Wake windows

[Steph95]

Hi, FTM to a beautiful 4MO. I need help.
im very lucky not sure how but my LO has learnt how to self settle and has done now for a few weeks. All is grand at bedtime but for naps this last week or so I’m struggling getting him down and I know it’s because I am missing his “sweet spot” what were your baby’s wake windows at this age? I thought I had it cracked but last few days have been a nightmare. I feel his wake windows are 1hr30 and 1hr45 before bed. He only naps for 30/45mins at a time which I know is normal for his age. My question is should he be asleep by the 1hr30 mark so example putting him down around 1hr15/1hr20 or do I put him down at 1hr30? I’m so confused. Or do i need to Adapt WW based of lengh of nap? Can never tell if I am putting him down to early or late. Thanks 😊

Sorry OP no advice myself, but following as feel the same about my 6mo. Seems his wake windows aren’t getting any bigger and yet I hear people are reducing their 6mo naps to 2 a day knowing there’s no chance of doing that with mine. Feels like a guessing game!

Nice to know I’m not the only one. My LO still takes 5 naps a day as they are all short and you read online he should be on 3/4 👀

Mine too! Although I’ve been trying not to ‘let’ him have a fifth nap! Sounds ridiculous typing it out… need to get off the internet 😂😩

Sleep needs change ALL the time, and generally 3 months old is the best your baby will sleep for the entire first year.

So he’ll go through periods like now where he’s sleeping great and others where he’s waking up every hour or two, and that’s totally normal because baby sleep isn’t linear - it’s developmental.

There’s no should with babies - they’re all different and need different amounts of sleep, which can vary widely over 24 hours so some babies need multiple naps and some just a couple. I don’t think DD got down to 2 naps til she was one, there was always that afternoon cat nap.

I think just watching for wake windows but also tired signs - red eyebrows, looking away, jerky movements, disengaging, yawning, touching their eyes - is preferable to trying to make them “fit” a particular schedule. How long does he normally take to fall asleep when everything’s working well? When you notice he’s tired, try putting him down and if he’s not asleep in the time it usually takes him c maybe it’s too early.

He usually takes 10/15mins sometimes 20. Sometimes he will go down no problem others cry and fuss a little which is where I know I am getting the timing off. I think tomorrow and the following day I’m going to forget about wake windows and just watch him and take a note of the time he shows tired signs. That will I will have a idea of how comfortably he can stay awake and see how how long he takes to settle. Like you say babies aren’t books and don’t fit a “certain” WW or routine. Tbh once you feel you have it cracked they get older and there lengh of times awake changes again 😂

Mine is 4mo and until the week before last was doing the same 30/45 min cat naps which meant nights were horrible as so overtired.

We’re now on the same routine that worked a treat with my older one. I know routines aren’t for everyone but I basically had the wake windows wrong, they were too short. Once I lengthened them, the naps lengthened too.

Who in their right mind lets a baby nap for ten minutes?! Oh I know, Gina Ford, a bit in her book says if they’re struggling to go down for their lunch time nap, wake the baby after five minutes. I just can’t fathom it.
Sorry OP, I never really did wake windows, I just went on tired cues and acted accordingly. If he fell asleep in his buggy, great, I didn’t wake him up if it wasn’t in the schedule. He wasn’t a great sleeper at night for a long time but he could self settle and slowly slowly he went for longer stretches.

i think the thing to remember is, a baby’s sleep isn’t linear and they don’t act according to the manual.

My DD is 17 weeks and currently her wake window is 1hr 45 having changed in the past couple of weeks from 1hr 30. I just find when I have a couple of days where she doesn't go down for a nap as easily (whether in cot, pram etc) that it usually means I need to increase her wake window and I start with 15 minutes. I'll check it fits in with her sleep cues (eye rubbing, whining and red eyebrows are her usual).

So my aim is to wake her up at 7.30am if she's not already awake and I adjust naps based on this. Depending on how long she naps then she'll have either 3 or 4.

So ideally;

7.30am - wake
9.15am- 10am - nap
11.45am- 2pm - nap
3.45- 4.30pm - nap
7pm - bedtime

I stretch her last wake window as it seems to help her go down better. I must say she's great at naps and does 45 mins every time or longer but her night time sleep is terrible and hasn't recovered after the 4 month regression 😩

Oh and I make sure I am physically putting her in her bed at 1 hr 45 so will take her upstairs 5 minutes before to put on sleeping back etc.

I really struggle with the sleepy cues because he appears tired all day. He will wake up from a sleep yawning.

Nights are pretty much hourly wake ups. Lucky to get 2 hour stretch.

Really struggling at the moment but just trying to accept it for now, he’s not quite 6 months.

@dreamersdown good to know! I did wonder if possible I needed to extend the wake windows thing is even with the cat naps throughout the day he will sleep 12th so solid no wakes through the night so for us it carnt be a case of over tiredness although sometimes he can be abit grumpy on that last wake window of the day so maybe not.

@Sarahlouise86 my LO is 17 weeks today too! I will try that today and see how he goes with a longer WW and watch alongside for sleepy ques see what happens he will soon let me know if his able and ready for that bit extra wake time. I’m going to be writing down times for the night few days see if a small pattern emerges, trouble I’m having at the moment is getting in that last nap of the day to power him through till bed time as he ether wakes up around 4ish or isn’t due one till near 5.30ish which is to close to his bed time at 7. He wakes up at near enough the same time very day 6.30/7 and goes to bed at the same time so makes sense that his naps should fall within a similar time frame throughout the day. Only WW I know for certain is the one after he wakes up as he shows tired signs around 1hr15 from waking asleep for 1hr30.

@MissJam dont worry mine is the same will not show any tired signs till it’s usually to late and then I have missed my window of opportunity.

@Steph95 yes I have that problem too. Depending on how close to bedtime I either just pull bedtime forward (as long as it's not before 6.30pm) or I take her for a quick walk in the pram and give her a 15 minute nap to get us through to bedtime.

If you want to look at timings then the huckleberry app is great.

I have a 5 month DD and I just let her lead what she wants. Some days she sleeps more and some.days she sleeps less.
Sometimes I get asked what her routine is.......lol I couldn't tell you because it varies slightly every day. I have a 16yr old and a 14 Yr old and have to do tasks revolving around them so poor baby has to fit into that aswell.
As long as baby is happy I'm happy. Being a mum is hard OP, you are doing great x