WAKE WINDOWS
I’m not quite sure what I believed about how and when baby’s would nap before I had my son and learned about baby sleep – but I’m pretty sure I would’ve fallen into the group of people who’d put their baby down to sleep when baby looks tired (which, let’s face it, for some babies is never!).
Wake windows were definitely a new concept to me, as I’m sure they are for the overwhelming majority of parents. But once my son was born and I started applying it, I thought it was brilliant. I mean, who knew that baby could fall asleep so easily if they were just put down within the right window of time!
Alright, let’s get into what they are, and how to use them to your advantage.
Consider this analogy by William Dement: every hour we are awake adds a brick to our backpack. By the end of the day, it’s a pretty heavy backpack and the weight of it brings about a pressure within us to go to sleep. During sleep is when bricks get removed and the load lightens.
Now, for babies, it doesn’t take 16 hours to get them to the point where the backpack is heavy enough to push them towards sleep. Depending on their age, it can take 45 minutes or a couple hours.
So, simply put, wake windows are the amount of time a baby is awake between sleeps. Remember, every bit of time that a baby is awake adds to the brains pressure and need for sleep. So if you put baby down before enough pressure has built up, they’re not tired enough. And if you put baby down after too much time awake, they may push into overtiredness, making sleep more difficult to come by. So knowing the ideal time that a baby (read: YOUR baby) needs to be awake before a nap will help you know when it’s too early or too late to put baby down.
Check out this chart for more precise numbers. Though I have to say this disclaimer – if you scoured the internet, you would likely find different timeframes and that’s simply because all babies are different. Your baby may need shorter wake windows at an age when your older baby had longer windows. The key is to get to know your baby and their individual needs. Sometimes, a difference of 15 minutes can be HUGE! So make sure you use these numbers only as a guide.
Some points to keep in mind:
A baby on the lower end of the age range will be on the lower end of the wake time range. For example, a 4 week old will likely need 45 minutes of wake time, while an 8 week old will need 60 minutes.
Your baby’s wake windows may vary throughout the day, with a shorter window in the morning, and a longer one just before bedtime (or vice versa). It’s all normal!
Here is an example of a possible 5 month old schedule: 1.75/2/2.25/2.5 (slashes indicate naps)
Wake: 7 AM
Nap 1: 8:45 – 10 AM
Nap 2: 12-2 PM
Nap 3: 4:15 – 5 PM
Bedtime 7:30
******And keep in mind this is just an example!! This does not mean your 5 month old should be or needs to be on this schedule. ******
Not all days will look like the same, but that’s okay. Until baby is around 8 months, and on a solid 2 nap day, let the wake windows guide you!
How to go about figuring out baby’s ideal wake time?
If you’re starting with a newborn, it’s actually easy. You start with the 45-60 minute window, and as baby gets older, you slowly add time to each window (more on knowing when to do that down below).
If your baby is 3 months or older, and you’re just learning about wake windows, you’ve got just a little bit of experimentation to do. It sounds simple – you basically “play around” with the suggested window of time for your baby’s age until you get it right. But honestly, it can sometimes take weeks to get it right.
The ideal length for a nap is over 1 hour. So how do you know if you’ve nailed down the right window? If baby’s nap is consistently over 1 hour in length with a given wake window, it’s probably a good fit!
How do you know when to start increasing baby’s wake time?
Here are 2 signs to look out for****:
Baby is suddenly taking shorter naps at a time when they used to take longer ones.
OR
Baby takes longer to fall asleep (maybe they’re happily playing in their crib for 20 minutes before the nap or full-on crying for 10 minutes).
Basically what you’re looking for is something that’s out of the norm.
****I’m going to make it just a little more complicated though (as if baby sleep isn’t complicated enough). Just because you see one of those signs does not mean it’s time to start increasing baby’s wake time. There are other factors that can impact baby’s nap. So make sure to meet the following qualifications before considering making changes.
We have to make sure that we’re seeing a trend; something that’s been happening for at least 3-4 days. Babies are allowed to have off days!
Let’s also make sure that baby is not sick or teething.
Are environmental factors still the same? The weather sometimes changes instantly and maybe it’s suddenly too hot or too cold in the room. Or maybe it was too loud one day when you had people over.
Is baby learning a new developmental skill (rolling over, sitting, crawling, standing, talking, etc)? Babies sometimes like to practice these in their sleep (or before a sleep!).
If you now know that it’s none of those, then it may be time to start increasing baby’s awake time! Start with just a 15 minutes increase for that window and see how baby takes it. Be sure to stick with it for a couple days, as it does take time for baby to get used to a new schedule. You may see that your baby is showing you tired cues earlier, but keep baby awake for the period of time you’ve decided for them. Sometimes, we need to push them to that time because we know they NEED it, even though it may seem like they don’t WANT it.
I will say that it is HARD. Around 3-6/7 months, it seems like baby’s wake windows are changing every other week. You’ll get it right, have baby set up to a great schedule, and suddenly, they’ll need another change. I get it. I went through it. I will tell you, it does get easier – especially once baby is on a solid 2 nap day. So there definitely is a light at the end of the tunnel!!
Sleep well!