Comprehensive Guide to Wake Windows - Know the ins and outs

Feeling zoned out after another night of disturbed sleep, your co-worker tells you about their life changing experience with a Sleep Consultant in Vancouver. They beam through well rested eyes and energy that surpasses yours for a mile. They tell you about finally better understanding their child’s sleep and getting more rest. You start to imagine a life where your family is sleeping better again.

As a parent of a baby or toddler, you know quite a bit about being tired. You don’t feel yourself anymore and feel exhausted, irritable, and even angry. Although you have read about sleep training your child, nothing seems to fit with the unique needs of your child and family.

When your child isn’t sleep, no one is sleeping. Sleep issues affect us in lot’s of different ways, including depression, anxiety, mood disturbances, lack of concentration, and more. Once our baby or toddler starts sleeping better, we often see an improvement in our relationship with them and an improvement in our mood, anxiety, and depression.

As a mom of two little ones and a baby and toddler sleep expert in Vancouver, BC, let me share with you one of my favorite tools in helping families sleep better: My Wake Window Guide. Wake windows refer to the time baby is awake between sleep. The below table shows wake windows for different ages in babies and toddlers:

(Most babies will fall somewhere within +/- 15-30 minutes of these wake windows)

 

Age	Number of Naps
0-6 weeks	4-6
6-10 weeks	3-4
11-15 weeks	3
4-5 months	3
6-7 months	2-3
8-10 months	2
11-12 months	2
13-18 months	2-1
18 months - 2.5 years	1
2.5 years -3 years	1-0

 

 

Once you discover your baby’s unique wake windows you will have more confidence in putting them down to sleep. Since sleepy cues like rubbing eyes and yawning become less accurate as babies get older, using wake windows can be a more reliable tool for knowing when to put your baby to sleep.

As a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Pediatric Sleep Consultant in Vancouver, BC, I offer a holistic and gentle approach to sleep training. If you would like more information about sleep training your baby or toddler, I offer personalized and comprehensive sleep packages. My services are often covered under extended benefits for Registered Clinical Counselling.

Please visit my website to schedule a free 15-min consultation today!