Episode #149: 6-Month-Old Wake Windows & Sample Nap Schedules

Disclaimer: Transcripts were generated automatically and may contain inaccuracies and errors.

Welcome to the kids sleep Show podcast where we dive into the magical world of sleep, and all things parenting. Join us as we embark on a journey filled with expert advice, practical tips and heartwarming stories that will transform your little ones into sleep superheroes, and empower you to navigate the beautiful chaos of parenting. I’m your host, Courtney Vance, and I’m on a mission to change how the world view sleep and provide accessible sleep coaching resources for all families to build healthy sleep habits in their home for children, and adults of all ages. As an award winning speaker, author and pediatric sleep expert, myself and my team of consultants work intimately with families around the world to teach healthy sleep habits to children and adults. I believe wholeheartedly that sleep is the foundation for which a happy home is built. So let’s sleep together. Hey, everyone, Courtney’s ends here, the founder of tiny transitions and the creator of the sleep Steps program. Today, we’re talking all about the six month week window and how we can help your little one to take longer, more consistent naps to adjust when they’re waking and how they’re waking, and also how easily they go to bed so that they sleep through the night. Six months of age is a really pivotal age, because at this point, children should have the capability as long as they’re eating normally. And there’s nothing off to be able to go through the night without needing to eat. And they also have the ability to take long, consistent and scheduled naps. But you’re really in this little bit of a tricky situation, because you shouldn’t be at six months old, moving from three naps a day, over to two naps a day. So between six months old and seven months old. There’s this shift that happens. But let me start with a little bit of a background. So you understand where I’m coming from children at six months of age should be sleeping from 14 to 16 hours in a 24 hour period. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, I say it’s somewhere around about 14 or 15 hours, you want on average 11 to 12 hours overnight, which means if your child is going to bed at seven o’clock, they should be waking somewhere between six and seven in the morning. Naturally, they should also be on a schedule that is conducive to about three hours of sleep. But at six months old, it can really look two different ways. You can have a child who’s on three naps a day that are all a little bit shorter or kind of balanced, right, you can have a child who’s on three naps a day with two one cycle naps for about 45 minutes, and then one longer nap for about 90 minutes. Or you can have a child at this point. And in some cases, in our private sleep coaching practice based on the situation, we will force a child into a set nap schedule with two naps, one in the morning hours and one in the afternoon hours. Now every situation with children is completely different. So you have to look at so many different variables, when as sleep coaches, we’re trying to determine what’s going to be best for your baby. So I’m gonna explain those today since I don’t get the opportunity to work with everyone privately. And we are just recently launching our sleep steps community. And not everyone knows about it yet. So what we’re going to talk about are kind of how you judge what situation or schedule your child should be on at six months old. So first and foremost, I want to start with intake, because intake is actually probably the number two thing that you need to have good sleep. The first is good sleep hygiene or the ability to settle independently without support to sleep. So intake for children is 24 to 32 ounces in a given 24 hour period. So what does that mean? Typically at this age, your children is taking five feedings and if they’re on a seven to seven type schedule, those feedings are going to look like this 7am When they wake or somewhere right around there, right before that first nap around 10 o’clock, which we’ll get to in a few minutes. And then another feeding around one o’clock, another feeding around four o’clock. And then another feeding right before bed around seven o’clock. So five feedings at this age with an average intake at this age of somewhere between five and seven ounces, it’s gonna happily put you into that threshold of 24 to 32. And that’s the same for breast milk and for Formula. Okay. Now a lot of times people say Well, should I be feeding my baby on a schedule? Should they be feeding on demand? I’ll tell you most babies who feed on demand, end up with the same intake as a baby who takes full feedings and oftentimes the baby takes full feedings five times a day, they’re actually going to inch out a little bit more than if they were just graze eating all day. I like to use the analogy of toddlers, right if my toddler woke up and had an applesauce, and then they ate breakfast, and then they asked for goldfish and then they wanted some carrots and then they wanted a cookie and then lunch. Just came and all of a sudden, they’re like me, not hungry. But I’ll have an apple, right and you’re like, Ah, you’re not eating real food, right. So it’s not to say that by grazing, they’re not eating real food, it just means that their body never gets fully hungry. So they’re not taking a full feeding, they’re perpetually snacking, and perpetual snacking means they’re not getting that full belly. And what I found is kids that have that perpetual snacking as a baby, right, with a lot of different small feedings of milk, they end up with way more signs of colic between four o’clock and seven o’clock at night. So I always get a lot of flack about this, because I’m trying to make sure I’m clear that I’m not saying don’t feed a hungry baby. But I’m saying try to get your child on a better schedule, if you’re noticing those symptoms, because by the end of the day, their tank gets kind of a little bit off, and then it can cause agitation, discomfort. Whenever I work with a family and my private sleep coaching, who says their child has colic, I put them on a set feeding schedule, full feedings, and we work through it again, every situation is different. So I look at the whole picture and when they’re eating and when they’re eating overnight, and readjusting slowly but deliberately to get them on these type of schedule with those five feedings. And what I find is that call it goes away every single time. Okay, so I can’t tell you what others will say I can tell you that I’ve done this for 10 years with 1000s of families. And every single time it goes away, okay? When they are not overtired when they are eating on a schedule, when they have the ability to settle. And they get much more structure and routine. They end up all connecting to feel better. Now let’s talk about naps. Right. So I mentioned 10 o’clock in the morning. Why is that important? Well, children have a certain level of adenosine, which is the sleep pressure hormone, they have the ability to have that hormone rise when they wake and then when they sleep, it falls. And as children they have specific thresholds where if they get too much and they don’t take a nap, overtired, their brain goes, Oh, well, if you’re not trying to sleep, let me flood you with stimulant hormones. That’s where kids get like a second wind will babies do too. And then oftentimes, they’re fussy. inconsolable, you got the baby on your arm, and you’re trying to calm them down a little bit by swaying them and shushing them and doing all this stuff. Because they’re strung out. They’re overtired. They can’t settle or calm. Now they’re not eating right. And this progressively gets worse throughout the day. Okay, that wake window is crucial. Okay. And I still get comments from people who are like, my baby doesn’t follow a schedule. And that week window is ridiculous, and you’re an idiot, and you don’t know what you’re talking about. And that’s fine. Like, I’ve worked with 1000s of families for 10 years, and it works. And that’s why because it’s hormones. Hormones are such an important part of your baby’s daily routine. And parents don’t think about hormones with babies, right? You’ve got adrenaline, cortisol, adenosine, and melatonin. Okay? Melatonin is not a sleep aid. It is the hormone that prepares your body for sleep, which is triggered by darkness through your eyes when the sun is setting your body’s natural ability to create that cortisol between four and six in the morning when it’s the highest. Here’s your baby’s morning cup of coffee. And then you have adenosine, which is sleep pressure that goes up and down throughout the day. When you have a balanced day. Up and down, up and down. Babies are more even keeled, but when you’re just like, oh, down short, nap supportive now driving nap five minute nap, good nap, bad nap, all the things. It ends up being like this and it causes a baby to really have kind of trouble during the day yields trouble a bedtime yields trouble overnight, right? So it’s all connected. Okay, that’s the point I’m trying to make. So, at six months of age, you can have a child on three naps a day. They should not be on more than three naps a day. But if you are and you’re trying to get better, and you’re like Courtney, I’ve been watching you, I love tiny transitions. I love what you’re doing. Help me, right. If you’re on four naps a day, I’ll explain there and then how we get to two naps a day because that’s really at seven months where they need to be and they need to stay there till around 12 months. Okay, so let me explain. If you’re on four naps a day and you’re teaching your child the ability to independently settle, okay, you’re probably not going to have good strong naps, hence, still be on four naps a day at six months old. Okay, so here’s what you have to do. First, you got to work on the skill of independent sleep, because if they’re not taking longer naps at this age, it is likely that you are rocking them to sleep, bouncing them to sleep, feeding them to sleep, nursing them to sleep something with the term to sleep,

okay, because it six months biologically, they have the ability to consolidate naps, but only if they do it independently. Now, if you say hey, well, whenever I hold them, they sleep for two hours, but if I lay him in the crib, they’re up for 20 minutes. That means they don’t have the ability to independently settle. Okay? So what you have to do is first work on that. So when a child can settle independently in the crib, in a safe sleep environment, on their back, or if they’ve gotten to their belly on their own, they can sleep on their belly at this point in that safe place. And they settle themselves to sleep. Okay, that’s the first thing that creates consolidated sleep, if they’re not yet doing yet and you’re still on for naps start with the first nap of the day. That’s the one where they just need to settle independently. And then as the skill of sleep because it is a skill builds the ability to consolidate will as well and you’ll quickly drop to three naps, and then you’ll quickly drop to two naps over probably like a two week period. Okay, so you want your first nap to be independent in the crib, it’s probably going to be short when they’re learning. So the second nap, you support go for a walk, you hold them, you wear them, you carry them, you drive them, whatever you got to do to get them to sleep. Okay, third nap independent. Also still probably short, which is why we’re doing this. So they get the skill, but they don’t get overtired by supporting nap two and four. They’re not getting overtired, which causes trouble at bedtime. You see, it’s all connected, my friends. So if you’re still on for naps, at six months, or even if you have a five month old and you’re on for naps, and you’re like how do I get out of this dumpster fire, that’s how you start nap one, nap three, or independent nap to nap for support it when you move to three naps, you’re gonna have a child who’s sleeping roughly about an hour 930 1233 30. Or you’re gonna have a situation where they might take a 45 minute nap. And then their second nap of the day is 90 minutes. And then their third nap of the day is 45. Okay, some kids naturally fall into that cycle. That’s how my kids were. But I forced them there by basically saying, hey, this snap for 45 is going to be independent. The 90 minute one, I would walk, I would go for a walk and time it so that I gave them a few minutes to kind of settle in the stroller when we were walking. And then they would sleep and I would walk for 90 minutes. And then the third nap of the day was again independent in the crib. So it was 45. But it balances their day and then allows them to go to sleep. Still on the right schedule with these three naps. This happens a lot at daycare. I had two daycare babies. I work a ton with partnering with daycares to help their teachers understand sleep so that all of the infants in the infant room can get good quality sleep, right? But you know what pacifiers flinging across that room, a baby’s crying wakes the other ones up, right? Things are a little unpredictable at daycare. So sometimes you have to just balance the fact that they got three to three naps across the day. And then you watch that last nap time. If they woke up at four o’clock, and they are only five months old or barely six months old. I would put them to bed before seven 636 45 No, they will not wake up at three in the morning for the day. They are tired and they missed some of that timing here. So you got to put it into the bedtime they will settle well, they will not be overtired, they will take a full feed and they will sleep through the night presuming they can settle independently. Okay. Now, what schedule shows six month old beyond what schedule show the seven month old beyond right? At six months, we make the transition typically from three to two naps. Okay. By seven months, I will always put a private sleep coaching client on two naps. Unless they are a daycare and I explained we just have to balance the day, because it just it is what it is right. Two naps typically look like this 10 to 11. Okay, assuming they’re waking up at 710 to 11. And then three hours later, the awake window for that age is three hours, you have to force them to get there and you have to force them to get on the schedule, or everything will keep being off. Okay. So 10 o’clock is nap one. It’s either 10 To 1110 to 1130 or 10 to 12 your kids cycle times 45 minutes to 60 minutes, which is an average sleep cycle. And then if they’re taking one cycle or two cycles is going to kind of dictate how the timing works. So I’ll say it again 10 To 1110 to 1130 10 to 12. The second nap of the day is then if you have 10 to 11, three hours later, two to 410 to 1133 hours later. 230 To 410 to 12. Three hours later, three to four. Okay? Then guess what? What is four plus three, seven. So their bedtime is seven o’clock, three hours of an awake window. Three hours of total daytime sleep my friends, you just did it. That is what a schedule should look like for baby moving between six and seven months old. Sometimes my sleep coaching clients I’ll put on that a little earlier. Sometimes at seven months, they’re still taken three or even four naps are still feeding overnight. There can be a lot of variables, my friends, and so it’s not always cut and dry. But I will always move them with gradual coaching, depending on their unique situation to that schedule of two naps a day between six and seven months old. Okay, sleep is complex. So I can sit here and it’s very easy for me to be like, Oh, do this and every baby’s perfect and are all gonna look like this. They’re not but they can. Okay. So when we work with families, it’s in several different capacities. As it relates to coaching, right? We have sleep steps, hence the name of our course and community. It’s just $47 a month you can cancel anytime you get full sleep coaching. You get a written sleep program and you get access to me He and my amazing team in the community and weekly live zooms the next ones Wednesday and every Wednesday after that. And we have a bunch of different trainings at different times during the week as well, that come in from special guests. So if you’re struggling with sleep, check out sleep steps, it’s a great option. It’s the first of its kind that includes the coaching and community for such an amazing price, because I want truly everyone to get a good night of sleep. Okay, can I charge much more? Yes. Am I no, will I absolutely not. Because it’s my company. And I get to decide that. And my goal is to help everybody understand that they can have good quality sleep, you can work with us privately. We have many people that have hired us for 10 years as private coaches that want us in more of a one to one capacity, amazing. And we have some families who are like, Hey, I’m kind of close, Courtney, I’m kind of close. And I just want to talk to somebody for 30 minutes and figure out what the heck is going on here. You can absolutely book a 30 minute call. If you’re pregnant, you can add us to your registry at Target and Amazon. And I’ll pop the links below so you can see those. And you can have services like sleep coaching available to you. I am here to help you. My amazing team is here to help you and I truly believe that every family deserves a gift of sleep. So if you’re struggling right now, start with this. Hit subscribe, follow the channel and make sure you’re staying tuned with all of the different things we’re coaching out here. Because I want you to truly understand the importance of sleep the importance it has on your child’s mental and emotional and developmental kind of balance in the day and on yours as well. Because how you feel in the morning is how they feel to they just sometimes can’t express it. Thanks for watching, and thanks for tuning in. Be sure to click follow and let me know if you have any questions. We always welcome reviews, referrals and your feedback for future episodes. Thanks so much. Talk to you soon. Bye for now. One more thing before you go. Did you know that we offer the industry’s first affordable and effective self paced sleep coaching program that includes time with a pediatric sleep expert here on the tiny transitions team. It’s the industry’s first and only a membership program like this, that you can cancel anytime. And the best part. It’s cheaper than a cup of coffee every single day. So say goodbye to the ebooks and courses that are not helping your child sleep better. And join sleep steps today. The most comprehensive sleep education you need to get everyone sleeping through the night. Learn more by visiting tiny transitions.com