This is hands down the biggest thing I wish someone had told me about when I had my first baby. I remember the helpless feeling of holding a crying baby and having literally no idea if he was tired, hungry, gassy, or something else entirely. My go-to move was always to try and feed him in case he was hungry, which inevitably led to him falling asleep on the boob and taking a 2 hour nap on me. I felt like I couldn’t leave the house sometimes because i didn’t know what he was going to need.
It’s easy to look back and be hard on yourself for not knowing what you know now, but I think the concept of wale windows and understanding a bit about baby sleep would have been tremendously helpful.
So what are wake windows exactly? A wake window is the stretch of time that your baby can be awake at any given time. For example, newborns can only be awake for 15- 30 minutes before needing a nap. A 2-month old can be awake for around an hour or so before needing a nap. (See below for a full break down.)
Following wake windows can help you determine your baby’s needs from day 1. If your 4 week old just had a good feeding (around 30-40 mins if breastfeeding) and it’s been about 45 minutes since they ate, you may notice them starting to get fussy, rubbing their eyes or pulling at their ears. It is likely time for a nap.
Here is the approximate breakdown by age:
0-2 weeks: 15-30 minutes
2-4 weeks: 30-60 minutes
4-12 weeks: 60-90 minutes
3-4 months: 1 hour 15 mins - 2 hours
5-7 months: 2-3 hours
7-10 months: 2.5-3.5 hours
11-14 months: 3-4 hours
15-24 months: 4-6 hours
Generally speaking, the first wake window of the day (so right after their first feeding/meal) is on the shorter end, where as the last wake window (the one before bedtime) is on the longer end.
if you have any questions about putting these wake windows into practice please reach out!
xoxo
