Wake windows with young babies
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Anonymous
| Any tips for trying to follow wake windows with a small baby who only naps when held? Baby is 5 weeks old and will not settle in bassinet or crib during the day. Online advice on how to get baby sleeping better at night is all very insistent on the importance of following wake windows, but how do you do that if baby is not interested in following? |
Anonymous
Mom of older kids here. The term “wake windows” didn’t exist when my teens were babies, but my understanding is that they are guidelines to help parents avoid letting baby get overtired before putting down for a nap. Unfortunately no one can force a baby to sleep on command. But the part you CAN do is offer the nap (in whatever form/place) at a time when the baby hasn’t been up too long and gotten overtired. That’s all it is. Don’t stress too much about following the rules. They all contradict each other and will make most tired new parents stressed and anxious. Just muddle through. Nothing you’re doing or not doing vis a vis sleep will have long lasting impact and once you think you have it figured out, baby will be on to the next phase you need to figure out. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| Do the Taking Cara Babies newborn course. It’s basically a combo of Eat-Awake-Sleep and the 5Ses to help them fall asleep. It takes some trying and you’ll still end up holding for naps (or car or whatever) sometimes but you should make a good effort especially for the morning ones, and the TCB course is a good explainer. |
Anonymous
| Eat-awake-sleep was really helpful for me because it kind of separates out the hungry cues and the sleepy cues. That made it easier for me to “catch” the nap at the best moment. You know, some of the time. Obviously still was hard and muddling through but it helped some. |
Anonymous
My oldest is 16 and wake windows existed when she was a baby. OP, you are looking for early sleep cues - staring, looking away, rubbing eyes, yawning. If you see any of this it’s nap time. Most new parents think babies can stay away much longer than they actually can. In newborns, wake windows can be just 45 minutes! Are you using a very tight swaddle and laying the baby down awake? Are you using a pacifier? All were critical for our babies to get good sleep. |
Anonymous
| My "won't slip in a crib" baby was actually just a low sleep needs baby and I made myself crazy trying to follow schedules he was just never going to do |
Anonymous
Same. Trying to follow wake windows ruined my life for months. At this age you have no way to know what your child’s natural sleep needs are yet, and you may be trying to get a not-tired baby to sleep if you try too hard to follow wake windows. Read up on the Possums method. It essentially means just keep baby up until they start falling asleep at whatever they are doing, regardless of the wake window. Don’t try to sleep on a schedule. |
Anonymous
One of mine was a very low sleep needs baby, and continued to be that way as she grew. I am also that way as are several members of my extended family. There are a lot of genetic variances in how much sleep babies need, just as there is in adults. It’s important to take care of the baby you have, not the baby in a book by an author who doesn’t know your baby. |
Anonymous
| My low needs sleep baby (17 yo) was sorting his laundry at 11pm. Our 21 yo skipped a fraternity party due to being tired so everyone has their thing |
Anonymous
Why do you continue to start weekly threads asking the same thing? |
Anonymous
??? OP here, this is my first time asking about this. |
Anonymous
| What do wake windows have to do with sleeping in a crib? I have a new baby, my second, and I hold her for a lot of naps (not all) but this still involves noticing when she’s tired. Why don’t you let your baby fall asleep a few times naturally and then take a look at how long they were awake? Then, use that? This does not seem hard. |
Anonymous
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To me wake windows = watch the time and the cues to try to avoid an extremely tired baby. You can do this whether you’re contact napping or putting baby in a crib! Another way I think of it: keeping track of wake windows helps me know when to watch my baby more closely for sleep cues.
My babies both primarily slept in contact naps from around 2-4 months and then we gradually got them to nap in a crib (it seemed developmental for both of them). Both slept well in the crib at night during this period, pretty much only waking to eat (all the usual - blackout curtains, tight swaddle, bedtime routine, bedtime when they were tired (using wake windows and paying attention to cues)). |