How long can my baby stay awake?
Wake windows by age: experience values from sleep consulting, not study findings – experts disagree on whether fixed wake times make sense. And why Moon Hour learns these values from your child.
The question every morning
It's just after six, the child is awake, and the question hangs in the air: when will they get tired again? Put down too early, they'll play instead of sleep. Too late, they get overtired and fall asleep less easily. Moon Hour answers this question anew every day – with reference values from sleep research, experience values from sleep consulting and what your child shows you.
Tiredness builds up
As long as a child is awake, sleep pressure rises – like a glass slowly filling up. Sleep empties it again. In babies the glass is small and fills quickly, which is why they sleep often. With age it fills more slowly, wake times get longer, and naps gradually drop away (Staton 2020).
Wake windows by age
| Age | Naps | Morning until the first nap | Before the night |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to 4 months | 4 | 1 hr | 1 hr 30 min |
| 4–6 months | 3 | 1 hr 45 min | 2 hr 30 min |
| 6–9 months | 2 | 2 hr 30 min | 3 hr 30 min |
| 9–12 months | 2 | 3 hr | 4 hr |
| 12–15 months | 2 | 3 hr | 4 hr |
| 15–24 months | 1 | 5 hr | 5 hr 30 min |
| 2–3 years | 1 | 5 hr | 6 hr |
| from 3 years | 1 | 5 hr | 6 hr |
The wake time runs from the first waking to the first nap (short value) up to the last one before the night (long value). Everything always fits into 24 hours – if you enter a different number of naps, the app shortens the wake times to match.
Your child teaches the app
Children are different – some need noticeably more or less sleep than average, and that stays fairly stable over months (Weissbluth 1995, Staton 2020). That's why the app looks at the last 14 days: how long was your child awake before falling asleep well? How long do they sleep when no one wakes them? With every entry, your own child counts more, up to at most 80 percent. The remaining 20 percent stays with the guideline, so a few difficult days don't upset the recommendation.
Time until evening
In studies, a long midday nap goes along with falling asleep a little later and a slightly shorter night (Reynaud 2026). That's why in the app the last nap ends at least one full wake time before the usual bedtime – otherwise it suggests “wake by”. If the midday nap is skipped entirely, it suggests going to bed about 45 minutes earlier.
Settling for naps
How long children take to fall asleep varies a lot from child to child; there are few studies on it (Galland 2012). If it hasn't worked after 20 minutes (under 18 months) or 30 minutes, the app suggests calmly ending the attempt.
Sources
- Canapari: Wake windows – what a sleep physician says
- Staton et al. 2020: Many naps, one nap, none (review)
- Galland et al. 2012: Normal sleep patterns in infants and children
- Iglowstein et al. 2003: Sleep duration from infancy to adolescence (Zurich Longitudinal Study)
- Weissbluth 1995: Naps in children (Sleep 18:82)
- Reynaud et al. 2026: Naps and night sleep in preschoolers
- Akacem et al. 2015: Midday nap and evening sleep in toddlers
General information, not a substitute for medical advice.
Sources checked: November 2026