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A new parent sleep schedule for two adults, one week at a time
This new parent sleep schedule splits every night into two shifts, so each of you gets one stretch of sleep in a row. For each night of the week you write who takes shift 1, who takes shift 2, who has the baby in the morning and who sleeps in until when. A swap counts only when both of you initial it.
- Sheet
- One page: your two shifts, seven nights, swaps and a backup call
- Paper
- US Letter and A4, portrait
- Versions
- Blank, and a fillable PDF with 57 fields; the filled-in example is below
- Designs
- Minimal, warm and color
What is on the sheet
Our night shifts
Your hours for Shift 1 and Shift 2, and how many hours in a row each of you sleeps.
Seven nights, seven columns
Mon to Sun: both shifts, the morning, who sleeps in, swaps and wake-ups.
Swaps
The printed rule, the payback, and how many shifts each of you covered.
If we’re both running on empty
Who to call when neither of you can go on, and two signatures.
Sleep shifts for new parents: split the night, protect one stretch
Both adults lose sleep after a birth, but not equally. In a German study of 2,541 women and 2,118 men, women slept 62 minutes less than before pregnancy in the first 3 months, men 13 minutes less.
Richter et al., Sleep, 2019.
A sleep schedule for new parents narrows that gap: each adult gets a block the other one covers. Popular guides trade whole nights or split each night in two; the split versions differ in the hours:
| Who suggests it | Shift 1 | Shift 2 | Sleep in a row |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corewell Health | 10 pm to 2 am | 2 am to 6 am | 4 hours each |
| Huckleberry | 8 pm to 1 am | 1 am to 8 am | 5 hours for one, 7 for the other |
| Our example sheet | 9 pm to 2 am | 2 am to 7 am | 5 hours each |
The sheet prints no hours; you write your own, then the number the week is built around: Sleep we protect for each of us, hours in a row.
A parent sleep schedule with a newborn, filled in for one week
Sofia and Noah are both on leave with a 7-week-old. Their morning rule: whoever had shift 1 slept from 2 to 7 and takes the baby; whoever had shift 2 sleeps in.
| Night of | Shift 1 | Shift 2 | Morning | Sleeps in until | Swap | Wake-ups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Noah | Sofia | Noah | Sofia, 9 am | 3 | |
| Tue | Sofia | Noah | Sofia | Noah, 9 am | 2 | |
| Wed | Noah | Sofia | Noah | Sofia, 9 am | 4 | |
| Thu | Noah | Noah | Sofia | Noah, 12 pm | SR / NB | 3 |
| Fri | Noah | Sofia | Noah | Sofia, 9 am | 2 | |
| Sat | Sofia | Sofia | Noah | Sofia, 12 pm | SR / NB | 3 |
| Sun | Noah | Sofia | Noah | Sofia, 9 am | 2 |
On Thursday Noah covered Sofia’s shift 1 and worked the whole night, so Sofia took the morning and he slept from 7 am to 12 pm: the same 5 hours. On Saturday it went the other way.
The sheet’s example; Sofia and Noah are invented. Each of them has 7 shifts, and the Wake-ups column adds up to 19.
The filled-in example, minimal design.
Swaps: count the covered shifts, not who is more tired
Sleepytroll tells new parents to “Avoid ‘keeping score’ of who slept less”. Who slept less is hard to prove at 3 am; a covered shift is easy to count, and the sheet counts only that:
- Ask first. The sheet prints “Ask for a swap, don’t assume one. We both initial the night.”
- Agree on the payback in advance. On the example: a full night off within the same week.
- Count on Sunday. Sofia and Noah end at A 1, B 1: nothing carries into next week.
The last line is for the night when neither of you can go on. Sofia and Noah wrote Grandma Lucia’s number.
Sofia and Noah’s Swaps block: two initialed swaps, A 1 and B 1 by Sunday.
Safe sleep for the baby while you’re on shift
The sheet says nothing about feeding or settling a baby. But whoever is on shift is exhausted, so here are the American Academy of Pediatrics rules for where the baby sleeps:
- “Place your baby on their back for all naps & at night.”
- “Use a fitted sheet only—nothing else should be in the crib with your baby.”
- “Share a room with your baby, but never share a bed.”
- “If you bring your baby into your bed to feed or comfort them, place them back in their own sleep space before you go to sleep.”
The couch is the risky spot on a night shift. The AAP says the risk of sleep-related infant death is “up to 67 times higher when infants sleep with someone on a couch, soft armchair or cushion.” Bed sharing with an adult who is fatigued raises it more than 10 times.
HealthyChildren.org (AAP), How to Keep Your Sleeping Baby Safe, updated 9/11/2026.
Download the new parent sleep schedule
Three designs in US Letter and A4, blank or fillable, free with no email or account.
Questions people ask
What is the best sleep schedule for parents with a newborn?
Most plans split the night into two shifts, so each adult sleeps at least 4 to 5 hours in a row.
How many hours of sleep do new parents usually get?
Less than before, and not equally: in the German study above, 62 minutes less for women and 13 for men in the first 3 months.
Should both parents sleep when a newborn sleeps?
No: with shifts, the one off shift sleeps and the one on shift stays up. If you start drifting off on shift, don’t do it on a couch or armchair with the baby.
Can I fill it in on my phone?
Yes. The fillable PDF has 57 fields, from names and shift hours to the backup call; signatures go on by hand.
Other free printable sheets
Save this schedule to Pinterest
Pin it now and the week is planned before the first night. Two shifts, seven nights, who sleeps in, and swaps you both initial.
The same week, in the app
In Alpacto the rotation can be a routine with visible check-ins, and a swap a task: one of you marks it complete, the other confirms. For daytime jobs, see the daytime split and a chore chart for two.