14 h
11 months	3.5–4.5 h	2	~12.5–14 h
12 months	3.5–4.5 h	2	~12.5–14 h

How many naps does an 11 month old take

Almost all 11 month olds are on 2 naps — a morning nap and an early-afternoon nap. You may start noticing the morning nap getting a touch shorter this month, and that alone often makes parents wonder if a nap drop is near. In the vast majority of cases it isn’t yet.

The 2-nap pattern works best when:

• The morning nap doesn’t run so long that it steals from the afternoon nap.
• The afternoon nap ends by roughly 3:30–4:00 pm, so bedtime doesn’t drift too late.
• Short-nap days get an earlier bedtime to soak up the extra tiredness.

A shortening morning nap here and there is a normal early hint that the eventual one-nap transition is somewhere on the horizon — but it’s still usually 2–7 months away. The real transition typically doesn’t land until 14–18 months, and it looks like consistent morning-nap refusal for a week or two straight, not one shorter nap. Dropping to 1 nap this early almost always backfires into an overtired baby and harder nights. If the morning nap is wobbly, a small wake-window tweak usually settles it long before a nap drop would.

11 month old sleep schedule: hour-by-hour sample (2 naps)

Here’s a realistic 2-nap sample for a baby who wakes around 6:45. Adjust it to whenever yours wakes up — what matters are the windows, not the exact clock.

Time	What’s happening	Prior window
6:45	Wake + feed	—
9:45	Nap 1 (~1–1.25 h)	~3 h
13:45	Nap 2 (~1–1.25 h)	~3.5 h
19:00	Routine + bedtime	~4 h

And a short-nap-day version, for when naps come out brief and you need to protect the night:

Time	What’s happening	Prior window
6:45	Wake + feed	—
9:45	Nap 1 (~35–40 min)	~3 h
13:15	Nap 2 (~35–40 min)	~3 h
18:15	Routine + earlier bedtime	~3 h

Notes to make it actually work:

• On short-nap days, bring bedtime earlier (even 6:15 pm) — this is the single best defence against overtiredness.
• If the morning nap comes out short, cap the afternoon window rather than letting it drift too long, so bedtime doesn’t get pushed later than it needs to.
• At 11 months, three meals of solids a day alongside breast milk or formula is typical, with more family-style food and improving cup skills as the first birthday approaches.

What’s disrupting sleep at 11 months (it’s not a regression, it’s development)

Unlike the 4-month or 8–10-month bumps, 11 months doesn’t have a named “regression” — but plenty of families still hit a rough patch, almost always tied to a burst of development rather than the schedule itself:

• New mobility to practice: cruising confidently, standing alone for a second or two, maybe a first step — babies love to “practise” these in the cot instead of settling, and you may find yours upright at the rail at 4 am.
• Separation anxiety, still running high: your baby fully understands you exist even when you leave the room, which can make bedtime goodbyes and night wake-ups harder for a stretch. It’s a healthy attachment milestone, not a step backward.
• Language bursts: babbling strings of sounds, maybe a first intentional “mama” or “dada” — a lot of new activity for the brain to process before winding down.

What helps is not a schedule overhaul. Keep wake windows and the bedtime routine steady, give plenty of floor time during the day to practise standing and sitting back down, and offer calm, consistent reassurance at night without starting new habits you don’t want to keep long-term. Most rough patches like this ease within a couple of weeks.

What helps the schedule click into place

1. Wake windows by age, not a rigid clock

Overtiredness is the number-one amplifier of sleep problems: too much awake time floods the body with cortisol and makes settling harder — and at 11 months, with cruising and standing to practise, an overtired baby fights sleep even more. Lean on wake windows by age and your baby’s cues rather than a fixed time.

2. A short, predictable bedtime routine

A brief, repeatable wind-down is one of the best sleep tools there is. The NHS recommends a consistent routine — for example dim lights, a bath, a feed, and a quiet song — to signal to the body that sleep is coming. Keep the last 20–30 minutes screen-free. With separation anxiety running high, the predictability of the routine itself is often the most reassuring part for your baby.

3. Chances to fall asleep drowsy-but-awake

If your baby only falls asleep nursing or in your arms, they may need that same help when they wake between cycles at night. Giving them the chance to settle at the start of the night, putting them down drowsy but awake, helps them link cycles on their own. It’s gradual and gentle — it is not leaving them to cry.

4. A sleep environment that supports rest

A dark room, steady white noise, and a comfortable temperature (often 68–72 °F / 20–22 °C) make it easier to fall asleep and resettle, especially while your baby is testing out standing up in the cot at odd hours. A sleep sack (wearable blanket) is safer than loose blankets and keeps your baby warm even as they move around.

5. Safe sleep, always first

At 11 months your baby is moving constantly, so safe sleep still comes first. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends placing your baby on their back for every sleep, on a firm, flat surface, with no loose bedding, pillows, soft toys, or bumpers, and room-sharing without bed-sharing. Once your baby moves confidently on their own, it’s fine if they change position during sleep — but you always put them down on their back. If your baby pulls to stand in the cot and gets stuck, practise the “sit back down” skill during daytime play rather than adding anything to the cot, and make sure the mattress is set to its lowest position.

When the schedule “doesn’t fit” (and what to check)

If you’ve been trying a schedule for days and sleep is still broken, it’s usually one of these causes, not because the sample is wrong:

• Windows too long → overtiredness → short naps, night wakings, and early morning rising.
• Windows too short → your baby doesn’t have enough “sleep pressure” and resists or takes ages to fall asleep.
• A morning nap that runs too long → it borrows from the afternoon nap and the day unravels.
• A developmental leap (standing, cruising, separation anxiety) that temporarily disrupts sleep.
• A too-early nap drop — dropping to 1 nap before 14 months almost always backfires into overtiredness.

If you want the fuller picture, this guide on why won’t my baby sleep covers the most common causes step by step. For what’s coming developmentally this month, see the 11 month old milestones guide.

When to check with your pediatrician

Sleep ups and downs at this age are usually normal. But check in with your pediatrician if you notice persistent snoring or breathing pauses during sleep, poor weight gain or feeding difficulties, extreme daytime sleepiness, or anything that simply worries you. A sleep schedule is a support tool — it never replaces a clinical check.

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The bottom line

At 11 months, a good schedule rests on three pillars: wake windows of 3.5–4.5 hours, 2 solid naps, and a steady bedtime routine, all on a foundation of safe sleep. A shorter morning nap or a rough week doesn’t mean the one-nap transition has arrived — that’s still usually months away. Start with the sample above, protect an early bedtime on short-nap days, and remember that consistency, more than perfection, is what settles the nights.