Sleep Tracker · Guide
How the Hush Sleep Score Works
Written by the Babysential team · Published April 23, 2026 · Last updated April 23, 2026
If you've ever stared at a number on a baby-tracking app and wondered what it really means, you're not alone. The Hush sleep score is designed to replace guesswork with a simple, honest summary of how your baby's last 24 hours of sleep compare to what pediatric sleep science says is typical for their age. It is not a test, and it is not a grade. It is a mirror.
In this article we walk through exactly what the score measures, why we chose those three inputs, what the number really tells you (and what it does not), and the concrete steps you can take when the score dips. Everything here is built on public guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the NHS — not on proprietary metrics.
Key takeaways
- ·The sleep score (0–100) combines regularity (40 points), total sleep vs. age norms (30 points), and wake window fit (30 points).
- ·Age ranges come directly from AAP and WHO sleep recommendations, not from average-parent data.
- ·A single low score is rarely meaningful. The 7-day trend is what matters — aim for stability over perfection.
- ·Confidence in the score grows with more days of complete logging. Fewer logged events means lower confidence.
- ·The score is educational, not medical. Always consult your pediatrician about specific concerns.
What goes into the score
Three numbers, added together, produce the score. The weights were chosen because regularity is the single strongest day-to-day predictor of how rested a baby feels, followed by total sleep volume and wake window fit. When all three are in range, you get a score above 80. When one is off, you lose roughly a third of the score. When two or more drift, the number drops fast — and that is intentional, because a noisy signal should feel different from a healthy one.
The first component is regularity (up to 40 points). Hush looks at two things: the number of naps compared to the expected count for your baby's age, and the consistency of nap start times. A baby who usually takes three naps at roughly 9:00, 12:30, and 3:30 scores near full marks. A baby whose three naps land at 8:00, 11:00, and 2:30 one day but 10:30, 1:00, and 4:00 the next will lose timing points, because the standard deviation of start times is too wide.
The second component is total sleep compared to age norms (up to 30 points). The AAP, endorsed by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, publishes ranges such as 14–17 hours per 24 hours for newborns, 12–16 hours for infants 4–12 months, and 11–14 hours for toddlers 1–2 years. Hush calculates an optimal midpoint for your baby's exact age in months and awards full points when the day's total falls within 5% of that midpoint, tapering to partial credit through the wider acceptable range.
The third component is wake window fit (up to 30 points). A wake window is the stretch of time your baby is awake between sleep periods. A 3-month-old typically handles about 60–90 minutes of awake time; a 12-month-old can often manage 3–4 hours. If the average wake window matches the recommended range for your baby's age, you get full points. Windows that are too short (under-tired) or too long (over-tired) correlate with short, fragmented naps, so the score reflects both failure modes.
Age-based recommendations
Sleep needs change dramatically in the first two years, and one-size-fits-all averages will mislead you. Hush uses a structured lookup of sleep ranges that maps to your baby's age in months. The anchors are the AAP and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine consensus statement, which are echoed in the NHS parenting guidance and in the CDC Positive Parenting Tips library.
For newborns (0–3 months), the expected total is 14–17 hours, divided across roughly 4–6 short naps and a fragmented night. At this age, regularity carries less weight because circadian rhythms are still developing. The score will reflect total sleep and wake windows more heavily, and you shouldn't expect nap-timing consistency until closer to 16–20 weeks.
For infants (4–11 months), the picture stabilizes. Most babies settle into 3 naps by around 6 months and drop to 2 naps somewhere between 7 and 10 months. The expected total moves to 12–16 hours, and wake windows stretch from about 90 minutes at four months to three hours by ten months. This is the age where the score becomes most actionable: you can see the effect of a schedule change within a week.
For toddlers (12 months and up), the AAP recommends 11–14 hours per 24 hours, usually as one midday nap plus a solid night. The transition from two naps to one is a common reason for a temporary score dip between 13 and 16 months, which recovers once the new schedule locks in. If your toddler is consistently scoring low, the most common cause is a wake window that hasn't grown with them.
Why confidence varies
The sleep score appears as soon as you've logged your first complete day, but its confidence — how reliable the number really is — depends on how much you've tracked. Hush shows a confidence indicator next to the score precisely because a 72 based on one nap is not the same as a 72 based on a full 24 hours.
Confidence is highest when three conditions are met: you have at least three consecutive days of logged data, each day has all sleep events captured (not just naps), and wake windows are recorded without long gaps. With fewer than three days, the timing-consistency portion of the regularity score defaults to a neutral midpoint — useful, but not as informative. This is why parents see the score “settle” over the first week of use.
There are also real-world factors that lower confidence even after you've been tracking for weeks: illness, travel across time zones, a new sibling, teething, and the infamous 4-month sleep regression. During these periods, we recommend looking at the 7-day trend line instead of any individual day. The trend tells you whether your baby is recovering, holding steady, or continuing to drift — which is the information actually worth acting on.
What to do with a low score
A low score is a prompt, not a verdict. The first step is always to look at which of the three components pulled the number down. The Hush dashboard breaks out regularity, total sleep, and wake window fit separately so you can see which lever to pull. Most of the time, one component is the primary culprit, and a targeted adjustment solves it within a week.
If regularity is low, focus on stabilizing the first nap of the day. The first nap anchors the rest of the schedule, and inconsistent morning starts propagate through every nap and bedtime after it. If total sleep is the weak point, it's usually either a wake window mismatch (the baby is overtired and catnapping) or a bedtime that is too late for their age. AAP guidance suggests bedtimes between 7:00 and 8:30 PM work well for most babies 3–18 months.
If wake windows are the issue, check that they have grown with your baby. A common mistake is to keep a 3-month-old wake window (around 90 minutes) at 6 months, when most babies can now handle 2–2.5 hours. Too short, and the baby isn't tired enough; too long, and the stress hormone cortisol builds up and actively prevents sleep. The difference often looks identical from the outside — short, fussy naps — so the score is a useful tiebreaker.
Below is a concrete seven-step playbook. It's the same flow we recommend to parents who DM us asking “where do I even start?” Work through it over a full week before judging whether it's working. Sleep changes are slow, and the 7-day trend is what you should actually watch.
How to improve your baby's sleep score
Check total sleep against the recommended range
Look at today's total sleep minutes in Hush and compare to the age-based range shown in your dashboard. The AAP recommends 12–16 hours per 24-hour period for infants 4–12 months, 11–14 hours for toddlers 1–2 years.
Audit the wake windows
Open the timeline view and look for wake windows shorter or longer than the recommended range for your baby's age. Overtired or undertired babies both show up as short naps or early wakings.
Stabilize nap start times
Pick a target time for the first nap of the day and aim to begin within a 30-minute window for a full week. Consistency at the first nap tends to cascade through the rest of the day.
Tighten the pre-sleep routine
Run the same 15–20 minute wind-down sequence before each sleep period — dim lights, short story or song, a consistent phrase. Predictability is a cue the brain uses to prepare for sleep.
Adjust the sleep environment
Aim for a dark, cool room (about 68–72°F / 20–22°C) with white noise. The AAP also recommends a firm flat sleep surface with no loose bedding for infants under 12 months to reduce SIDS risk.
Give changes a full week
Log every day and wait seven days before judging whether a change is working. Sleep patterns shift slowly, and the 7-day trend in Hush filters out the noise from any single rough night.
Talk to your pediatrician if concerns persist
If the score stays below 60 for three or more weeks despite routine adjustments, or if you see feeding, mood, or growth concerns, bring it up at your next well-baby visit.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Hush sleep score actually measure?
The Hush sleep score is a 0–100 number that summarizes three things from the last 24 hours: total sleep compared to age-based recommendations, how consistent nap times are from day to day, and how well wake windows fit your baby's age.
What is a good sleep score for a baby?
A score of 80 or higher generally reflects strong alignment with age-based sleep recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Most healthy babies fluctuate between 60 and 90 on any given week, and small day-to-day drops are normal.
Why does the score change so much day to day?
Infant sleep is highly variable. Teething, growth spurts, travel, illness, and developmental leaps all influence the score. A single low day matters less than the 7-day trend, which is the view most parents find useful.
Does a low sleep score mean something is wrong?
Not usually. A single low day is rarely meaningful on its own. However, if you see a multi-week decline combined with feeding, mood, or growth concerns, it's a good time to speak with your pediatrician.
How many days of data does Hush need before the score is accurate?
The score appears after your first logged day, but confidence rises sharply after three consecutive days of complete data, because the regularity component needs at least two naps to compare timing.
Is the sleep score medical advice?
No. The sleep score is an educational summary based on public guidance from the AAP, WHO, NHS, and CDC. For medical questions about your baby's sleep, always consult your pediatrician.
Does the score work for newborns?
Yes, but newborn sleep is naturally fragmented and unpredictable. Hush uses a wider acceptable range for babies under three months, and the regularity component is weighted less because stable nap schedules typically emerge between four and six months.
Ready to start?
See your baby's sleep pattern
Hush is free, works on any device, and uses the AAP and WHO age-based guidelines explained in this article. No account needed to start.
Start trackingSources
- American Academy of Pediatrics — Sleep: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/sleep/Pages/default.aspx
- World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/
- NHS — Helping your baby to sleep: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/caring-for-a-newborn/helping-your-baby-to-sleep/
- CDC — Positive Parenting Tips for Infants: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/infants.html
This article is educational content based on publicly available guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, the NHS, and the CDC. It is not medical advice. Consult your pediatrician for questions about your baby's specific sleep needs.