Wake windows at 10 and 11 months

A sample day at 10 and 11 months

Here is what the planner gives a 10 month old who wakes at 7:00 am, on a day without surprises:

Wake 7:00 am · Nap 1 10:00–11:00 am · Nap 2 2:15–3:30 pm · Bedtime 7:05 pm

Three hours awake before the morning nap, a little over three before the afternoon one, and the longest stretch, about 3½ hours, before bed. And this is the same day at 11 months:

Wake 7:00 am · Nap 1 10:05–11:05 am · Nap 2 2:25–3:40 pm · Bedtime 7:20 pm

Honestly, that's the whole difference between 10 and 11 months: the same two naps and the same 3–4 hour range, with every window a few minutes longer and bedtime drifting a quarter of an hour later. That's why this page covers both. In the planner above, tap “Fell asleep” and “Woke up” as the day goes and it re-plans the rest of it; if you enter a birth date instead of the age, it follows your baby week by week.

What changes at 10 and 11 months

The windows jump. At 9 months a comfortable stretch awake was 2½–3½ hours; somewhere around 10 months it becomes 3–4 hours. You'll notice it first in the morning: the baby who used to be ready for a nap at 9:30 now plays happily until 10 and then takes a short nap or fights it if you put them down earlier. Moving the morning nap later by 15 minutes every few days usually settles it. The afternoon nap follows, and bedtime ends up a little later too.

The nap strike that isn't a transition. Many 10 and 11 month olds go through a week or two of refusing one of their naps, usually the second one. They chat, stand up in the crib and seem fine. It looks like a baby who is ready for one nap, and it almost never is: most babies keep two naps until somewhere between 13 and 18 months. Dropping to one nap at 10 months tends to end with an overtired baby, short naps and early mornings a week later. What helps:

• Keep offering both naps. A nap that is 20 minutes of quiet rest in a dark room still takes the edge off the afternoon.
• Stretch the windows within the range: if the morning nap has been creeping later, the schedule wants longer windows, not fewer naps.
• On a day when the second nap fails, move bedtime earlier, down to 6:30 pm. The planner does this for you when you log a short or missing nap.

Cap the morning nap. A long morning nap is often what pushes the afternoon nap out. If your baby sleeps 2 hours in the morning and then refuses the afternoon, wake them after about an hour; the planner puts the morning nap at roughly an hour and the afternoon one at an hour and a quarter for this reason. Within a few days the afternoon nap usually comes back.

Cruising, standing and first words. Most babies this age pull up to stand and walk holding on to furniture, and some take first steps. New skills like to be practiced in the crib, at nap time and at 2 am. Plenty of floor time during the day helps, and so does practicing sitting down from standing, so your baby can get themselves back down without calling you. Lower the crib mattress to its lowest setting once they can pull up, if you haven't already.

Separation anxiety. According to the AAP, most babies develop strong separation anxiety around 9 months, and for many it's still going strong now; some meet it for the first time at 15 or 18 months instead. A clingy bedtime, crying the moment you leave the room, waking at night to check you're still there: all normal. A short, predictable bedtime routine and a calm, quick goodbye work better than sneaking out.

Sleepy cues at 10 and 11 months, and when they disagree with the clock

• Early cues: losing interest in toys, quieter play, staring off, wanting to be held.
• Late cues: rubbing the eyes, pulling the ears, clumsiness (falling over more when cruising), whining.
• Overtired: crying hard, arching, or a burst of wild energy late in the afternoon.

At this age the clock is more reliable than the cues, because a busy 10 month old hides tiredness well: there is too much to explore. Use the wake window to plan the day and the cues to fine-tune it by 15 minutes either way.

Born early?

Plan by adjusted age: a baby born 6 weeks early who is 10 months old today sleeps more like an 8½ month old, so the 9-month page may fit better for now. The planner does the math if you tap “Born more than 3 weeks early?”; here is how adjusted age works. Pediatricians use adjusted age until about 2 years.

Frequently asked questions

All ages: wake windows by age · the full nap schedule planner, newborn to 3 years.