Features

Wake windows by age — when is the next sleep due?

Wake windows by age are the stretch a baby can comfortably stay awake between one sleep and the next: thirty to sixty minutes in a newborn, several hours by the first birthday. Too short a window and the baby lies awake after being put down; too long and the body works to stay awake, and settling gets harder.

Agubu counts the window for you. When you log sleep, it shows on the Today screen roughly when the next sleep is due, from the last wake-up time and your baby's age. It is an estimate, not an alarm — when the clock and the baby disagree, the baby is right.

Rough ranges by age

These are broad figures that appear across common paediatric sleep guidance. If your baby was born early, use their corrected age. The ranges are wide because babies genuinely differ that much.

0-1 month — usually 30 to 70 minutes
1-3 months — usually 45 minutes to 1.5 hours
3-6 months — usually 1.5 to 2.5 hours
6-10 months — usually 2 to 3.5 hours
10-18 months — usually 3 to 5 hours
18-24 months — usually 4 to 6 hours

How the app shows the window

The Next sleep card at the top of the Today screen puts three things together: how many minutes your baby has been awake, the typical window for their age (for example 45-105 minutes at 1-3 months), and roughly how long until the next sleep is expected. While your baby sleeps, the card says so and starts counting the moment you log the wake-up.

With no sleep logged yet, the card shows the general range for the age and becomes specific to your baby after a single sleep entry. The same information feeds the cry analysis: for a baby who has been awake a long time, “tired” moves up the ranking.

What tiredness looks like

Early signs are quiet and easy to miss: a glazed stare, yawning, rubbing eyes or ears, slower movement, burying their face into your shoulder. Late signs are loud: arms and legs thrown around stiffly, sudden crying that is hard to soothe, arching when picked up.

Use the window as “it has been 45 minutes, let me watch for the cues”, not “it has been 45 minutes, I should put them down”. After a few days of tracking your baby's own rhythm shows up and you stop needing the general ranges. The article Wake windows has the detail, and Sleep schedules by age has sample days.

How to use it in the app

On the Today tab, tap Start sleep when your baby falls asleep and Woke up on the same tile when they wake.
Watch the Next sleep card at the top of the screen for time awake and the approximate next sleep.
When the card says the next sleep is close, look at the baby rather than the clock: if the early cues are there, start winding down.
Open the Wake windows article on the Guide tab; the age ranges and cues are there, offline.

When to look at a doctor, not the clock

A wake window is a care tool, not a medical measurement. Speak to a clinician if your baby is hard to rouse or unusually floppy, if there are breathing pauses, loud snoring or any blueness during sleep, if there is fever, vomiting or a rash, or if feeding has clearly dropped. Sleep loss that has worn you down is a valid reason to ask for help too. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

The Next sleep card on Agubu's Today screen: “in about 75 min”, with the line “awake 0 min · typical window at 1-3 months is 45-105 min” underneath

Frequently asked questions

What is the wake window for a 3 month old?

Common guidance gives 45 minutes to 1.5 hours at 1-3 months and 1.5 to 2.5 hours at 3-6 months; a 3-month-old sits on the boundary between the two. A few days of sleep logging shows where your own baby falls.

How does the app know when the next sleep is?

It doesn't know; it estimates. It takes the last wake-up time from your sleep log and the typical window from your baby's age. With no sleep logged it shows only the general range for the age.

What if my baby cries before the window ends?

The baby is right. Illness, vaccination days, travel and unsettled stretches can shorten the window, and the first window of the morning is usually the shortest. Treat the window as a reminder to watch for cues.

What are the wake windows for a 1 year old?

At 10-18 months common guidance gives roughly 3 to 5 hours, and many babies go from two naps to one somewhere in that stretch. The ranges are wide because babies differ; a few days of logging in Agubu shows where yours falls, and the Next sleep card counts from the last wake-up you log.