When people are talking about wake window times (i.e. 1.5/1.75/1.75/2) do they have set nap lengths as well?

[nathan_jucal]

Hopefully this makes sense…

When people are talking about wake window times (i.e. 1.5/1.75/1.75/2) does this mean that they have set nap lengths as well? Can they confidently say how long each nap will be?

Asking as I see a lot of people talking about wake window lengths pretty confidentially but nothing about nap lengths! I often wonder if they continue with those wake window lengths even if a nap is only 20 minutes.

 

[katrina2017]

@nathan_jucal I find that if it's a longer nap he'll be fine to stay up on the longer end of the wake window but if it's a shorter nap it'll be on the shorter end but it's not linear and not always the same. We just really look for the cues which seem to be easier to spot the more on schedule you are.

 

[floydojeda]

@nathan_jucal My son is 7 months and his naps range from 30 min to 2 hours (we cap at 2 hours). Most naps are around 90 min to 2 hours, occasionally 30 min. We keep his next wake window the same even if it is a 30 min nap.

 

[limerick]

@nathan_jucal Baby is 9.5 months here and I have zero idea how long he will ever nap for. 30 mins? 2.5 hours? Who tf knows. But we usually do try to stick to 3/4/4 for wake windows.

 

[kimberly3421]

@limerick Haha same. It’s always a gamble!

 

[fundementalzero]

@nathan_jucal At this age, if my guy's nap was at least 30 minutes, then he could do a full window before the next one. If it was shorter than that, then I pulled the next nap maybe 10-15 minutes earlier, depending on how he seemed. As he got to 6 months and onward, and when he went to 2 naps at 7 months, I just kept his windows consistent regardless of nap length, unless it was just a super crappy 15 minute one or something.....then I pulled the next one back a bit. But once they're over about 6 months, it gets a bit easier to get them to the next nap even if the previous one was shorter.

I would say test it out.....see how your babe seems. If they seem super tired 10-15 minutes early (I would usually look for red eyelids/eyebrows, rubbing of eyes, yawning), then put them down a little earlier. If they seem okay then try to go for the full window and see if it works.

Also, 30 minute naps were pretty much the norm for us for a while, until about 6.5 months, when he suddenly started to sleep 90 minutes plus. Once on two naps, his naps permanently lengthened to about 90 minutes each, and I often capped them at that.

 

[softspirt]

@nathan_jucal Nap lengths will always vary, which is why wake windows are a thing. The idea behind using wake windows is that regardless of short naps, baby doesn’t become overtired. You just follow wake windows to bed, even if bed is earlier. Lost day sleep gets tacked onto night sleep so your baby can still get roughly the same total sleep in a 24 hour period. The alternative is a clock-based schedule, which tends to work best as baby gets older and nap lengths become more predictable / baby can handle more variance in wake times. This happens roughly around 9 months. But honestly, even then, on short nap days, an earlier bedtime is still preferable.

 

[life1114]

@nathan_jucal Other than capping max nap to 2 hours, nap length can vary. If the nap length was consistent, you could do a clock schedule but doesn’t really happen until 8-9 months when on a consistent 2 nap schedule.

I kept wake windows the same, even if babe took a 20 mins nap. Just meant bed time would probably be earlier and that lost time in sleep during naps would be added to sleep overnight

 

[poeticchristian]

@nathan_jucal My son is just shy of 3 months and is on 1.5/1.75/1.75/2
His naps vary anywhere from where I'll cap it at 2 hours or be as short as 40 minutes. It depends a lot on how he slept the night before and how much activity he got while he was awake for the window previously.

 

[cindyfernandez]

@nathan_jucal Once baby is older we moved to a clock based schedule- so on two naps fully scheduled, three naps beginning and end of the day scheduled, four+ naps- just a consistent wake in the morning, rough bed time zone.

So yeah nap length for a little baby is all over the place and that's ok!

 

[talitha1031]

@nathan_jucal Nap lengths may vary. I read that if the nap was short then the next window might be shorter and vice versa but my girls tend to be 30-90 min and no change to wake windows from nap length generally.

 

[jeruel]

@nathan_jucal At least for me and my 3.5 month old, nap length depends on when they last ate. If it’s approaching 3-4 hours since she last ate, I’ll wake her up. Some parents may say never wake a sleeping child, but my baby is almost too good of a napper and could go 2-3+ hours if she wanted. She eats only once overnight if she does wake and takes 3-4 ounces only and is on the smaller side so she needs to get her milk in during the day.

 

[daliasuce]

@nathan_jucal I think early on most of not all do not have nap lengths down unless. Although, some swear their babies sleep 30 mins on the dot. For my experience my baby’s naps are all over the place from 25 mins to 3 hrs and I follow ww no matter the length of the nap but if it’s a short crappy 25 min nap I know for sure baby won’t make his full ww.