What You Need to Know About Awake Windows

When I first became a parent, I had no idea the impact that sleep deprivation would have on me. I'm not here to sugarcoat it for you. I was a mess. Those first few months of having a newborn BROUGHT ME TO MY KNEES. You feel me on this, mama? My child wasn't sleeping. I wasn't sleeping. I had a breakdown.

In my fragile and exhausted state, I began learning about newborn sleep. It was from another sleep consultant that I first learned what "awake windows" were - basically, the time your baby is awake between sleeps. So, the time they wake up in the morning to their first nap would be their first window. The time they wake from their nap to their next nap would be their second window. If appropriate, the time to a third and fourth nap. And, finally, the time awaking from the last nap of the day until bedtime. There is a formula. An ever-changing formula. Below is a table that can help you sort it out, based on your child's age, the appropriate time awake before they need to sleep again, and the total number of hours of sleep they should be getting in a 2 hour period: