Biological Sleep Windows
The importance of timing when it comes to naps
Babies need their naps till they are about 3 years old. Little ones need 3-4 naps, older babies require 2, and toddlers only 1.
What makes all the difference in the quality of those naps is timing. If babies are over-tired or under-tired when they are offered a nap, settling can take a long while, the nap will cut short, and the next nap (or bedtime) is compromised.
When offering naps to our babies, we are looking at their biological sleep windows.
Each baby has 3 sleep windows a day:
9-10am
12-2pm and
6-7pm
In these sleep windows the production of the wake hormone (serotonin) drops, and sleep hormone (melatonin) rises. This makes it easier for babies to settle to sleep, and get a good rest. Putting babies down outside these windows can take longer, and their sleep will not be as restorative.
So when it comes to morning naps we are aiming to start the nap at 9am, maximising our babies’ chances to rest well as their body is in an optimal stage to rest.
Afternoon nap will be offered between 12-1pm, ensuring our babies get plenty of time to rest within their sleep window, and recharge their emotional and energy tanks.
Bedtime it thus going to be offered at 6-6:30pm. Again, to help our babies start their night early enough to not get overtired, and get all the sleep they require until morning.
When babies are put to bed too late in the evening (7-8pm) they are overtired, which makes it that much difficult to settle them. Adding to the mixture their hormonal situation (sleep hormone dropping, wake hormone rising), and you got yourself a recipe for exhaustion.
When bedtime is offered at these later hours, not only do babies take longer to settle, but they tend to wake up frequently before midnight. This is due to over-tiredness which results in production of cortisol, the stress hormone. No one can sleep well with cortisol in their system.
When our babies don’t sleep well overnight and wake up too tired, they will naturally want to sleep early and for long in their morning nap. This can start a vicious cycles of bad sleep, and bad sleeping habits.
Awareness of babies’ sleep windows, optimal sleep times and duration, can prevent over-tiredness, introduce good sleeping habits, and ensure our babies get all the sleep they need.
If you need help addressing early morning wake-ups, you can download my guide here.
To help your baby get the sleep they need, book a sleep consultation package today, or find out more in a free discovery call below.