Author Topic: Average awake time for 5-7 months old?  (Read 2236 times)

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Offline freewheelnat

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Average awake time for 5-7 months old?
« on: October 09, 2015, 19:52:24 pm »
I have found 2 posts in the FAQs that list average awake times. All great (exactly the reference I needed) but unfortunately, the awake times are different for 5 months, late 5/early 6 months, and 6.5-7 months.

The posts are
What are A times and how do they fit into the EASY plan?
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

The differences are:
5 months: 2 hrs - 2 hrs 15 mins vs 2 hrs - 2 hrs 30 mins
Late 5 months/early 6 months: 2 hrs 15 mins - 2hrs 30 mins vs 2 hrs 30 mins - 3 hrs
6.5 - 7 months: 2 hrs 45 mins-3 hrs vs 2 hrs 45 mins - 3 hrs 15 mins

The differences for 5 months and 6.5/7 months are slight, but the difference for late 5 months/early 6 months is quite significant. I have looked for awake time references in Tracy's books (I have both) but I couldn't find any. I did a search (got the books on Kindle), I may have searched for the wrong thing and missed them...

Offline Martini~

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Re: Average awake time for 5-7 months old?
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2015, 16:17:07 pm »
Tracy is not mentioning awake time as such. She explains routine for a 4mo /4h EASY/ with awake time around 2h and she says that at 6mo first nap should be at 9:30 and that's all. So...

It depends honey that's why the reference is different sometimes.
Generally Tracy's reco was to keep first A short (2.5h) up to the moment you drop the nap between 12-18mo. She suggests babies will make this nap short by themselves at some point (45min) and until they don't refuse it, you should offer. It's not stated in the book with timings but Tracy recommends also going to 2 naps around 6mo and with a shorter first A, you usually make later A times longer. So A time at 6mo can vary from 2.5-3.5 in theory according to Tracy.
Meantime many mothers say that with such a short A and the first nap not being shorten kiddos EWU. So we tend to recommend here equal A time or even push mornings a bit to get longer first A so eliminate early wakings and short napping at first nap. If you think about equal average A time for 6mo we say it's 3h and kiddos on two 1.5h and three 3h activities is having a 12h day. In reality it all depends on your child. So 3h would be average but your child can be doing only 2.5 or even 3.5 at that age.
~Marta

Offline freewheelnat

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Re: Average awake time for 5-7 months old?
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2015, 19:38:18 pm »
Thanks for details, that explains why two different FAQs have different values.

Totally know what you mean about it depending on child - at 4 months, mine was ready for 4 hourly feeds but not for 2 hours awake time, but now, at 19 weeks, her A time is exactly 2 hours, she went from managing 1 hr 45 to 2 hrs within a few days, after 3 weeks of managing only 1 hr 45, so it's definitively not a linear process and average A times are only useful to have a kind of idea of what A time could be, cues are of course the thing to follow (but easier to do when you have a time range in mind).

Offline Martini~

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Re: Average awake time for 5-7 months old?
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2015, 12:19:38 pm »
Yes, jumps in A are typical and totally in line with Wonder Weeks theory if you ever heard.
Shorter A at 4mo is a cue for you Honey. It means that probably also later your child can be average or a bit high sleep needs. It's a useful tip for a future reference - so when to transition to 1 nap and etc.
« Last Edit: October 12, 2015, 07:55:43 am by Martini~ »
~Marta

Offline freewheelnat

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Re: Average awake time for 5-7 months old?
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2015, 16:04:13 pm »
Yes, I have the wonder weeks book too, but I haven't noticed fussy/sunny weeks, even though I have noticed the leaps in terms of what my LO does. I didn't think of it in terms of A time but it makes sense too. Thanks!