Infant sleep statistics cover more than hours asleep. Across U.S., Japanese, Singaporean and French studies, measures include duration, bedtime regularity, night waking, sleep surfaces, soft bedding, feeding patterns and associations with growth.
Definitions and populations differ, so each estimate below keeps its age range, geography and measurement period visible.
Key Infant Sleep Statistics
The most useful headline figures span sleep duration, routines, safety practices and longitudinal patterns:
- In the United States during 2016–2018, 40.3% of infants aged 4–11 months had short sleep, defined as less than 12 hours in 24 hours.
- In the United States during 2016–2018, 43.5% of infants aged 4–11 months had a regular bedtime, based on parent report.
- In the United States in 2016, 78.0% of mothers usually placed infants on their backs to sleep in the 29-state PRAMS analysis.
- In the United States in 2016, 74.4% of mothers usually or often used a separate sleep surface for their infants.
- In the United States in 2016, 57.1% of mothers reported room-sharing with their infants.
- In the United States in 2016, 31.8% reported that infants always or often slept separately on an approved sleep surface.
- In the United States in 2016, 26.3% reported that infants always slept separately on an approved sleep surface.
- In the United States in 2016, 42.4% of mothers reported no soft bedding in the infant sleep environment.
- In the United States in 2016, 50.5% reported blankets in the infant sleep environment.
- In the United States from 1993 to 2010, routine bed sharing increased from 6.5% to 13.5% in the National Infant Sleep Position Study.
- In the United States from 1993 to 2010, soft-bedding use declined from 85.9% to 54.7% in that study series.
- In Singapore, 31% of children followed a long-consistent night-sleep trajectory from infancy to 54 months in a trajectory subset.
- In France, 31.6% of children were classified as good sleepers from age 1 to 5.5 years in the ELFE cohort.
- In Japan at age 1, 8.8% of infants exclusively breastfed for six months had short sleep under that cohort’s study-specific definition.
- In a U.S. actigraphy cohort followed during the first six months, each one-hour increase in nighttime sleep was associated with 26% lower odds of overweight from month 1 to month 6.
Contents
- Infant Sleep Duration Statistics and Short-Sleep Prevalence
- Infant Sleep Trajectories, Night Waking and Sleep Problems
- Safe Infant Sleep Position and Sleep-Surface Statistics
- Infant Sleep Environment, Bed Sharing and Soft-Bedding Trends
- Infant Sleep Statistics by Feeding, Demographics and Outcomes
Infant Sleep Duration Statistics and Short-Sleep Prevalence
The CDC’s analysis of the 2016–2018 National Survey of Children’s Health defined short sleep for U.S. infants aged 4–11 months as less than 12 hours in 24 hours. The estimate was 40.3%, based on weighted parent reports of noninstitutionalized children; it is an age-specific threshold, not a clinical diagnosis. CDC, “Short Sleep Duration Among Infants, Children, and Adolescents Aged 4 Months–17 Years — United States, 2016–2018”
| Population, United States | Period | Short sleep | Definition or note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infants aged 4–11 months | 2016–2018 | 40.3% | Less than 12 hours per 24 hours |
| Male infants aged 4–11 months | 2016–2018 | 40.6% | Parent-reported weighted estimate |
| Female infants aged 4–11 months | 2016–2018 | 39.9% | Parent-reported weighted estimate |
| Children aged 1–2 years | 2016–2018 | 33.3% | Less than 11 hours; different threshold |
The same survey found 43.5% of U.S. infants aged 4–11 months had a regular bedtime, meaning they always went to bed at approximately the same weeknight time by parent report. Across the broader 4-month-to-17-year population, short sleep was 27.5% among children with a regular bedtime and 38.6% among those without one, an association that does not establish that bedtime regularity caused longer sleep.
Other broad comparisons show why population definitions matter. Short sleep affected 34.9% of U.S. children aged 4 months–17 years overall, 50.8% of non-Hispanic Black children versus 28.8% of non-Hispanic White children, and 38.3% of children with special health care needs versus 34.1% without special needs.
These figures are not infant-specific, and the racial categories are survey classifications rather than biological explanations.
Infant Sleep Trajectories, Night Waking and Sleep Problems
Longitudinal studies describe changing patterns rather than one universal infant sleep average. In Singapore’s GUSTO cohort, researchers recruited 1,247 pregnant women in 2009–2010 and analyzed 901 children for the broader study, while the trajectory subset included 356 children for night sleep, 347 for day sleep and 345 for total sleep through 54 months. PubMed, “Variations in longitudinal sleep duration trajectories from infancy to early childhood”
| Singapore GUSTO trajectory | Night sleep | Day sleep | Total sleep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long-consistent | 31% | 20% | 26% |
| Moderate-consistent | 41% | 34% | 28% |
| Short-variable | 28% | — | 27% |
| Long-variable | — | 21% | 19% |
| Short-consistent | — | 25% | — |
The trajectory percentages are latent model-derived groups from caregiver questionnaires. They should not be read as the prevalence of a fixed nightly duration or as universal clinical categories.
A French ELFE cohort of 9,273 children modeled sleep from age 1 to 5.5 years. The groups included 31.6% good sleepers, 31.0% long sleepers, 10.3% good sleepers with a sleep-onset-difficulty peak at age 3.5 years, 9.6% with improving night waking and sleep-onset difficulty, and 17.5% with persistent night waking and sleep-onset difficulty. PubMed, “Longitudinal sleep multi-trajectories from age 1 to 5.5 years and their early correlates”
These labels combine duration, night waking and sleep-onset difficulty. “Persistent” describes high modeled values across the observation period, not a diagnosis, and “improving” is not evidence of an intervention effect.
Safe Infant Sleep Position and Sleep-Surface Statistics
The 2016 U.S. PRAMS analysis covered births in 29 states representing 51% of U.S. births, with infants a mean age of 4.1 months. Maternal reports found 78.0% usually placed infants on their backs, 74.4% usually or often used a separate sleep surface, and 57.1% reported room-sharing. CDC-hosted Pediatrics manuscript, “Prevalence and Factors Associated With Safe Infant Sleep Practices”
- 41.1% reported both room-sharing and always using a separate sleep surface.
- 31.8% reported infants always or often slept separately on an approved surface.
- 26.3% reported infants always slept separately on an approved surface.
- 87.8% reported usual sleep in a crib, bassinet or pack-and-play, while 34.9% used those as the sole usual sleep surfaces.
- 50.7% reported an infant car seat or swing as a usual sleep surface, 30.9% a twin or larger bed, and 9.0% a couch or armchair.
An approved surface in this analysis meant a crib, bassinet or pack-and-play rather than an adult bed, couch, car seat or swing. “Room-sharing” alone is not equivalent to room-sharing without bed-sharing, and usual use does not mean an approved surface was used every time.
The CDC’s 2009–2015 PRAMS trend analysis found nonsupine positioning—side or stomach as the most common position—at 21.6% in 2015 across 32 states and New York City. In 15 states, it fell from 27.2% in 2009 to 19.4% in 2015; 2015 state estimates ranged from 12.2% in Wisconsin to 33.8% in Louisiana. CDC, “Vital Signs: Trends and Disparities in Infant Safe Sleep Practices — United States, 2009–2015”
Infant Sleep Environment, Bed Sharing and Soft-Bedding Trends
The 2016 PRAMS sleep-environment measures show how individual items can coexist in reported practice. 42.4% of mothers reported no soft bedding, while 50.5% reported blankets, 17.6% crib bumper pads, and 8.9% toys, cushions or pillows.
“No soft bedding” excluded blankets, toys, cushions, pillows and bumper pads by composite report. CDC-hosted Pediatrics manuscript, “Prevalence and Factors Associated With Safe Infant Sleep Practices”
| Measure | Estimate | Period and population |
|---|---|---|
| No soft bedding | 42.4% | U.S. 29-state PRAMS, 2016 |
| Blankets | 50.5% | U.S. 29-state PRAMS, 2016 |
| Crib bumper pads | 17.6% | U.S. 29-state PRAMS, 2016 |
| Toys, cushions or pillows | 8.9% | U.S. 29-state PRAMS, 2016 |
| At least one soft-bedding type | 38.5% | U.S. PRAMS participating states and New York City, 2015 |
The 38.5% estimate comes from a different 2015 CDC surveillance sample and definition: any pillows, plush blankets, bumpers, stuffed toys or positioners. It should not be treated as directly interchangeable with the 2016 composite measure.
Historical surveys show different bed-sharing and soft-bedding measures moving in opposite directions. In the National Infant Sleep Position Study, routine bed sharing rose from 6.5% in 1993 to 13.5% in 2010, while soft-bedding use declined from 85.9% to 54.7%. CDC-hosted Pediatrics manuscript, “Prevalence and Factors Associated With Safe Infant Sleep Practices”
Other U.S. national surveys reported that 46% of parents bed-shared with an infant aged 8 months or younger during the preceding two weeks in 2001–2010, while 13.5% usually bed-shared. Another survey reported bed sharing by 42% of mothers at 2 weeks and 27% at 12 months; these estimates use different definitions and survey periods. CDC, “Vital Signs: Trends and Disparities in Infant Safe Sleep Practices — United States, 2009–2015”
Infant Sleep Statistics by Feeding, Demographics and Outcomes
The Japanese JECS birth cohort included 82,918 mother–infant pairs and measured feeding through six months, then short sleep at age 1 using a study-specific threshold. Prevalence was 12.2% among infants exclusively formula-fed for six months, 10.2% among those breastfed for less than six months, 9.7% among those breastfed for six months with formula supplementation, and 8.8% among those exclusively breastfed for six months. “Breastfeeding and children’s sleep duration at 1 year of age: A nationwide birth cohort”
| Feeding pattern through six months | Short sleep at age 1 | Adjusted odds ratio versus exclusive formula |
|---|---|---|
| Exclusive formula | 12.2% | Reference |
| Breastfed less than six months | 10.2% | 0.84 (95% CI 0.73–0.97) |
| Breastfed six months with formula | 9.7% | 0.79 (95% CI 0.69–0.91) |
| Exclusive breastfeeding six months | 8.8% | 0.77 (95% CI 0.67–0.89) |
These are adjusted observational associations, not randomized effects. The Japanese short-sleep definition is study-specific and should not be compared directly with the U.S. infant threshold of less than 12 hours.
The 2015 U.S. PRAMS analysis also identified subgroup differences in nonsupine positioning: 37.6% among non-Hispanic Black mothers versus 16.1% among non-Hispanic White mothers, 29.9% among mothers under 20 versus 18.5% among mothers aged 35 or older, and 28.0% among WIC participants versus 16.7% among nonparticipants. These are associations from weighted maternal reports, not explanations or causal program effects. CDC, “Vital Signs: Trends and Disparities in Infant Safe Sleep Practices — United States, 2009–2015”
In 2016 PRAMS, back sleeping was reported by 80.5% of breastfeeding mothers versus 75.2% of mothers not breastfeeding. No soft bedding was reported by 46.8% versus 37.5%, while room-sharing without bed-sharing was reported by 53.3% versus 61.3%, respectively. CDC-hosted Pediatrics manuscript, “Prevalence and Factors Associated With Safe Infant Sleep Practices”
Among mothers who smoked, separate approved sleep surfaces were reported at 25.6%, compared with 32.5% among nonsmokers, and no soft bedding at 31.2%, compared with 43.8%. These subgroup measures are observational and do not establish that smoking caused the differences.
Finally, a U.S. Rise & SHINE actigraphy cohort of 298 full-term infants included 48.7% boys during the first six months of life. Each one-hour increase in nighttime sleep from month 1 to month 6 was associated with an odds ratio of 0.74—26% lower odds of overweight from month 1 to month 6—with a 95% confidence interval of 0.56–0.98; this adjusted longitudinal association does not prove causation. PubMed, “Longitudinal association of actigraphy-assessed sleep with physical growth in the first 6 months of life”