Solve Your Sleep Scheduling

How to stop the guesswork & help your

child sleep well

thesleepconsultant.ca
Table of Contents

Welcome 3
Important Definitions 4-5
The Basics of Sleep Pressure 6
Sleep Pressure easily Reduced 7
Overtiredness vs. Undertiredness 8-9
Sleep Scheduling isn’t just About Wake Windows 10-11
Sleep Scheduling through The Ages 12
0-3 Month 13
4 Month 15
4-3 Nap Transition 16
5 / 6 Month 17
3-2 Nap Transition 18
7 / 8 Month 19
9 / 10 Month 20
11-12 Month 21
2-1 Nap Transition 22
12-15 23
16-18 Month 24
19-24 Month 25
2-4 Years 26

Toddler naps 27
Early Morning Wake-ups 29
Split Nights 30
False Starts 31
Scheduling for Multiples 32
Sleep totals by Age 33
Wake Window Examples 34
Final Notes 35
Understanding your child’s sleep scheduling is the first
step to better sleep.

I became really interested in sleep scheduling after struggling with my

first daughter’s sleep.

I worked with a sleep consultant to sleep train her at 8 months old (life changing!) but
by 11 months sleep had gone backwards again — and I had no idea why or what to do
about it. As it turned out, my sleep consultant didn't educate me on how to understand
my daughters ever changing sleep needs, or how to adjust her sleep schedule as she
aged. Fast forward 6 years, two pediatric sleep certifications, and hundreds of 1:1
sleep clients later, I am here to help YOU avoid common scheduling mistakes so that
your little one can sleep well.

This guide is designed for all families, regardless of their approach to sleep.
Whether you bed-share, assist to sleep and transfer to the crib, or are wanting to
focus on independent sleep — your child will sleep so much better if their sleep
schedule is optimized.

The purpose of this guide is to help you understand your unique child's sleep
needs. If you find that your little one is sleeping well on a schedule that isn't "age
average" — that is absolutely okay!

If it's working for you, it's working.

 Important Definitions

WAKE WINDOW

The time between your baby or toddler's sleep periods. Using age average wake windows
can be a very helpful tool to help you identify how much time your unique child needs to be
awake in order to build adequate sleep pressure. We like to calculate wake windows as the
time from between baby coming out of the crib to the time they are being placed back in it.
Alternatively, if your baby doesn't fall asleep in the crib you can calculate wake windows as
the time from when your baby wakes up to the time they are being offered sleep again. In
either case, there is no need to take the time it takes them to fall asleep into account, you
don't need to put them down or offer sleep before the end of their wake window. It is
important to adjust wake windows for prematurity, if your baby was born before 37 weeks.
It’s possible your child will need only a partial adjustment, rather than adjusting for the full
number of weeks between their birth age and adjusted age. Every child is so different!

Wake window examples are presented in this guide in the following format:
2/2/2.25/2.25, which would translate into the following example day:

Baby woke up at 6:30am

Nap 1: 8:30-9:45am
Nap 2:11:45-1:00pm
Nap 3: 3:15-4:30pm
Bedtime: 6:45pm

TOTAL SLEEP/AWAKE TIME IN 24HR PERIOD

Total sleep/total awake time in a 24h period: I calculate total sleep time as the amount of
time in bed/or time spent trying to get your baby to sleep. For example, If your child is
placed into bed at 7:00pm, wakes twice overnight, and is up for the day at 5:30am but stays
in the crib until 6am- total night time sleep is 11h. Total awake time is all of your child’s
wake windows added up. It’s important to have realistic expectations for how much sleep
your child actually needs in a 24h period.
 Important Definitions

SLEEP ONSET

This is the time it takes your child to fall asleep. A sign of good sleep timing is when sleep
onset is under 15 minutes.

SLEEP PRESSURE

This is the drive your child's body and brain has to sleep. It is not the same thing as being
tired- its a build up of the hormone adenosine throughout your child’s awake time. Any
amount of sleep (even one minute!) can reduce sleep pressure.

SLEEP CUES

Sleep cues are signs that your child may show to communicate that they are feeling tired.
These signs include yawning, red eyes, red eyebrows, increased fussiness etc.
Unfortunately, sleep cues can be very confusing and unreliable beyond the newborn stage.
This is because feeling tired doesn’t always mean a child has enough sleep pressure to be
able to easily accept sleep.
 The Basics of Sleep Pressure

Understanding the basics of sleep pressure is

key to being able to build your child's ideal
sleep schedule. Sleep pressure is the drive
your child's brain and body has to sleep.

Sleep pressure is not the same thing as "tiredness" and is usually very misunderstood. It's
built up throughout the day, and released by initiating sleep. A nap reduces some sleep
pressure, whereas overnight sleep releases it fully. If too much sleep pressure is built up,
the body and brain becomes overtired, which makes falling and staying asleep more
difficult. Similarly, not enough sleep pressure will also make sleep challenging- longer put
downs, false starts, short naps, long night wakings and early mornings. In my experience,
low sleep pressure is the most common cause of scheduling related sleep challenges.
Undertired babies also cry much more than overtired babies during sleep training.

Optimizing your child's sleep pressure by using age appropriate sleep

scheduling will allow them to fall and stay asleep easily.

Truly, this should be the first step to making any sort of sleep changes- sleep strategies
such as sleep training will absolutely not work if sleep pressure isn't optimal.
 Sleep Pressure is Easily Reduced

Sleep pressure is reduced anytime your baby

Micro napping
or child sleeps, or even just becomes drowsy
— even if this lasts only a few minutes. You while feeding
may have experienced this — your baby had
a sleepy 5 minute car ride then absolutely
When baby becomes drowsy on the
refused to accept a nap when you got home.
breast or bottle between naps, or
before bedtime this can also reduce
If your baby falls asleep while sleep pressure.
driving or walking you can either:
I always recommend either feeding
Let them sleep and treat this like the nap your baby to a fully asleep state OR
itself (on the go naps are totally fine!). focusing on keeping them fully awake
during feedings.
Call this an accidental nap (best to use
this option if sleep was less than 15 Sleepy feedings reducing sleep pressure
minutes) and push your next scheduled is one of the most common causes of
nap back by 20-60 minutes to allow them challenging nap put downs, and can
to build more sleep pressure. cause confusion over how well a given
schedule is working for your baby.

Every baby is different and it may take time to

learn how much extra time your baby needs!
 Overtiredness vs Undertiredness

If your child has been awake for too long the body and brain becomes overtired, and
high levels of cortisol and adrenaline hormones are produced. This rush of stress
hormones directly impacts the body's ability to produce the sleep hormone, melatonin.
Without enough melatonin your child's body can't stay sleeping, and they often wake
before their ideal morning wake up time. In my experience low sleep pressure, or
undertiredness, is a more common scheduling challenge. This is because the baby
sleep world creates a LOT of paranoia about overtiredness, and most parents are so
concerned about preventing it that they inadvertently use wake windows that are far
too short. Low sleep pressure can often manifest as wake ups shortly after bedtime,
long night wakings, short naps, and really tough put downs.

While your baby’s tired cues and overall mood can help us determine whether
or not an age average wake window is working for them, we also need to
balance this with how sleep is going! Below are some general guidelines we use
(NOTE: these best apply to babies 4 months and older)

01 If baby’s nap is under or around 30 minutes long, they

may need a shorter wake window beforehand.

02
If a nap is 40-60 minutes long, your child likely needs a
longer wake window beforehand.

If your child is taking longer than 15 minutes to fall

03 asleep they may need a longer wake window

beforehand.

04
If your child is consistently waking up in the middle of
their nap and then falling back to sleep they may need a
longer wake window beforehand

05
If a nap or bedtime time was working well and all of a
sudden it’s not- time to increase that wake window (or all
of them!)
 Overtiredness vs Undertiredness

Tips to help your baby Adjusting wake windows

stretch their wake window. after a short nap.

Change of scenery- go play in a Babies under 5 months old may

different space. Get outside (or need a slightly (10-20min)
near a window)- exposure to shorter wake window following a
sunlight helps so much! short nap.

Offer a snack with natural sugar For older babies and toddlers,
(fruit is a great option). I recommend trying to push to
your child’s typical wake
Water play! A tray or bowl of window if possible.
water with some toys on a towel
on the floor, a fun sink bath,
even just sitting with baby at a
sink and letting them feel the
water on their toes.

A Note about Extending Naps

A nap is a nap!
If your child has slept for any amount of time, they have reduced sleep pressure. This
means it may be difficult/impossible for them fall back asleep following a short nap. If
you are trying to help your baby fall back asleep and it's been more than 10-15
minutes it's probably best to take a break.

Sitting in a dark room for hours trying to get a baby to sleep

"long enough" is really tough on our mental health and won't be
helpful for your little one either.
Sleep Scheduling isn't just about Wake Windows

Age appropriate wake windows help your

child accept sleep more easily at put downs,
but they also add up to build more and
more sleep pressure as the day goes on.

We need to ensure we have enough wake windows in the day to

meet total awake time needs in a 24h period. This is an
important consideration when we are entering a nap transition —
when we eliminate a nap we also eliminate an entire wake
window. We typically need to make up for at least some of those
lost hours by increasing the remaining wake windows.

A good rule of thumb to help with this is to design your baby’s

sleep schedule around a 12-13h long “day” (the time between
morning wake up and bedtime). Unless it’s been a day of shorter
naps, we don't want bedtime to fall less than 12h after the day
started. In this scenario, you can think of this early bedtime as
making up for missed daytime sleep. Continually using early
bedtimes can lead to a variety of sleep challenges.

We also need to keep in mind that every baby is different- age

average wake windows are just a starting point! You need to
adjust your child’s wake windows based on what their sleep is
looking like, not sticking to what a chart says.
 Sleep Scheduling isn't just about Wake Windows

Set Schedules

A set by the clock schedule is very different from a wake window based
schedule. I recommend holding off on setting naps and bedtime by clock
times until your baby is taking only two naps per day. Once you set the
times on the clock, you’ll want to keep to them as closely as possible.

The “30 minute rule” is helpful to follow:

If a nap is shorter than 1h the next nap or bedtime can be moved up, but
only by 30 minutes

Set schedules take a few days to a week to implement, with baby ideally
adjusting their own nap lengths. In the beginning it can be helpful to wake
them from naps as needed to protect enough awake time before the next
sleep period (also ensuring they aren't going over maximum daytime
sleep recommendations).

Optimal Bedtime

Surprisingly, there isn't a “best” bedtime for your child. We know that many children
are wired to rise early in the morning, between 6-7am. This translates into a bedtime
12-13h later (in the range of 6-8pm).

If your child is capable of sleeping later into the morning, and you enjoy a later
schedule this is no problem. Alternatively, your family may run a super early schedule
overall, shifting everything hours earlier than the “typical” schedule. Feel free to adjust
any set schedules presented in this guide to align with your family rhythm.

On a wake window based schedule, your child’s bedtime can vary. Ideally there is
some consistency -ideally not a range of more than an hour.

The best way to create this consistency is to wake your

child up by the same time each morning.
SLEEP
SCHEDULING
Through the Ages
 Sleep Scheduling through the Ages:

Newborns
2 hours

0-3m
20 minutes

The idea of a schedule for newborns is really a Your newborns naps will naturally vary in length
misnomer, we are looking for rhythm rather than (20min- 2hours) making it tricky to create any
any sort of schedule. The main focus in the sort of "schedule". I recommend going with the
newborn days is working on establishing flow, and creating a "rhythm" of eating,
feeding, and bonding with your baby. That being interacting, and sleeping based on your baby's
said, both of these things are going to come ideal wake window. I do recommend capping
easier if we can prevent fussiness due to any one nap to no more than 2h, to fit in
overtiredness. If your baby is awake for too long feedings and save longer stretches of sleep for
their body will begin to produce stress night time.
hormones, adrenaline and cortisol. This makes it
hard for them to relax and fall asleep, and can Micro napping is very common in the newborn
contribute to fussy evenings. days! Eating is hard work at first, and makes
many babies quite sleepy. We need to
Waiting for baby's sleep cues (red eyes, fussing, remember that a nap is a nap, even if only
yawns etc.) is not always a reliable way to staying asleep on the breast/bottle for only a few
determine readiness to sleep! Many babies don't minutes, baby’s sleep pressure is reduced and
develop sleep cues until a few weeks of age, they may need some more awake time to be
whereas others flash cues unreliably. This is able to accept sleep easily again. I always
why I prefer to focus on age appropriate wake recommend feeding to sleep, or keeping baby
windows right from birth to help you find the fully awake while feeding. Avoiding drowsy
optimal timing for your baby’s sleep! feedings mid wake window can make a huge
difference in how easily your baby accepts naps.

Most newborns need quite a long day, as they

are only staying awake for such short periods
and have an underdeveloped circadian rhythm.
Trying for that magic 7pm bedtime the google
searches suggest is a recipe for a lot of bedtime
Average wake windows by age: struggle and/or false starts!
Birth-6 weeks: 45-60 minutes
6-10 weeks: 60-75 minutes
11-15 weeks: 60-90 minutes
 Sleep Scheduling through the Ages:

Shifting your newborn’s bedtime earlier

While it’s typical for newborn babies to go to bed quite late, many parents
eventually want a different schedule. Once your baby is 6-8 weeks old
you’ll be able to slowly shift their circadian rhythm (body clock!). The
strategies below also work to shift an older baby or child’s overall sleep
schedule later.

Please note that there is no need to shift your child’s bedtime- every
family is different. Some parents prefer to have their child sleep from 9pm
to 8am (or 6pm to 5am) and this is absolutely fine.

01 Start to wake your baby up earlier in the morning! If they are waking up after 7am
(or waking for a feed then and going right back to sleep soon after) it is very
unlikely they will go to bed before 8-9pm.

02
Consider how many wake windows your baby is doing, is there enough total
awake time happening? If your baby’s wake windows are still very short you may
need to purposefully add in an extra nap/wake window so that they stop treating
bedtime like a nap (shorten other naps if you have to, to make this happen).

03
Build a bedtime routine for your baby and start this at the time they are currently
accepting sleep (the late bedtime). After a few days, start to slowly move bedtime
(and the routine) earlier in 15min increments.

Help them shift their circadian rhythm using light exposure. Dim lights an hour

04 before their current bedtime, and make the environment bright again starting at
their morning wake up. Use lots of light exposure throughout the day (between
naps is fine) right up until the lights are dimmed again before bed.
 Sleep Scheduling through the Ages:

4 Months
Many families begin to struggle with sleep around Sleep cues are largely unreliable for most
the time their baby reaches 4m old. This makes babies this age, they may flash them after only
sense, as babies in the 3-5m range have typically being awake for 30 minutes, or not until the 3h
undergone the “four month sleep regression”. mark! The best way to schedule sleep at this
age is to aim for age average wake windows,
and then tweak from there as needed.

This is a biological change to the way your baby Most 4 month old’s do best with 8-9h of total
organizes their sleep stages, instead of just two awake time in their day. I like to aim for a 11-12h
sleep phases (REM and deep sleep) they now overnight, and 4h max daytime sleep.
cycle through four sleep stages- just like us
adults. This creates more opportunities for wake
ups, as they need to make more sleep cycle
transitions. Some babies adjust to this new way
of sleeping after a couple of weeks, whereas
others benefit from establishing independent 4 MONTH OLD WAKE WINDOWS:
sleep skills (once they can fall asleep
independently, they can also easily connect their 1.75-2h
sleep cycles independently!) 1.75/2/2/1.75-2/2
2/2/2/1.75-2/2

**Note the wake window before a 4th nap

often needs to be shorter

4.5 MONTH OLD WAKE WINDOWS:

AWAKE LIGHT DEEP REM
2-2.25h
2/2/2/2 *** may not add up to enough total
Sleep scheduling plays a big role in this awake time for some babies, if you are
regression too (and we absolutely NEED to struggling with overnight sleep consider
optimize sleep pressure first, before making bumping up to 8.5h+ of total awake time.
any sort of changes to your baby’s sleep 2/2/2.25/2.25
expectations or routines!) 2.25/2.25/2.25/2.25
 The 4-3 Nap Transition

Signs your baby is ready:

At least one of their naps is longer than 1

Tips to make the 4-3 transition
hour.
Your baby can comfortably stay awake for 2 as smooth as possible:
hours or more between naps.
Your baby is fighting their fourth nap. It’s
Don't offer baby’s first nap until 8:00am or
consistently a struggle for them to fall asleep,
later- regardless of when they woke up that
even after increasing their wake window
morning! Its worth it to stretch them a little
slightly.
longer to prevent their day from ending too
Your baby’s fourth nap is starting too late in
early (we don’t want a bedtime before 6pm!).
the afternoon (if it’s starting after 5:00pm it’s
Early morning wake ups can also start up if
likely going to start to push bedtime too late!).
nap 1 is consistently being offered too early
I recommend capping naps as necessary to
on the clock.
fit in that 4th cat nap until your baby is at least
4 months of age! Three month old’s often
Be okay with an early bedtime. Anytime your
need 4 naps to be able to clock enough total
baby drops a nap, bedtime will go earlier. It
awake time in their day, and become
will then slowly get later again as baby
overtired easily if we try to force them onto a
grows (and wake windows increase again!).
three nap schedule.

Don’t force it! Dropping a nap prematurely

can lead to overtiredness. Overtired babies
often struggle with early mornings. Bouncing
back and forth between 3 and 4 nap days is
totally okay! Adding a fourth nap back in can
be especially helpful if you need a later
bedtime at night, or napes on the go.
 Sleep Scheduling through the Ages:

5 Months 6 Months
By 5 months your baby is ideally taking 3 naps 6 month old sleep scheduling can vary
per day. If you haven't made the nap transition greatly between babies! Some babies this
due to your baby still taking short naps, it's age are very much still on a “5 month”
worth it to try a three nap schedule anyways - schedule, with three naps working quite well.
often naps stay short if wake windows aren’t Others are ready to transition to two naps.
long enough!
Most 6 month olds do best with 9-9.5h of
Most 5 month olds do best with a total of 8.5- total awake time in their day. I like to aim for
9.5h of total awake time. I like to aim for 11- 11-12h of overnight sleep, and 3-3.5h max
12h of overnight, and 3.5h max daytime sleep. daytime sleep.

5 MONTH OLD WAKE WINDOWS:

2-2.5h
6 MONTH OLD WAKE WINDOWS:
Examples: 2/2.25/2.25/2.25, 2/2.25/2.25/2.5

(3 naps): 2.25-2.75h
5.5 MONTH OLD WAKE WINDOWS:
Examples: 2.25/2.5/2.5/2.75, 2.5/2.5/2.5/2.5
2.25-2.5
(2 naps): 2.5-3.5h
Examples: 2.25/2.25/2.25/2.25, 2.25/2.25/2.5/2.5,
2.5/2.5/2.5/2.5 Examples: 3/3/3, 2.5/3.25/3.5, 2.75/3.25/3.5,
3/3/3.25
 The 3-2 Nap Transition

Signs your baby is ready:

Your baby is 6-8 months old Tips to make the 3-2

Your baby can nap longer than an hour
The third nap is falling later and later, pushing transition as smooth
bedtime later than 8pm (or night is sneaking as possible:
shorter than 10.5-11h)
Your baby is consistently refusing the third
nap of the day. Increase your baby’s wake windows!
You are seeing new early morning wake ups,
increased night waking, or naps have recently
gotten shorter. That’s the first step. It's absolutely SO key
Its important to see these signs for at least a that you stretch all of their wake windows,
week- don’t rush into the transition after a because we are essentially eliminating an
rough day! The longer you hold off on entire wake period in baby’s day when we
dropping the 3rd nap, the easier the transition drop a nap.
will be. Try extending wake windows first, or
offering that 3rd nap on the go to see if you Here’s what this looks like:
can keep it around a little longer!
A 6-7 month old baby was previously taking
three naps on the following wake window
based schedule: 2.25/2.5/2.5/2.75h. To
transition this baby to a 2 nap day the first
thing we need to do is push morning nap later:
no earlier than 9:00am, and at LEAST 2.5-
2.75h after waking up for the day. Subsequent
wake windows need to be 3-3.5h to make up
enough total awake time.
 Sleep Scheduling through the Ages:

7 MONTH OLD WAKE WINDOWS:

7 Months 2.5-3.5h

Examples: 3/3/3, 2.5/3.25/3.5, 2.75/3.25/3.5,

3/3/3.25

Many 7 month olds are ready for a two nap If your 7 month old isn’t quite ready to stay
schedule, and do best with 9-9.5h of total awake awake long enough for a two nap
time in their day. Often I begin capping max schedule, that's okay! Follow the above
daytime sleep at 3h at this age to maintain a 11- schedule recommendations for a 6 month
12h night, though some 7 month olds can still do old on three naps.
3.5h without any interruption to nighttime sleep.

8 MONTH OLD WAKE WINDOWS:

3-3.5h

8 Months Examples: 3/3.25/3.5, 3/3.5/3.5

Many 8 month olds do well on set schedules,

and some families prefer this to wake
windows. Set schedules can also be helpful if
By 8 months your baby is likely only taking two a baby is struggling with early mornings or
naps per day. If you haven't made the nap very inconsistent nap and bedtimes.
transition due to your baby still taking short
naps moving through it anyways is worth a try- EXAMPLES
often naps stay short if wake windows aren’t Wake between 6:00-7:00am
long enough! Nap 1: 9:30am
Nap 2: 2:00pm
At 8 months I recommend aiming for 9.5- Bedtime: 7:00pm
10h of total awake time, with 3h max of
total daytime sleep. Wake between 6:00-7:00am
Nap 1: 10:00am
Nap 2: 2:30pm
Bedtime: 7:30pm
 Sleep Scheduling through the Ages:

9 MONTH OLD WAKE WINDOWS:

9 Months
3-3.5h

Examples: 3/3.25/3.5, 3/3.5/3.5

EXAMPLES
Most 9 month olds need around 10h of total Wake between 6:00-7:00am
awake time in their day in order to sleep well. I Nap 1: 10:00am
begin capping total daytime sleep at 2.5h for Nap 2: 2:30pm
many 9 month olds. Bedtime:7:30pm

Wake between 6:00-7:00am

Nap 1: 10:00am
Nap 2: 3:00 pm
Bedtime: 7:30pm

10 Months 10 MONTH OLD WAKE WINDOWS:

3-3.5h

10 month olds need around 10h of total awake Examples: 3/3.25/3.5, 3/3.5/3.5
time in their day in order to sleep well. To
preserve a 11-12h overnight, I recommend EXAMPLES
capping total daytime sleep at 2.5h. Wake between 6:00-7:00am
Nap 1: 10:00am
Nap 2: 3:00 pm
Bedtime: 7:30pm
 Sleep Scheduling through the Ages:

11-12
Months
This is a tricky, transitional time for sleep
scheduling with many babies being almost ready
to transition to one nap. 11-12 month olds on
two naps need at least 10h-10.5h of total awake
time in their day in order to successfully hang on
to two naps and sleep well. Capping total
daytime sleep at 2-2.5h is also recommended.

11-12 MONTH OLD WAKE

WINDOWS:

3-4h

Examples: 3/3.5/3.5, 3/3.5/3.5, 3.25/3.5/3.5,

3/3.5/3.75, 3/3.5/4

EXAMPLE
Wake between 6:00-7:00am
Nap 1: 10:00am
Nap 2: 3:00 pm
Bedtime: 7:30-8:00pm
 The 2-1 Nap Transition

Signs your baby is ready:

Many babies are ready to drop the

second nap around 12-15 months.

Your baby may be ready for this Once you’ve determined your baby
transition if the following signs are is ready, you will begin to push
occurring 4-5x/week for at least a week:
morning nap later by 15-30 minutes
Afternoon nap is shorter (or sometimes or so every few days. For most
the morning nap goes short first). babies this means a nap at
Sleep onset is longer than 15-20
10:30/11:00am to start.*
minutes, or the nap is being refused.
You are seeing early mornings or new
night wakings. Allow baby to sleep as long as 2.5h

It is important to note that nap troubles in this If baby wakes before 12:30pm you will want
age range are sometimes due to to offer a catnap in the afternoon around
developmental changes. If you are seeing 3pm (a car or stroller ride is fine!). If the
signs of nap issues it's always best to wait it catnap is a no go, use a super early
out at this age! It could easily be that baby is bedtime 5.5-6h after nap (as early as 6pm)
going through a developmental milestone
(walking!) and just needs time to settle back Continue to push nap start time slowly
into napping well. towards 12:00pm as tolerated. For
example: if a 11:30 nap time yields a 2h
nap, but pushing to 12:00pm leads to a 30
min nap- it’s okay to just stay at 11:30 for a
little longer!

In the beginning of this transition your baby will You’ll likely need to re-work your baby’s
have a shorter morning and quite a long stretch of feeding schedule a little bit, offering lunch
awake time before bedtime (5.5-6h), but this will after nap at first and then transitioning to an
even out as nap gets pushed later. Ideally you end
up with a 5-5.5h wake window in the morning, and
earlier pre-nap lunch post transition.
4.5-5h between nap and bedtime, for a total of 10-
10.5h total awake time. I always recommend Don’t panic over short naps! It is very
moving to a set schedule as soon as your baby is normal for it to take time (weeks) for a baby
able to manage a mid day nap (a 12/12:30 start
to get used to consolidating their daytime
time!). This means setting nap time by the clock,
regardless of what time baby gets up in the sleep into one long nap.
morning. Bedtime should also be set, but be open
to shifting it slightly earlier if nap is short.
 Sleep Scheduling through the Ages:

12-15
Months
Once your baby is transitioned to one nap you’’ll
want to aim for 10h of total awake time in their
day, and 2-2.5h of total daytime sleep. At this
stage, scheduling is best done “by the clock”,
using a set schedule.

12-15 MONTH OLD

WAKE WINDOWS:

EXAMPLES
Wake between 6:00-7:00am
Nap 12:00- 2:00/2:30
Bedtime 6:30-7:00

*** Remember we want to make sure

there is 12-13h between morning
wake up and bedtime, unless it was a
short nap day.

If your 12-15 month old isn’t quite

ready for one nap that's okay- follow
the above scheduling
recommendations for 11-12 month old
babies.
 Sleep Scheduling through the Ages:

16-18
Months
At this age your baby is likely to be taking one There is a range of sleep needs at
solid nap per day, with the full nap transition this age, with some little ones being
steps completed. Many babies this age start to able to do 2-2.5h of daytime sleep
need a slightly later nap startime, around plus a 11-12h overnight, whereas
12:30pm. If your baby’s naps are sitting others can’t manage that much sleep
around 1.25-1.5h in length (or they are starting overall. If you are seeing sleep onset
to wake up earlier in the morning) I would at bedtime start to increase I
recommend experimenting with a slightly later recommend starting to cut back on
start time. I would aim for 10-10.5h of total daytime sleep a little bit/push
awake time in your baby’s day at this age. bedtime slightly later.

16-18 MONTH OLD

WAKE WINDOWS:

EXAMPLES
Wake between 6:00-7:00am
Nap: 12:30-2:30
Bedtime: 7:00pm
 Sleep Scheduling through the Ages:

19-24
Months
During this age range we expect a decrease in
sleep needs to occur, with only 12-13h of sleep
in a 24h period being typical, especially once
your child gets closer to 2 years old. Total
daytime sleep may need to be capped at 1.5-2h
total, with one mid day nap. Ideal total awake
time at this age ranges from 10-11h.

19-24 MONTH OLD

WAKE WINDOWS:

EXAMPLES
Wake 6:00-7:00am
Nap: 12:30-2:00pm
Bedtime 7:00-8:00pm

***As you see sleep onset take

longer at bedtime, you’ll want to
gradually shorten nap and/or push
bedtime later. One of the most
common reasons for bedtime
trouble in this age group is that
sleep pressure isn’t high enough.
 Sleep Scheduling through the Ages:

2-4
year olds
Between 2 and 4 years old many children begin
to struggle to balance nap with nighttime sleep,
as their sleep needs are further decreasing (10-
2-4 YEAR OLD
13h in a 24h period). When the long mid day WAKE WINDOWS:
nap starts to interfere with sleep pressure at
bedtime this often manifests as long sleep onset EXAMPLES
(sometimes leading to behavioral changes too- 2-4 year old who still naps:
stalling, overall bedtime resistance), early
mornings, or new overnight wake ups. Wake between 6:00-7:00am
Nap: 12:30-2:00pm
It’s important to use sleep onset time at Bedtime: 8:00pm
bedtime as a gauge of your toddler’s sleep
needs. If it’s taking them more than 15min Wake between 6:00-7:00am
to fall asleep, you’ll want to start to reduce Nap: 12:30-1:30pm
daytime sleep further and/or push bedtime Bedtime: 7:30pm
later.
Wake between 6:00-7:00am
Once your child’s nap is down to 1h or less, Nap: 1:00-2:00pm
and bedtime is getting late enough that night Bedtime: 8:00pm
sleep is shorter than 10h, it’s likely time to drop
the nap altogether. When we do this, we need 2-4 year old who doesn’t nap:
to use a very early bedtime to make up for the
lack of daytime sleep. Often kids are in a sleep Wake 6:00-7:00am
debt going into this transition- night is getting Bedtime: 6:00-7:00pm **12h after
so short, so they are relying too heavily on morning wake up time, as early as 6pm
daytime sleep (which is much less restorative).
Once nap is dropped, toddlers need time to fill
up their sleep bank again- 12h nights are
optimal during this transition.
 A Note about Toddler Naps

Readiness to drop the last nap

It is perfectly okay (and actually quite preferable) for your child to
continue napping as long as they are accepting it, and night-time
sleep is going well. But, if your toddler is still struggling with long
sleep onset or extra stalling at bedtime, despite adjusting their
schedule to create more sleep pressure, it may be time to drop the
last nap. This transition can occur anytime between 2.5-4 years
old.

If your toddler is refusing to nap, or cutting their own nap short this
*could* also be an indicator of readiness to move to a no nap
schedule. BUT- it’s important to remember that some nap or
bedtime protest can be developmental, so it’s best to continue
trying for a nap for a week or so before making any big scheduling
changes (especially if your child is less than 26m old!). Temporarily
trying a later nap start time tp boost sleep pressure can also put a
stop to nap refusals related to age/stage related nap protest.

It’s important to note that willingness to take a nap/daytime

tiredness is NOT necessarily a sign that your toddler still needs to
nap. Many children will continue to nap well, even though the nap
is really impacting their bedtime/night sleep. They are making up
for the loss of night sleep with nap sleep, and this is the pattern
that creates a big sleep debt and grumpy/tired kids!
 A Note about Toddler Naps

Implementing a Quiet Time

If your little one is ready to make the move to no naps, it’s a
great idea to implement a quiet, screen free time in the
afternoon- everyone in the family still needs a break! Some little
ones take to this very easily, others struggle with the idea of
playing independently in their own space.

It can be helpful to start this out very gradually, using a timer.

Start with 5 minutes, or even less if that will let your little one be
successful! If your little one is in a crib still you can provide them
with some books or toy of their choice. If your child is in an open
bed you can allow them free reign of their room. A toddler clock
can be a great tool for quiet time- if you are using one at night try
setting it for afternoon quiet time as well.

If your child is in the process of dropping their nap, they may

fall asleep during quiet time, or while on a walk/in the car (or
sometimes even while sitting on the couch!). It’s okay to let
them sleep for a short period if this occurs (ideally 30min or
less). Adjusting bedtime to accommodate a nap like this is
fairly child specific. For many kids, bedtime can stay around
12h after morning wake up, whereas some kids do need a
slightly later bedtime in order to fall asleep well.
 Scheduling Related Sleep Challenges

EARLY
MORNING
WAKUPS
A pattern of early morning wake ups can have a
variety of root causes, one being scheduling.

A few things to consider if your baby is consistently waking before 6am:

If their first nap is happening too early this will perpetuate early rising. It’s
ideal to try to start the wake window at 6am- so that nap is falling at an
appropriate time on the clock.

If your baby is sleeping too much during the day or is ready to drop a nap,
this may cause early mornings

Babies who are awake too long before bedtime produce higher levels of
cortisol, which impacts melatonin production overnight, leading to early
mornings

If your baby is waking before 6am, after 11h or more of sleep you’ll need to
shift the whole schedule later (not just bedtime).

If you need more support to solve your child’s early mornings, check out
our early morning wake up guide here.
 Scheduling Related Sleep Challenges

SPLIT
NIGHTS

Split nights are a specific type of night waking related to

non optimal sleep scheduling.
They occur when sleep pressure and the circadian rhythm (the
body’s clock) are not in alignment, and manifest as a long
period of wakefulness overnight - usually 1-2 hours, or until they
have built up enough sleep pressure to sleep again.

This typically happens when your child isn’t getting adequate total awake time,
super early bedtimes are being used too frequently, or when your child is
sleeping in (often to make up for sleep after a rough night).

Split nights can be sneaky, happening sporadically, or in a pattern of only every

few nights. This is because the long split night wake up creates a bit of a sleep
debt, and the child can make up for this by sleeping well the next night or two-
before repeating the pattern.

To prevent and fix split nights, you will want to ensure they are having a 12-13h
long day (the time between morning wake up and bedtime), and an appropriate
total amount of daytime sleep for their age. You’ll also want to wake them up by
a certain time each morning, even if they had a big wake up overnight.
 Scheduling Related Sleep Challenges

FALSE
STARTS

False starts are another sleep challenge often brought

on by non-optimal sleep scheduling. These are wake ups
that happen within 1h of your child’s bedtime.
They are often caused by over OR undertiredness - I know it’s confusing.

Overtired babies produce higher levels of cortisol which then can impact their
ability to settle into deep sleep. This sometimes leads to a false start at bedtime
(or an early morning wake up!).

Undertired babies don’t have enough sleep pressure to push past one sleep
cycle at bedtime, and can have false starts too.

It’s also important to look at the possibility of both over and undertiredness on a
whole day scale, rather than just focusing on how long the wake window was
before bedtime. If your baby’s wake windows are slightly too short throughout
the day or they are taking too few naps, they may treat bedtime like another
nap (false start!).

Alternatively, if your baby is taking too many naps their overall awake time may
be too high causing false starts due to overtiredness at bedtime (the more naps
a baby takes, the more wake windows they have).
 Scheduling for Multiples

When trying to optimize sleep scheduling for

multiples, I recommend using a “15 minute
rule”. What this means is that if Twin A takes
only a catnap, it’s unfortunately your best bet
to wake Twin B up no more than 15 minutes
later. This helps to keep the next schedule
sleep time the same for both babies.

Twin parents usually know right away which of their babies is

the “most sensitive” sleeper. I always recommend honoring this
baby’s wake window when using the 15 minute rule. For
example, Twin A wakes up from short nap at 10:30, Twin B is
woken up 15 minutes later at 10:45. If Twin A is the more
sensitive sleeper you will begin the wake window at 10:30 for
both babies, and put Twin A down first.
Sleep Totals by Age

4-5+
Wake Window Examples

***These are all just EXAMPLE schedules- there are other options!
They are also created under the assumption that nap transitons are
happening at average ages, if your little one takes longer to drop a nap
use the schedule from the previous age/stage.
 Final Notes
I hope you have found this schedule guide helpful! It’s
important to remember that the purpose of this sleep
guide is to help you determine how to optimize and
understand your child’s sleep schedule.

It is not meant to cover all of the different factors associated with pediatric sleep
challenges. Sleep scheduling is only one piece of the puzzle! Focusing on sleep
environment, sleep routines, creating/changing sleep associations, and identifying any
possible feeding or health challenges are all equally important steps to improving
sleep for your baby or toddler. Please also remember that only you get to decide if
your child’s sleep (or sleep schedule) is a problem!

If it's working for you, it’s working.

If you have tried to apply the scheduling recommendations in this guide and haven't
been able to figure out what works best for your little one, we would be happy to help. A
30 minute consultation call is a great level of personalized support for families who are
primarily struggling with sleep scheduling. These calls can be booked here.
 Sleep
consulting
for tired
families

thesleepconsultant.ca