A baby sleep schedule built from wake windows
This baby sleep schedule tool turns your baby’s age and the time they woke up into a day plan: how long to keep them awake, when each nap is likely to start and end, and a suggested bedtime. It then adds up day and night sleep and checks the total against the ranges published by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), whose recommendations are endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
A wake window calculator is built in too: type when your baby last woke and it tells you when the next sleep is likely to be due, so you can start winding down before an overtired meltdown.
Wake windows are a rule of thumb, not medical science. Use the plan as a starting point and adjust it to the sleepy cues your own baby shows.
How to use the Baby Sleep Schedule & Wake Window Calculator
- Choose your baby’s age (for premature babies, use the corrected age).
- Enter the time your baby woke up for the day.
- Pick Shorter, Typical or Longer wake windows to match your baby.
- Adjust the number of naps and average nap length to what really happens.
- Read the nap times, bedtime and total sleep; use the wake window timer during the day.
Baby Sleep Schedule & Wake Window Calculator features
Schedule from your wake-up time
Every awake period and nap is laid out with clock times, ending in a bedtime.
Windows that grow through the day
The first window sits at the short end of the age range and the one before bed at the long end, as most babies manage.
Total sleep check
Day plus night sleep is compared with the NSF and AASM/AAP ranges for the age, with a clear badge.
Wake window timer
Enter when your baby woke (or tap Now) to see the window for the next sleep.
Remembers your settings
Age, wake time and nap pattern are saved in this browser only.
What is a wake window?
A wake window is the stretch of time a baby can comfortably stay awake between two sleeps. To count a wake window, start the clock when your baby wakes up (not when you get them out of the cot) and stop it when they fall asleep again. Feeds, nappy changes and the bedtime routine all count as awake time.
Newborns can manage only 35–60 minutes; by their first birthday many babies stay awake 3–4 hours, and toddlers on one nap 5–6 hours. The ranges below are the typical ranges widely used in infant-sleep guides — no medical body publishes official wake windows.
| Age | Typical wake window | Usual naps | Total sleep in 24 h |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–4 weeks | 35–60 min | 4–6+ | 14–17 h (NSF) |
| 1–2 months | 60–90 min | 4–5 | 14–17 h (NSF) |
| 2–4 months | 1¼–2 h | 3–4 | 14–17 h (NSF) |
| 4–6 months | 1¾–2½ h | 3 | 12–15 h NSF · 12–16 h AASM |
| 6–8 months | 2–3 h | 2–3 | 12–15 h NSF · 12–16 h AASM |
| 8–12 months | 2½–4 h | 2 | 12–15 h NSF · 12–16 h AASM |
| 12–15 months | 3–4½ h | 2 | 11–14 h |
| 15–18 months | 4½–6 h | 1–2 | 11–14 h |
| 18 months – 3 years | 5–6½ h | 1 | 11–14 h |
| 3–5 years | all day | 0–1 | 10–13 h |
How the schedule is calculated
With n naps there are n + 1 wake windows. The first window is placed a quarter of the way into the age range and the last three-quarters of the way (Shorter and Longer shift both by a quarter). Each window is rounded to 5 minutes, then nap lengths are added in turn.
Worked example: a 7-month-old waking at 7:00 am with three one-hour naps and 2–3 h windows gets windows of 2 h 15, 2 h 25, 2 h 35 and 2 h 45 min: naps at 9:15 am, 12:40 pm and 4:15 pm, and bedtime at 8:00 pm. That is 3 h of day sleep plus 11 h at night = 14 h, inside the NSF 12–15 h range.
Safe sleep comes first
- Put your baby on their back for every sleep, day and night, with their feet at the foot of the cot.
- Use a firm, flat, waterproof mattress with no pillows, quilts, bumpers or soft toys; inclined sleepers are not safe.
- Keep your baby in a cot or Moses basket in your room for at least the first 6 months (NHS); never sleep with a baby on a sofa or armchair.
- Keep them smoke-free and not too hot. For feeds through the night, see the baby feeding chart.
Baby Sleep Schedule & Wake Window Calculator FAQ
How do I count wake windows?
From the moment your baby wakes up to the moment they fall asleep again. Time spent feeding, changing and settling is part of the window.
What is a good baby sleep schedule for a 6-month-old?
Often three naps with wake windows of about 2–3 hours, giving a bedtime between about 6:30 and 8:00 pm depending on wake-up time. Enter your baby’s wake time to see a full plan.
My baby fights naps. Is the wake window too short or too long?
Both are possible. A baby who plays happily in the cot may need a longer window; one who cries hard and wakes after 30 minutes may be overtired. Try moving one step, Shorter or Longer, for a few days.
Does the wake window calculator work for premature babies?
Use your baby’s corrected age — their age counted from the due date. The corrected age calculator works it out.
How much sleep does a baby need?
The NSF recommends 14–17 hours for 0–3 months and 12–15 hours for 4–11 months; the AASM, endorsed by the AAP, says 12–16 hours for 4–12 months and 11–14 hours for 1–2 years, including naps.
Is this medical advice?
No — general information for parents, as of October 2026. Talk to your paediatrician or health visitor about sleep worries, snoring, breathing pauses or a baby who is hard to wake.