Guides
Sleep
Wake windows, nap schedules, bedtime routines, regressions and night waking — the sleep questions parents actually look up, answered as ranges rather than rules.
8 guides · general information, never a substitute for your paediatrician
Baby wake windows by age, explained
A wake window is how long your baby can comfortably stay awake between sleeps. It grows from roughly 45 minutes at birth to 4–6 hours by 18 months. The right window is the one your own baby shows you, not the one on a chart.
12 min readNap schedule by age: how many naps, and when
Newborns nap four to six times a day, dropping to three naps by around five months, two by seven to nine months, and one by roughly 15 months. Most children stop napping between three and five. The count follows wake windows, not the clock.
15 min readSleep regressions by age, and how long each one lasts
A sleep regression is a temporary stretch of disrupted sleep that follows a developmental leap. Most last two to six weeks and resolve on their own. The 4-month one is the exception: it is a permanent change in how your baby sleeps, not a phase.
13 min readBuilding a bedtime routine that actually works
A good bedtime routine is short, identical every night, and ends in the room where your child will sleep. Twenty to forty minutes is enough. Consistency of order matters far more than which activities you choose.
7 min readWhy babies wake at night, by age
Waking at night is normal for babies and most toddlers. What changes with age is the reason: newborns wake because they need feeding, four-month-olds because their sleep cycles have matured into adult-like ones, and toddlers because of separation anxiety, a dropped nap or an overlong last wake window. The fix depends entirely on which of those you are dealing with.
8 min readHow much sleep does a toddler need? The ranges, by age
The AAP publishes the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s ranges: 11 to 14 hours per 24 hours including naps for one to two year olds, and 10 to 13 hours for three to five year olds. The NHS is slightly higher — around 12 to 15 hours after the first birthday, about 12 to 14 hours for most two year olds, and about 12 hours from three to five. Both are ranges rather than targets, and a child who wakes rested and holds their form through the afternoon is sleeping enough wherever they land inside them.
11 min readSafe sleep: what actually reduces the risk of SIDS
Put your baby on their back for every sleep, on a firm flat surface with nothing else on it, in their own cot in your room for at least the first six months. Never fall asleep with your baby on a sofa or armchair — the AAP puts that risk at up to 67 times higher. Keep the room between 16C and 20C, keep smoke away entirely, and do not delay their routine vaccinations.
12 min readSleep training: what the guidance actually supports
Neither the AAP nor the NHS endorses a named sleep-training method. What the AAP does publish, for babies four months and older, is two principles: put babies to bed when they are drowsy rather than waiting until they are asleep, and do not rush in to soothe a crying baby, because babies need time to put themselves back to sleep — while still attending to real needs such as feeding, a dirty nappy or illness. Every branded method is a way of applying those principles, not guidance in its own right.
11 min read