Myth: Babies will sleep when they are tired.
Babies will not sleep when they are tired and most certainly will not sleep when they are overtired.
Unless you offer them a nap, with the right conditions and at the right time.
Wake windows: The amount of time your baby can stay awake before needing a nap.
Understanding your baby’s wake windows is crucial for great sleep. It can mean the difference between an overtired baby that takes short naps and wake frequently at night and a baby that goes down easily, sleeps longer stretches and is not fighting against their own physiological response.
The amount of time your baby can stay awake varies by age. Wake windows lengthen as your baby grows, most newborns for example can only stay awake for an hour before they are ready for their next nap.
Download a free sleep requirements guide here that outlines wake windows to follow by age.
The science behind wake windows and sleep pressure
When we wake up for the day, our brain starts to release a substance called Adenosine. As adenosine starts to build throughout the day we start to feel the pressure to sleep, often referred to as “homeostatic sleep pressure”. This sleep pressure will build until it needs to be released, the only way to do that is with sleep. For babies this happens often throughout the day and thus naps are needed.
if sleep pressure is not released when full (by the end of our wake window), then our bodies go into a stress response thinking that sleep is not coming. Our bodies are now in fight or flight mode, releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that make it harder for our bodies to settle.
This is why calming an overtired baby is so difficult.
Getting baby down at the right time makes ALL the difference!
Finding your “sweet spot” wake window
As I always say, every baby is different. As such, every baby has their own “sweet spot” wake window.
What does this mean? This is the amount of time in which if you put your baby down they will fall asleep within 15 minutes.
Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT when your baby is already showing signs of tiredness -yawning, rubbing their eyes, fussy. These are often signs that it is too late, they are already overtired. If you put them down at the right time, they will often not seem tired at all but will fall asleep quite quickly.
If they are going down already overtired, you can expect them to take a longer time to fall asleep, they may toss and turn or even cry out. If they go down too early, they will often seem happy and playful but not interested in sleeping. They may also just toss and turn and play in their crib for a while.
I always have parents start with a recommended wake window and then watch and adjust based on how their baby responds.
Once you’ve found YOUR sweet spot wake window, BINGO. You’re golden….until next month!
Remember wake windows get longer as your baby grows, so each month add 10-15 minutes.
Exceptions!
Tweaking wake windows
There are a number of factors that call for wake windows to be shortened.
Length of last nap: If your last nap was short, you may need to cut that wake window in half.
Time of the day: Morning wake windows are sometimes shorter than wake windows before bed.
Activity level/stimulation: If your baby is in daycare or has had a stimulating and active day then wake windows will need to be adjusted.
Wake windows cannot eliminate short naps but it will certainly help provide the best conditions for sleep. The key determinant to lengthening naps is whether your baby has the skills to settle and re-settle to sleep independently. You can start developing and working on those skills early on (no, this does not mean cry it out).
If you’re serious about getting some great naps and nights sleep, book a call with me so that we can talk about how you can do that.
If you don’t take action, nothing changes and sleep, is worth everything!
