9 hours at night enough sleep?

[DisneyGirl2387]

My DS is 10 months old! We have had a variety of sleep patterns. Used to sleep through the night, then 4 month sleep regression hit. Now we have good nights and bad nights.

On average DS is going to sleep at 8pm and is up for the day around 5am (give or take half an hour each way). He also doesn't sleep through and will have between 1 and 2 wake ups through the night. He has a 2 hr nap in the morning (usually) and a 45 min nap in the afternoon. He has slept through from 8pm until 5am on 2 nights nights the last 3 months.

I'm back at work (as a teacher only part time) and I'm tired. But my only worry is I'm not sure if 9 hours is enough. I read all these posts about babies sleeping 12 hrs 7 until 7pm and this has never happened. Does my son just need less sleep at night? First time mum and any help advice greatly appreciated. On my work days I have to do school work until late at night but on non work days I do go to bed early!

Hello, can’t offer any advice I’m afraid but my Daughter is the same age and only sleeps about 9 hours at night too. She’s always full of energy and health visitor etc never has any concerns. All babies are different and according to the NHS it’s actually quite uncommon to expect kids at this age to sleep for 12 hours uninterrupted. When I was stressed about it the health visitor told me to check NHS advice and just take everything else with a pinch of salt which is what I’m doing. Hope that’s helpful, if your baby is happy and healthy then they might not need as much sleep at night either x

Less than 12 hours sleep in a 24 hour period is on the low side for a 10 month old and he might not be getting enough total sleep but you’re the best judge of whether or not he’s over tired. But IMO not every child will do 12 hours in a block. My DC1 was the perfect 7-7 baby. DC2 sleeps through too but has never done more than 11 hours, his usual is more like 10.5. I’ve expected that it’s just his normal and we adjust bedtime accordingly to avoid the dreaded 5am wake ups.

I also have a DD who goes to bed when others would consider late, between 8-9.30 but she will sleep for about 11 hours give or take. That being said, she hasn't started nursery yet so can afford to sleep in until around 8am

Think it's all relative to each baby, some just don't need as much sleep as others. I think the total amount of daytime sleep needed is about 14 hours - does your son nap for long? Maybe he js closer to the "normal" amount of daytime sleep than you imagine.

Ignore me! Just re-read your post and saw about the naps.

Also a teacher here, currently on mat leave with DD2!

DD1 (now 2.10) was in bed 6-6 with two or three night feeds at that age. By the time I went back to work at 9 months she was down to two night feeds BUT then persistently woke at 4.30 to play for AGES. However, she barely napped - 2 x 28 minute naps per day, dropping to 1 x 28 minutes at 11 months. That amount of sleep is probably similar to what your little one gets and I can promise you it hasn’t affected DD adversely!

What saved my sanity was that 6pm bedtime; as a full time teacher I needed 7-10pm at least every night to keep up with workload. It didn’t and still doesn’t matter how early or late she goes to bed, she still wakes early (now consistently 6am thanks to Gro Clock).

Would an earlier night be possible if you’re worried about total amount of sleep.