Wakeful Windows

They are simply the length of time that your child should be awake between sleeps. They vary by age and are vital in ensuring your child gets a good night’s sleep.

As parents, ensuring that our children get the rest they need is paramount to their growth and development. One essential aspect of achieving this is understanding and utilizing wakeful windows – the ideal intervals of time between sleeps or naps that are optimal for rest and rejuvenation at different stages of childhood.

They also play a crucial role in establishing healthy sleep patterns. By adhering to these recommended wakeful windows, parents can help their children achieve better sleep quality and duration, leading to improved overall well-being.

Let me explain.

Even if your child gets the correct quantity of sleep in a day, it is still important to space the sleep out properly so that your child will sleep well at night. This can get tricky if you try and use the time they fall asleep to work out the next nap time. Also, you don't know how long each nap is going to be. You might have a fair idea but each day is different, as I'm sure you've discovered by now!

So how can you work out what the nap schedule will be when things keep changing?

This is where we use the wakeful windows. It doesn't matter how long it took them to fall asleep,or how long they slept for. You just need to take note of when they woke up and then use the wakeful windows to work out when the next sleep/nap is due.

It is vital to get this right because you have about a half hour window when your child will settle easily and get a better quality and length of sleep.

Wakeful windows ensure you don't miss this golden opportunity to give them a good night's sleep.

Do you know what your child's wakeful windows should be?

Here is a guide of how long your child should be awake for between sleeps/naps according to their age.

Remember every child is different and this is only a guideline.