Measuring Awake Windows
Awake windows changed my life when I was a new mom. I wondered why my newborn was so crabby after being up for only 2 hours…haha! Now that I know what I know, it seems entirely bizarre that anyone would expect their newborn to stay awake (and happy) for that long, but no one prepares you well enough for your first baby.
Awake windows are a super important piece of the sleep puzzle. They measure how long your baby should be awake for in between resting periods. As your child gets older, these awake windows change and get longer. Eventually, dropping down naps, and then dropping naps completely (around age 3).
Measuring them can be a little tricky if you’re solely basing your wake windows off of your baby’s sleepy cues. I’ve worked with parents who were trying to lay their baby down for a nap each time they saw him self soothe, but then he would only nap for 30 minutes and wake again because he wasn’t quite tired enough.
Whenever I work 1-on-1 with clients, we always start out with an age-appropriate wake window schedule, and then we adapt to that specific child’s sleep needs.
Here is an idea of what awake windows I would use for the first 2 years of life:
0-12 weeks old: 45-75 minutes
3 months: 1.25-1.75 hours
4 months: 1.75-2 hours
5 months: 2-2.5 hours
6 months: 2.25-3 hours
7 months: 2.5-3 hours
8 months: 2.75-3.25 hours
9-11 months: 2.75-3.5 hours
12-14 months: 3-4 hours
14-24 months: 5-6 hours
As a note, whenever you see an awake time range, the smaller number always refers to the first wake time of the day, and the larger number refers to the awake time before bed. Babies have more stamina to be awake closer to the end of the day as their body prepares to sleep all night long.
As your baby ages, you’ll start to notice a few signs when they’re ready to change their wake windows. Here are the 3 most common:
They stay awake in their crib for 20+ minutes before finally falling asleep and this happens 3+ times in 1 week.
They start having super short naps that just last 1 sleep cycle in length.
They don’t fall asleep at all for their nap - instead just messing around and playing the entire time.
Awake windows can be complicated, but they don’t have to be. If you have questions about awake windows, post them below!
And as always, if you are struggling with far more than just awake windows, please feel free to book a free discovery call with me to see if sleep training together is the right move for your family.
