How to use baby 'awake times' for perfect sleep

By Polly Revaliente

FREE DOWNLOAD: Essential Guide: Awake Windows & Flexible Schedules

In this article I'm going to tell you what awake times (also known as awake windows) are, why they are so important for your baby's sleep, and when and how to use them.

Some parents feel restricted by routines and would like more flexibility, whilst still being able to meet their children’s sleep and feeding needs during the day. Using awake times can give you that flexibility whilst still making sure that your child is falling asleep at their optimum moment. Awake times are also used to make sure that whilst your child is awake she is the best version of herself - happy, content, feeding well, interacting with the world and generally able to thrive. 

So, what are "awake times" or "awake windows"? 

Awake times are also known as 'awake windows' or 'nap gaps', and are quite simply the time from when your baby wakes up to when they are asleep again. This could be between the time they wake in the morning until the first morning nap, or between naps, or from the last nap to going to bed at night. 

A common mistake is thinking that an awake time is from the moment the baby is awake to the moment you start thinking about putting them down again. But then you realise that you have to change their nappy, take them up to their bedroom, sing them a lullaby etc, by which point they have missed their perfect awake slot and moved into overtiredness and so are not happy being put down at all. 

Another common mistake is to wait until your child is showing signs of being tired, for example yawning, rubbing eyes or itching their nose. This is normally too late, unless you have ninja speed  at getting your child into bed at their first yawn, but even then it may be too late. 

Why are nap gaps so important? 

If your child stays awake for too long during the awake window, this often causes over-stimulation and overtiredness. As a result it will be much harder for your child to fall asleep for their next sleep period; they are likely to protest more and will therefore need much more assistance from their parents to fall asleep (rocking, feeding etc), and it is less likely that they are able to fall asleep independently. If your child is overtired when they go down, then the quality of sleep for that sleep period is not quite as good, and they are more likely to wake earlier from their nap then we would like. If they are consistently getting overtired then all sleep will start to get harder for them, and their nights are likely to be more disturbed. 

How and when do we use awake windows?

Awake times are individual for every child. Whilst we can generalise and say that most “X” age children will have “X” awake time it can vary, sometimes by as little as a minute or two, but that minute or two can be crucial. Have a look at our free sleep needs document to find the awake times for the age of your child: Essential Guide: Awake Windows & Flexible Schedules 

It can be a good idea to look at your watch when your child wakes, make a note of the time, then try putting them down at the stated awake time for their age. If they are very difficult to put down, then for the next sleep period try putting them down 5 minutes earlier. If they seem wide awake and content, and don’t fall asleep within 5-15 minutes, then try pushing their next awake time 5 minutes longer. The key is to tweak until you find the perfect time for your child to fall asleep. 

The first awake time is from the time your child wakes up in the morning, until they are sleeping again for the first nap of the day. As a general rule, for the first year of life, this awake time is usually shorter than all the other awake times throughout the day. Awake times are great to work with for the first 6 months of life where sleep can be really sporadic and irregular; where your child may not have a structured routine, but you still want to cover their sleep needs. You can use awake windows whilst your child is having any form of nap during the day and they get longer as your child gets older. 

Conclusion

So here are a few of The Sleep Project top tips: 

• Just remember the awake time is from the time baby wakes to the point they are asleep again 
• The difference of a couple of minutes could mean that your child goes down happily, or unhappily and therefore needs more help to fall asleep - tweak the suggested times to create your own personal windows for your child
• Awake times generally increase by 5 minutes every week for the first 6 months of life
• If your child is well rested - either because they have good quality night sleep or have great naps - you might find that their awake times increase slightly 
• You will know if your child is ready for a slightly longer awake time because when you put them down they are happy and seem like they want to play, and they don’t fall asleep within 5-15 minutes