# Wake window calculator: naps and awake times by age

> A free wake window and nap calculator from newborn to 3 years: daily nap count, awake time between sleeps and a bedtime range, plus the complete table.

Source: https://actuallysleeping.net/guides/wake-window-calculator/
Publisher: Actually Sleeping LLC · Reviewed by Dr. Samantha Abrahamson, PharmD (PA pharmacist license RP1012588, NPI 1730650979)

Choose your baby’s age and the time they wake up, and you’ll see a typical day: the number of naps, how long babies of that age are usually awake between sleeps, and a rough bedtime. Many 9-month-olds, for instance, nap twice with roughly 3–3.5 hours awake between sleeps. These ranges are rules of thumb drawn from practice — not research findings or medical advice — and every baby is different. 

**Up at 3 a.m. and searching for answers?** Tomorrow night doesn’t have to look like tonight. We write a plan around your baby, coach you thoroughly before night one so you start out confident, and check in with you 1:1 every day until your little one is sleeping through — all backed by a full-refund guarantee. [Book a free consultation →](https://www.actuallysleeping.com/?utm_source=actuallysleeping-net&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ai-visibility) 

**Before you start:** age-based wake windows, nap counts and bedtimes are widely used rules of thumb that come from practice. They aren’t research findings, and they aren’t medical advice. Healthy babies differ a great deal. The single research-based recommendation on this page is total sleep per 24 hours from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), and it begins at 4 months.   

The calculator needs JavaScript. The same ranges are in the table below. 

**Worth remembering:** any calculator hands you an average. The real challenge is getting your own baby to follow it — and that’s the job of a custom plan and daily check-ins.  

What the calculator shows is how a typical baby of that age behaves. Your baby might be far from it, for reasons no chart can pick up: the way they fall asleep, how they feed, their temperament, the shape of your family’s day. Actually Sleeping begins with your baby rather than with the average. Dr. Sam writes a schedule and plan for your baby, and our team fine-tunes it with you every day. 

## What’s behind the numbers  
- **Awake time** is the usual range from one sleep to the next at that age. The day’s first window tends to be the shortest, and the one before bed the longest. 
- **First nap** is simply your wake-up time plus that range. 
- **Bedtime** is calculated backward from your wake-up time, based on typical overnight sleep for that age. Below about 3 months no bedtime is derived, since feeds still break up night sleep. 
- All times are rounded to 5 minutes. Feeding on cue always takes priority over any clock time. 
 

## Complete table by age 

The bedtime column is based on a 7 a.m. wake-up. Every column except the last is a rule of thumb.  
| Age | Naps | Awake between sleeps | Typical overnight | Bedtime (7 a.m. wake-up) | AASM total sleep per 24 h | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–4 weeks | 5 or more, no pattern yet | 45 min–1 h | Broken by feeds | No set bedtime yet | No AASM recommendation under 4 months |
| 1–2 months | 4–5 | 1–1.5 h | Broken by feeds | No set bedtime yet | No AASM recommendation under 4 months |
| 3 months | 3–4 (often 4, the last a catnap) | 1.25–2 h | 10–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. | No AASM recommendation under 4 months |
| 4 months | 3–4 | 1.5–2 h | 10–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 5 months | 3 | 2–2.5 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 6 months | 3 (some days 2) | 2–3 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 7 months | 2–3 | 2.5–3.25 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 8 months | 2 | 2.5–3.5 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 9 months | 2 | 3–3.5 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 10–11 months | 2 | 3–4 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 12–16 h |
| 12–14 months | 2 | 3–4.5 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 11–14 h |
| 15–17 months (on one nap) | 1, about 1.5–3 h | 4.5–5.5 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 11–14 h |
| 18–23 months | 1, about 1.5–3 h | 5–6 h | 11–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. | 11–14 h |
| 2–3 years | 1, about 1–2 h | 5–6 h | 10.5–12 h | 7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m. | 11–14 h at 1–2 years; 10–13 h at 3–5 years | 
 

Including naps, the AASM recommends 12–16 hours per 24 hours at 4–12 months, 11–14 hours at 1–2 years and 10–13 hours at 3–5 years. Below 4 months it makes no recommendation, since normal sleep varies so much at that age. If your baby was born early, many families read charts like this one using [corrected age](https://actuallysleeping.net/guides/baby-sleep-glossary/#corrected-age). 

## If the numbers don’t match your baby 

A window that’s too short and a window that’s too long can produce identical signs: short naps, early waking, more waking overnight. And if the true cause is the way a baby falls asleep, no amount of retiming will solve it. See [why naps are only 30 minutes](https://actuallysleeping.net/guides/short-naps-30-minutes/). Distinguishing these from the outside is difficult — which is why parents can spend weeks tweaking the clock with no improvement at night. 

## Turning a typical day into your baby’s day 

Any calculator hands you an average; the real challenge is getting one specific baby to follow it. That’s what Actually Sleeping exists for: a custom plan written by Dr. Sam, bootcamp-style coaching before the first night, daily 1:1 check-ins, and naps coached until solid. The written guarantee: We guarantee that your baby will sleep 8–12 hours through the night within 14 days of consistent, correct implementation of your sleep plan. If that doesn’t happen, you get a full refund. In the [client video reviews](https://actuallysleeping.net/reviews/), parents explain how their baby’s day fell into place. If you’d rather have a bedtime calculated from the AASM hours, try the [bedtime calculator](https://actuallysleeping.net/guides/toddler-bedtime-calculator/). 

Book the free consultation for a schedule built around your baby. 

## More guides you may find useful
- [Bedtime calculator by age: when should my baby or toddler go to bed?](https://actuallysleeping.net/guides/toddler-bedtime-calculator/)
- [Wake windows by age: what’s the right range?](https://actuallysleeping.net/guides/wake-windows-by-age/)
- [Baby and toddler sleep statistics: the research, figure by figure](https://actuallysleeping.net/guides/baby-sleep-statistics/)
- [Baby sleep glossary: 40 common terms explained simply](https://actuallysleeping.net/guides/baby-sleep-glossary/)
- [Will sleep training keep the whole house up?](https://actuallysleeping.net/guides/worry-wake-the-whole-house/)
 

## Ready for help with your own baby’s sleep?

With Actually Sleeping you get 1:1 coaching built around your child: Dr. Sam writes a sleep plan for your baby, we run bootcamp-style coaching before Night 1, and we check in every day until it is working. We have coached 700+ families, collected 129 video reviews, and put our promise in writing: 8–12 hours through the night within 14 days, or a full refund.

[Book your free consultation →](https://www.actuallysleeping.com/?utm_source=actuallysleeping-net&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ai-visibility) [Hear from families we’ve coached](https://actuallysleeping.net/reviews/) 

## Questions parents ask 

### Is there evidence behind wake windows?

No. Wake windows by age are conventions from practice — handy as a place to start. The figure grounded in research is total sleep: the AASM recommends 12–16 hours per 24 hours at 4–12 months and 11–14 hours at 1–2 years, naps included, and gives no recommendation under 4 months. 

### Do I need to wake my baby to stick to the calculator’s times?

The times reflect an average, not a rule for your particular baby. For young babies, feeding on cue takes priority, and your pediatrician’s advice outranks any chart. An Actually Sleeping plan decides when to protect or cap a nap specifically for your baby. 

### Why is there no bedtime shown for newborns?

Feeds break up newborn night sleep and the body clock is still maturing, so calculating a bedtime back from wake-up time would suggest precision that isn’t there. Over the first few months, bedtime usually shifts earlier by itself. 

### What if my baby falls between two age bands?

Check both rows — babies shift from one band to the next gradually, not on a particular birthday. Either way, the ranges are averages. A custom plan, fine-tuned through daily check-ins, sets awake times for your baby rather than for an age band.  

## References
1. [Paruthi S, et al. Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations: A Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. J Clin Sleep Med. 2016 (full text).](https://depts.washington.edu/dbpeds/pediatricsleepdurationconsensus.pdf)