Let's discuss awake windows first! An awake window is a fancy term for how long babies are awake between naps. Parents need to find that delicate balance between their little ones being awake long enough to sleep well, but not so long that we cause a meltdown.
Track when your baby starts and ends their naps and calculate the duration of wakefulness between these sleep sessions. Then, take the median of those values and use that as your wake window.
Baby Wake Windows By Age:
Newborn Wake Window (0-8 weeks): awake for 45-60 minutes MAX. 2-month-old wake window: awake for 90 minutes MAX. 3-month-old wake window: awake for 90 minutes-2 hours MAX. 4-month-old wake window: awake for 2 hours MAX.
We follow wake windows for two reasons: to ensure that babies are awake long enough in between naps to actually be tired when the next sleep period rolls around, and to put them down for sleep early enough to prevent them from becoming overtired.
If your baby is staying up past their wake window, try to limit stimulation and keep them calm. You can also try moving their bedtime earlier to see if that helps them stay within their wake window. It is also important for babies to stay within their wake window because it helps them to regulate their sleep patterns.
If you exceed this window, your child's body will begin to produce stimulating hormones like adrenaline & cortisol which can make it much more difficult to both fall asleep & stay sleeping soundly. Being overtired can lead to sleep battles, short naps, fragmented nights, and even early morning wake ups.
It is also important to note that these wake windows include feeding times. They start when your baby's nap is over and end when they start their next nap, including the time it takes them to eat. As a newborn, your baby's waketime will be very short. It might even be just the amount of time that it takes to feed them!
Does Baby Awake Time Include Feeding? Yes, your baby's wake time includes the time that it takes to feed your baby. Baby's wake time is the time from the end of one nap to the start of the next nap, so it includes the time that she is awake and feeding. Wake time is the eat and play part of eat, play, sleep.
Put your baby on a floor mat with a mobile over her so she can practice reaching. Read story books to your baby and let him look at the pictures. Help your baby practice sitting up independently. Put toys on the floor, place your baby on his tummy, and see if he wants to try to crawl to reach the toys.
“Respecting age-appropriate wake windows can mean the difference between a cranky baby who doesn't settle well to sleep and a well-rested baby who drifts off to sleep easily and quickly. Sleepy cues, such as rubbing eyes or yawning, are often an indication that a little one is already overtired,” Lahaie Hera says.
Ultimately though, your baby's wake window is often more critical than their tired cues. Since wake windows are the MAX amount of time your baby can tolerate being awake, it's important to lay your baby down for sleep by the end of their wake window even if they haven't shown any tired cues yet!
It's possible to extend a baby's wake window too much, and you must go back a few steps. Signs that your baby needs shorter wake windows include: They're fighting their nap – this can be due to irritability, a clear overtired cue. Their attention span and activity level drops.
Here are some helpful guidelines to follow when determining what time your child should go to bed: 0 to 2 months – no later than 1 hour after their last nap ends. 3 months – no later than 1 hour and 30 minutes after their last nap ends. 4 months – between 2 and 2 hours and 15 minutes after their last nap ends.
Sleep cycles are usually around 20 to 50 minutes long. Sleep cycles consist of active sleep and quiet sleep. During active sleep, the newborn may move, groan, open their eyes, cry out or breathe noisily or irregularly. During quiet sleep, they will lie relatively still and their breathing will be more even.
Babywise says that baby's between 3-6 months old will be ready for the 4 hour feeding schedule.
Babies that are well fed will be active and alert. Although newborns generally sleep 16-18 hours each day, unusual sleepiness may be an indication that your baby is underfed.
Use the shorter end of the wake window before the first nap because babies tire faster in the morning. For example, if your baby is four months old, the first nap will happen 1.5 hours after your baby wakes up. Then, the rest of the day, the wake window is going to depend on the length of each upcoming nap.
Sometimes, babies between 3-6 months need two feedings during their wake window to ensure they are getting enough calories to make up for their lower intake at night.
Experts suggest that “sleeping through the night” means snoozing for at least five to eight hours without waking for feedings, diapering, or soothing. Even if your little sleeper reaches eight hours, putting them down at 8 p.m. means a 4 a.m. wake-up call for you!
Move her bedtime later by about 10 minutes each night until she's hitting the hay about an hour later (or you reached your goal of her sleeping later). This works best if you move her eating schedule later as well, so hunger doesn't wake her up too soon. You might also have to work on your baby's nap schedule.
It's important to protect a newborn's wake window and not keep them up past it. Keeping your newborn awake too long almost always leads to an overstimulated baby who is more difficult to get to calm down. Sure life happens, and sometimes you'll lose track of the time and miss your baby's optimal wake window.
Q: How often do 3 month old babies sleep? A: Typically, most babies this age have a wake window of 60 - 120 minutes, meaning they may need to sleep after just an hour of awake time. Aim for at least 15 hours of sleep during a 24-hour period (between 3 and 5 naps a day).
Learning to sit up, stand, walk and talk are BIG milestones for babies. During these developmental bursts, it's hard for your little one's brain and body to “shut off” and sleep for 12 hours straight. Instead, they want to wake up and practice their new skills. If your baby or toddler isn't crying, give them space.