Rest To Your Nest

Time to drop a nap?

Commons signs:
1) Skips/fights the last nap of the day
2) Hard time falling asleep for nap
3) Takes a long time to fall asleep at bedtime
4) Early wakes are the now the norm

SAVE as a guide as dropping naps are commons in the first 18 months!

Baby dropped their night feeds and boom they are back 🫤 It may be Reverse Cycling.

What is Reverse Cycling and what are the causes?

Revers Cycling is when baby consumes more calories at night then they do during the day. This results in baby being up m ore at night to make up for the missed calories.

Common Sources:
1) Skipping daytime feed
Happens when babies are taking longer naps and we let the nap intervene with the feeds. As hard as it is to wake a sleeping baby, we want to stay close to our day feed times to ensure adequate daytime caloric consuptions.
2) Change in routine
Changes in routine, like being sick, baby may have temporarily increased calories at night and got stuck in that pattern. Totally normal to add in additional feeds when sick but may lead use to a reverse cycling pattern unintentionally.
3) Distract Baby/Eater
Babies become increasingly aware of their surroundings as they grow. Around 4 to 6 months, daytime feeds are less interesting as their curiosity increases about the world around them.
4) Frequent night feedings
Between 3 to 5 months, babies experience the 4 month sleep regression and may have gotten into a pattern of feeding on every wake to fall back asleep.

Comment REVERSE to learn how it affects sleep and how to get back on track!

Common Mistakes using Wake Windows
Using wake windows forever
Wake windows are an excellent tool, but continuing to calculate every minute into toddlerhood creates unnecessary stress. Once they are on 2 naps or less, the circadian sleep rhythm is more mature and can handle timing a bit better.

Following sleep schedules too early
A young infant may not be ready for clock based naps. Trying to force naps before adequate sleep pressure has built can lead to overtiredness, short naps and frustration. Also, naps typically are varied and short in the newborn and early infancy phase that a sleep schedule would be hard to maintain.

Expecting perfection
Sleep isn't linear and some days look different than others (just like us!). Growth spurts, teething, illness, travel, and developmental milestones can temporarily change your child's sleep needs. Flexibility is key to consolidating sleep.

When Should You Use Wake Windows?
Wake windows work best from birth to approximately six/eight months.
They are helpful during:
The newborn stage and early infancy
Frequent nap transitions
Growth spurts
Developmental leaps
Sleep regressions
Since naps are still developing, using wake windows helps as a guide on when to lay baby down before becoming overtired which makes it hard to fall asleep and consolidate sleep.

When Should You Transition to a Sleep Schedule?
Babies naturally begin moving toward a more consistent schedule around 6 to 8 months unintentionally while using wake windows, but most don't fully transition until they are taking two predictable naps, usually between 7 to 8 months. Instead of calculating every wake window, you can gradually anchor naps to the clock.
For example:
Wake: 7:00 AM
Morning Nap: 9:30 AM
Afternoon Nap: 2:00 PM
Bedtime: 7:30 PM
Small adjustments of 15 to 30 minutes are still perfectly normal.

Good rule of thumb for Wake Windows or Clock Schedule:
For younger babies:
Follow age appropriate wake windows.
Watch your baby's sleep cues.
Make small adjustment when necessary
Stay flexible during illness, travel, or developmental changes.

For older babies (on 2 naps):
Use predictable nap times.
Make small adjustments when necessary.
Stay flexible during illness, travel, or developmental changes.

For toddlers:
Consistent daily schedule.
Earlier bedtime after missed nap or unusually active days.

Stay flexible during illness, travel, or developmental changes.

What Is a Sleep (Clock) Schedule?

A sleep schedule focuses less on the amount of time awake since the last sleep session and more on consistent clock times for sleep. Instead of calculating wake windows throughout the day, naps and bedtime happen at approximately the same time each day.
For example:
Wake: 7:00 AM
Nap 1: 9:30 AM
Nap: 2:30 PM
Bedtime: 7:30 PM
Based on my experience, a sleep (clock) schedules tends to work best when babies transition to 2 naps a day or less.

What is a Wake Window?

It is the amount of time a baby stays awake between sleep periods. Simply put its building up the sleep pressure for a child to be tired again for the next sleep session. Seems simple in concept but it tends to be part an art and a science.

For wake windows, use the child’s age combined with sleep cues to guide us on when to lay them down. For wake windows, we tend to use these for newborns and infants. Every child is a little different, and factors such as illness, growth spurts, developmental milestones, and short naps can temporarily affect how long they comfortably stay awake.

Is using Wake Windows or Clock Schedule better?

Both have an important place, but serve different purposes at different ages. Understanding when to rely on which approach or blend when needed can help avoid overtiredness, reduce bedtime battles, improve naps, and make days feel much more predictable.

Wake windows typically are best used for babies and infants on multiple naps a day. It allows flexibility and adjustments for early mornings, longer naps, or shorter naps.

Sleep schedules prioritize consistency and routine, and typically see this work best for kids on 2 nap or less.

Neither approach is wrong! The best one depends on your child's age, temperament and developmental stage.

Comment SLEEP and will send the blog your way on what is best for what age and why!

Signs it's time to stretch a wake window

Taking longer to fall asleep at bedtime
Naps start becoming shorter
No tired cues at prior wake window
Night wakes start to pop up

Recommend stretching wake windows 10 to 15 minutes so that we don't push baby into overtired town!

Hit SAVE!

3 Year Old Sleep Schedule
,
Wake Up: 6:00-7:30 AM
Nap/Quiet Time: 12:30/1:00 PM (1/1.5 hrs)
Bedtime (w/nap): 7:30-8:00 PM
Bedtime (w/quiet time): 7:00-7:30 PM