**See waketime average lengths at end of post
Waketime is how long your child can stay awake between sleep periods. It includes any time baby is awake, including feeding time and wind-down time before naps/bed. This is continually changing so you need to be on the look out for your baby's Sleep Cues and monitor how well your child's naps and night time sleep are going since an inappropriate waketime can cause problems in these areas. It is possible for waketime to decrease which may occur when baby has had a shorter than normal nap, is sick, is going through a growth spurt, is starting to take in more of his environment (newborn age) or is especially active one day. Also, waketimes may vary at different times of the day with the morning being a time when baby is often able to stay awake for less time compared to other times of the day (often 15-60 minutes less). Generally waketimes increase throughout the day in older babies (in young babies it is often the same length throughout the day with the exception of a fussy, long waketime in the evening for some babies) so it may be a sign that your child is not getting enough rest if the opposite is happening.
Your goal with waketime is to get perfect timing so that your baby goes to sleep quickly, easily and without crying. This can be quite tricky to do, but when done right has great rewards. Keeping on a good schedule/routine will make getting the right waketime easier. Some signs of perfect timing are: your baby goes to sleep easily for a nap with minimal or no crying and playing, your child takes a long nap (see nap lengths) and then wakes up happy (is happy after being fed for a young baby) and your child seems to be happy and alert during his waketimes. If the following isn't happening, then most likely your baby is being kept up too long. If he is playing before a nap he may be over or undertired. Some people find that if their baby plays for over 30 minutes then he is undertired but if he plays for less times than this or plays for a while and then starts crying then he is overtired. This may or may not be true for your baby.
Pushing baby to stay awake longer than he is able can cause many sleep problems such as baby not being able to fall asleep for naps and baby waking early from naps. At the same time, continuing a short waketime when baby can handle a longer one can also lead to sleep problems since baby won't be tired enough to fall asleep when put down and may not sleep for as long as desired. Situations can also occur when baby doesn't seem to be able to handle a longer waketime (e.g. he gets cranky when kept up longer than a certain amount of time) but his sleep suffers because of such a short waketime. In this situation baby needs to be helped to slowly stay awake for longer periods of time (probably no more than 10-15 minute increases at a time). This is pretty uncommon for very young babies and most of the time overtiredness from being awake too long will be your problem.
As babies get older you will probably begin to have naps at a set time each day instead of after X amount of waketime. You may still need to put baby down early for a nap, though, if he didn't sleep good for an earlier one, has had a particularly active day or seems extra tired for whatever reason. In fact, I still put my 3 year old Joshua down a bit early (15-30 minutes) for his afternoon nap if he wakes very early in the morning.
Below are some estimates of waketimes from different books/followers of different books. Remember that these waketimes are all just estimates. Every baby is different (genes, weight, how long they sleep at night) so some will be able to stay awake for longer or shorter periods of time than other babies. If your baby's waketime varies considerably from these guidelines then I would look closely at your baby to make sure he is not overtired or undertired (again, not usually the case). Also, it is not uncommon for babies to have a sudden increase in waketime between 4-6 months.
Waketime estimates from various places. They are the average throughout the day (remember, the morning is often shorter than the evening)
Averages I've observed:
Newborn: 30-60 minutes
2 months: 1 hour
4 months: 1.25-1.75 hours
6 months: 1.75-2.5 hours
8 months: 2.25-3 hours
10 months: 3-3.5 hours
12 months-3-4 hours
Once the morning nap is dropped, leaving only the afternoon nap, the waketimes increase to 4-6 hours depending on the age and nap patterns of your child. When your child is in the process of dropping his afternoon nap a waketime length may be more than 6 hours. Obviously, it is much more than 6 once the nap is completely dropped.
"Baby Whisperer Moms":
Newborn: 50-60 mins.
1 month: 60 mins.-1 hour and 15
2 months: 1 hour and 15 mins. - 1 hour and 20 mins.
3 months: 1 hour and 20 mins. - 1 hour and 30 mins.
4 months: 1 hour and 45 mins. - 2 hours
5 months: 2 hours - 2.25 hours
Late 5 months/early 6 months: 2.25-2.5 hours
6.5 - 7 months: 2.75-3 hours
8 - 10 months: 3 - 4 hours
11 - 12 months: 3.5 -4.5 hours
"Babywise Moms":
Newborn: 30-60 minutes
4 weeks: 45-60 minutes
1-2 months: 45-70 minutes
2-3 months: 50-80 minutes
3-4 months: 60-90 minutes
4-5 months: 75 mins.-2 hours
5-6 months: 75 mins- 2 hours 10 mins.
6-7 months: 95 mins- 2 hour 20 mins.
7-8 months: 1 hour 45 mins- 2 hours 30 mins.
8-9 months: 1 hour45 mins.-3 hours
9-10 months: 2-3 hours 15 mins.
10-11 months: 2 hours 15 min-3 hours 45 mins.
11-12 monhts: 2 hours 15 mins-4 hours
Gina Ford (The Complete Sleep Guide)
Newborn: 1.5 hours
2 months: 2 hours
6 months: almost 2.5 hours
No-Cry Sleep Solution, The:
Newborn: 2 hours
Sleeping Through The Night:
Newborn: Only awake to eat
6-8 weeks: 2 hours
Mom to Mom ideas:
This works for a lot of people-- 1 month you are often at 45 min. Add approximately 15 minutes on for each additional month up to 6 months of age (you'll be at 2 hours then).
Waketime is how long your child can stay awake between sleep periods. It includes any time baby is awake, including feeding time and wind-down time before naps/bed. This is continually changing so you need to be on the look out for your baby's Sleep Cues and monitor how well your child's naps and night time sleep are going since an inappropriate waketime can cause problems in these areas. It is possible for waketime to decrease which may occur when baby has had a shorter than normal nap, is sick, is going through a growth spurt, is starting to take in more of his environment (newborn age) or is especially active one day. Also, waketimes may vary at different times of the day with the morning being a time when baby is often able to stay awake for less time compared to other times of the day (often 15-60 minutes less). Generally waketimes increase throughout the day in older babies (in young babies it is often the same length throughout the day with the exception of a fussy, long waketime in the evening for some babies) so it may be a sign that your child is not getting enough rest if the opposite is happening.
Your goal with waketime is to get perfect timing so that your baby goes to sleep quickly, easily and without crying. This can be quite tricky to do, but when done right has great rewards. Keeping on a good schedule/routine will make getting the right waketime easier. Some signs of perfect timing are: your baby goes to sleep easily for a nap with minimal or no crying and playing, your child takes a long nap (see nap lengths) and then wakes up happy (is happy after being fed for a young baby) and your child seems to be happy and alert during his waketimes. If the following isn't happening, then most likely your baby is being kept up too long. If he is playing before a nap he may be over or undertired. Some people find that if their baby plays for over 30 minutes then he is undertired but if he plays for less times than this or plays for a while and then starts crying then he is overtired. This may or may not be true for your baby.
Pushing baby to stay awake longer than he is able can cause many sleep problems such as baby not being able to fall asleep for naps and baby waking early from naps. At the same time, continuing a short waketime when baby can handle a longer one can also lead to sleep problems since baby won't be tired enough to fall asleep when put down and may not sleep for as long as desired. Situations can also occur when baby doesn't seem to be able to handle a longer waketime (e.g. he gets cranky when kept up longer than a certain amount of time) but his sleep suffers because of such a short waketime. In this situation baby needs to be helped to slowly stay awake for longer periods of time (probably no more than 10-15 minute increases at a time). This is pretty uncommon for very young babies and most of the time overtiredness from being awake too long will be your problem.
As babies get older you will probably begin to have naps at a set time each day instead of after X amount of waketime. You may still need to put baby down early for a nap, though, if he didn't sleep good for an earlier one, has had a particularly active day or seems extra tired for whatever reason. In fact, I still put my 3 year old Joshua down a bit early (15-30 minutes) for his afternoon nap if he wakes very early in the morning.
Below are some estimates of waketimes from different books/followers of different books. Remember that these waketimes are all just estimates. Every baby is different (genes, weight, how long they sleep at night) so some will be able to stay awake for longer or shorter periods of time than other babies. If your baby's waketime varies considerably from these guidelines then I would look closely at your baby to make sure he is not overtired or undertired (again, not usually the case). Also, it is not uncommon for babies to have a sudden increase in waketime between 4-6 months.
Waketime estimates from various places. They are the average throughout the day (remember, the morning is often shorter than the evening)
Averages I've observed:
Newborn: 30-60 minutes
2 months: 1 hour
4 months: 1.25-1.75 hours
6 months: 1.75-2.5 hours
8 months: 2.25-3 hours
10 months: 3-3.5 hours
12 months-3-4 hours
Once the morning nap is dropped, leaving only the afternoon nap, the waketimes increase to 4-6 hours depending on the age and nap patterns of your child. When your child is in the process of dropping his afternoon nap a waketime length may be more than 6 hours. Obviously, it is much more than 6 once the nap is completely dropped.
"Baby Whisperer Moms":
Newborn: 50-60 mins.
1 month: 60 mins.-1 hour and 15
2 months: 1 hour and 15 mins. - 1 hour and 20 mins.
3 months: 1 hour and 20 mins. - 1 hour and 30 mins.
4 months: 1 hour and 45 mins. - 2 hours
5 months: 2 hours - 2.25 hours
Late 5 months/early 6 months: 2.25-2.5 hours
6.5 - 7 months: 2.75-3 hours
8 - 10 months: 3 - 4 hours
11 - 12 months: 3.5 -4.5 hours
"Babywise Moms":
Newborn: 30-60 minutes
4 weeks: 45-60 minutes
1-2 months: 45-70 minutes
2-3 months: 50-80 minutes
3-4 months: 60-90 minutes
4-5 months: 75 mins.-2 hours
5-6 months: 75 mins- 2 hours 10 mins.
6-7 months: 95 mins- 2 hour 20 mins.
7-8 months: 1 hour 45 mins- 2 hours 30 mins.
8-9 months: 1 hour45 mins.-3 hours
9-10 months: 2-3 hours 15 mins.
10-11 months: 2 hours 15 min-3 hours 45 mins.
11-12 monhts: 2 hours 15 mins-4 hours
Gina Ford (The Complete Sleep Guide)
Newborn: 1.5 hours
2 months: 2 hours
6 months: almost 2.5 hours
No-Cry Sleep Solution, The:
Newborn: 2 hours
Sleeping Through The Night:
Newborn: Only awake to eat
6-8 weeks: 2 hours
Mom to Mom ideas:
This works for a lot of people-- 1 month you are often at 45 min. Add approximately 15 minutes on for each additional month up to 6 months of age (you'll be at 2 hours then).
Hmm... I wonder why the waketimes are so much longer with Baby Whisperer than Babywise?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to comment about that. I think with BW mom's they may not take into account the time it takes baby to fall asleep (which is still included in waketime) bc often times they are not in visible range when this happens. A "Baby Whisperer mom" is more likely to stay until a baby falls asleep which would mean she would include the extra waketime. Also, I think Babywise moms are more likely to "train" their child to be happy in their cribs at a sooner age than Baby Whisperer moms so a Babywise baby may be awake and playing quietly without mom even knowing which would alter perceived waketime. Lastly, The Baby Whisperer encourages you to extend waketime around 4 months which many Babywise moms do not do, especially bc many of them wait until sleep is 10-12 hours at night before doing this (they drop the dream feed first before extending day feeds).
Hi, I am a baby whisperer mum and the Awake times given are a guideline only, they work really well but we advise people not to force their children to stay awake that long, you need to know your child and read his cues. Awake time is considered "eyes open to eyes shut" we usually have the baby in bed drowsy but awake 10mins before they would fall asleep, allowing them that 10mins to settle themselves into sleep. also their is no way on earth my baby would go to sleep so early at the ages given in babywhise, at 8 months old if i put him down any earlier than 3 hours he wouldve screamed his head off, he just simply was not ready, i see the same thing with alot of other mothers.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteYes, waketimes listed are just guidelines bc every baby is so different (which is why your baby could handle 3 hours at 8 months but other babies can't handle that long). Some of "babywise babies" do have surprisingly short waketimes for their ages. But if it works, then it works :)
I have been reading through as many of your posts as possible to try to figure out what my next step should be with my daughter. She is 4 months old and has recently started waking up a lot at night. Last night she woke up 3 times which is crazy for her. I realized that I may have not adjusted her waketimes properly. I have still been putting her down after about an hour and a half and I guess I should start extending that. I also have not quite mastered how to do the eat/activity/sleep thing and have it be predictable. Does it just end up working out that your baby stays on a predictable schedule even though you're not forcing the issue? Instead of doing that I have been scheduling feedings and then having the naptimes be random but not exceed the waketimes. Am I just overly exhausted, or is all of this very confusing sometimes?
ReplyDeleteDarcy,
ReplyDeleteSome babies will fall into a predictable schedule easily either by themselves, or with a little help from you. Some babies will kind of be all over the place if you don't provide a lot of structure though. I personally think the structure is a good idea. It helps baby get used to eating and sleeping at the same time of day which make these things happen with more ease. Babies (and most people in general) like structure. I think the eat/wake/sleep routine is a good idea bc it helps establish this structure in an easy to follow way. It makes it easy to recognize babies needs bc they follow this pattern. IMO, it creates a happy baby bc he is well rested and well fed whenever he is up. But as baby gets older he will fall out of this pattern a bit to fit better with his eating and sleeping, and that is fine. For example, he will probably eat then have a wake time followed by eating then bed in the evening.
If he has been sleeping good at 1.5 hours of wake time and now isn't, then he very well might need it increased. I would make sure to do it gradually. It is possible that he has been overtired and it is suddenly catching up to him or he suddenly needs a decrease in waketime (sometimes happens but at this age the opposite is probably true). Right now is a common growth spurt time. My 4 month old is going through one. It is also a wonder week time (time of lots of development where babies can sleep worse and be fussy). So make sure to feed him if he is hungry (although I doubt he'd need to be fed anymore than 1 extra time than usual at night), consider adding an extra feeding in the day and keep in mind that if it is a developmental thing, it might be over before you know it! Also make sure it there isn't a sleep prop going on that could be causing the night wakings. Good luck!
Do these waketimes include the feeding? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAnna,
ReplyDeleteYep, they include the feeding time.
Not sure what to do. My 6 week old had his last feeding at 10am. We had wake time and I put him down at 11:30. It is 12:38 and he is still crying on and off in his crib. It is almost time for him to eat again and he has not slept? What is my next step?
ReplyDeleteRjeantet,
DeleteNot so much use a few days later, but if it happens again...
Feed him now and then put him to bed again shortly after his feeding, trying to get him to take as full a feed as you can. Usually at this age I suggest helping babies get to sleep after a period of time (for me I usually do 15-30 minutes) during a nap so they don't get overtired and end up sleeping badly and eating badly the rest of the day.
Consider possible reasons he may be waking on and off throughout his nap--gas, overtiredness etc.
Good luck!
Rachel
My 6-week-old is a little bit of a fussy baby - not during wake times, but she does like to protest naps. It is also very hard to read her sleep cues. She yawns at the 30 minute mark, but then when we go upstairs to change her diaper and swaddle her, she's in this amazingly social, talkative mood. I've just chosen 45 minutes as the wake time because "watching" her no longer works.
ReplyDeleteHere's the problem: I lay her down, and she is quiet for about 10 minutes, but then she begins to fuss on & off for another 10-15 minutes. Does this mean she is overtired or undertired? Is the quiet 10 minutes her way of "playing?" (She does her naps in a dark room). I thought maybe it was, and so, yesterday, I kept her up until 50 minutes, and that nap was HORRIBLE! "Horrible" like she must have been overstimulated "horrible." I have no idea how to pin down her wake time. And I have no idea when/how to extend it. 45 minutes seems really short for a 6-week-old. Shouldn't it be somewhere near an hour? But it seems the one time I tried to move it even 5 minutes, the whole nap fell apart!
I subscribe mostly to Babywise, if that helps you know how to help me. This is my 3rd child. My first was severely colicky, and no amount of scheduling helped. Only a chiropractor did when she was 6 months old. My 2nd was on Babywise, but not until about this age (6 weeks), and I had PPD, so my memory of how I did things is kind of a blur. She never has a day where all 4 naps go fairly well. At MOST, 3 of them do. On AVERAGE, 2 of them do.
Tiff,
DeleteAn hour would be more average but that is just a reference point. You may be above or below it. The best way I know to work with that waketime is just to keep a log and change the time around a bit to see what works. And of course try to change it with them as they get older. Make sure to do something for at least a few days so you can see what effect it has. I would work at one nap at a time. Likely the morning nap is going to keep pretty short so maybe work on another nap right now.
Does this mean she is overtired or under tired? Usually under tired, but that isn't always the case. My youngest will get more upset is under tired than overtired. You'll have to see if she is average or not. I know , a terrible response. Some babies are so predictable but others really require a lot of trial and error and evaluation.
Also watch how much stimulation she is getting. That can make a big difference at this age.
Oh, another way to find the right waketime is to hold her during her naps. See when she falls asleep and keep track of it. At this age, doing this a handful of times probably won't make any difference for your sleep progress.
We gave her an hour for her morning nap and that was fine. We gave her an hour for her 2nd nap. She cried about 20 minutes into it for about 5 minutes but it was otherwise fine. We gave her an hour wake time for her 3rd nap and it's been terrible. She took a 45-minute nap and has been screaming ever since. I plan to go in in 5 minutes and just feed her.
DeleteHolding her for a nap isn't really an option because, like both of her sisters before her, she doesn't know how to shut out the world. She's very alert and shows no sleep cues.
Tiff,
DeleteSounds like She may have been getting progressively overtired? Do you have a video monitor to see if she actualsleps asleep when she isn't making sounds (and seems asleep) or if she is sitting quietly? If she won't fall asleep with holding maybe he will in the car? Or maybe logs I'll be your best bet.
I don't have a video monitor. Her room is dark. She does seem to be getting progressively overtired as each consecutive nap gets worse than the one before it. I know that at this young of an age, all wake times are supposed to be about the same length. No matter what we do for her 4th nap, that one is almost always bad. She seems hyper sensitive to stimulation. While she's awake she's very alert and content, but when she has naps, is a whole other game.
DeleteYesterday she only took one nap. It was her 2nd one because she was so exhausted screaming through her 1st one. How can a baby go from taking 3 decent naps with a 4th witching hour nap at 4 weeks old to 1 nap out of exhaustion and 3 naps where she's losing her mind?
DeleteI took her to church on Sunday where her 1st nap was in arms. She fell asleep after an hour and a half wake time but I had to take a walk outside while she screamed for about 10 minutes before it (see what I mean about shutting out the world)? We still aren't getting sleep cues and when I sing to her before her nap she fights me as opposed to getting drowsy.
I cried do hard in the last 24 hours that I gave myself a headache, and I usually pride myself on being pretty composed. How many days do I try a new wake time? I only tried one hour for one day because I had to shorten wake times after bad naps.
Sorry for the late reply tiff, I have been out of town. I'm so sorry you've had such a tough time lately.
DeleteAt this age, you might have a good idea with the waketime after one day since babies can get overtired so easily. So if it is too long she'll struggle at the end of the day. But it kind of tough to tell what she can handle because she isn't having constantly good naps. So you will need to have an idea of what waketime she can handle with a good long nap and a short nap. and If she doesn't fall asleep at all during a nap time you will have to kind of consider all of that wakeitme. She is in her bed but she is still awake. So she will likely be ready to eat sooner than normal (since she's been up and alert instead of sleeping) and then go to sleep right after that. With newborns I generally encourage a short set amount of time before going in to help them fall asleep. If they stay up for the entire nap they will struggle from over tiredness the rest of the day and from then on. It turns into a vicious cycle. So I help them go to sleep if they cannot fall asleep after like 15 minutes (people seem to do anywhere from 5-30 minutes). Just a thought. You'd think this would make them dependent on you but with most babies it doesn't cause too many issues and they get progressively better at falling asleep, especially once they get past the 3/4 month mark. Another method that can be helpful for babies this young that have a hard time settling down when they get upset is going in every 3-5 minutes and staying until they are calm ( do shush-pat, offer pacifier etc) then leaving and returning after that length of time to calm again if needed. This way they are able to teach themselves to fall asleep when they aren't in an overstimulated state which can be really difficult for them to work with. Just some thoughts which you of course do not need to follow. You do whatever you feel will work best for you guys.
Rachel
Hi Tiff -- I dont know if this is helpful but by DS sounds JUST like your DD. His first 6 weeks were bliss, I think because he was good at "shutting out the world" so he would nap anywhere. When he hit is 7wk growth spurt his naps just became a hot. mess. First I will say that I love BW --I am totally for all of it but with my son i think i was just a little too determined to force him into the "average" waketimes. He was napping 20-30 min at a time for a long time and I was SOOO at the end of my rope! I finally did increase his WT dramataically It was by accident -- we were out one day and he didnt get a nap. he got a little fussy, but accepted his paci and was happy. He went 3 hours that day and then took a 2 HOUR nap! I was dancing around the house I couldnt believe it! His wakesitmes arent all 3 hours though. In the morning I feed him, then keep him up 1.5 hours, then feed him again and put him down (so total about 2 hours). This sort of "tanks him up". It works for him like cluster feeding worked for his night sleep. Then he usually takes a 1-1.5 hour nap. Then he's up for 2.5-3 hours and takes a looong afternoon nap. 2- sometimes 3 hours! then he takes a little catnap in the evening -- like 30-45 min. I was so frustrated for so long ad I know it seems counter to what BW says, but I just can't argue with results! My little boy doesnt cry AT ALL to go to sleep and he is now sleeping 12 hours at night too! I think there might just be a minority of BW babies that need longer waketimes? he was like your DD too where he was so happy when he was awake it just seemed hard to put him to bed. Anyway, take what you want from that -- just one experiece:) And good luck!
DeleteThanks for sharing your experience katie.
DeleteRachel
Thanks for the reply... even late. :) I'll take it.
ReplyDeleteSo naps got better for about 3 days (with a wake time of 50 minutes), and then they got even worse again. I took her to the pediatrician today to rule out any possible causes for disruption (i.e. pain, reflux, sickness, etc.) and she was given a clean bill of health. The pediatrician suggested I keep her up for much longer (likes 1.5-2 hours)! in order to get better naps. That seems crazy to me since she is only 8 weeks old. I smiled and nodded, but couldn't bring myself to agree. That seems like too much, right?!
Her morning nap consisted of nothing but 20 minute spurts. She put herself to sleep every time, but there was always a minute or 2 of crying... Every 20 minutes! Her 2nd and 3rd naps have both been the same, even though I have been gradually decreasing the wake time.
This last Sunday, I was holding her at Church, and she fell asleep, in arms, EXACTLY 1 hour after having woken up for the day. She didn't fuss or anything. She just closed her eyes and fell asleep. The nap was short because she was in my arms, but I'm wondering if that means exactly one hour is her ideal wake time WHEN she's well-rested. And since I lay her down awake, does that mean to lay her down at the one-hour mark or to get her down a little before it?
This is my 3rd child, and my 2nd fit Babywise to a "T" and so I'm having a hard time accepting that this one doesn't. She just seems more sensitive to stimulation. When she's awake, she's very pleasant. And I think that's why I'm struggling with her wake time. She is so happy and social even up until I lay her in her crib... no tired signs at all - even if the previous nap was awful.
Is there an e-mail address or something that I can contact you at? Or am I depleting your resources? (I'm sorry if that's the case). I'm am just grabbing at straws and it's not in my nature to do so very well. :/ I used to feel like I knew all about baby sleep. I have read almost all of the books. I read them with my 1st. But for some reason, this time around, I feel at a total loss and could really use some consistent objective outside wisdom.
Thank you so much for your help so far!
I will answer your email in a moment tiff.
Delete