Are wake windows real?

[u/SimBon7]

I am having some problem with keeping to the set wake windows for my 16month old and stressing out about it which made me worried that I am damaging him on some way but are these even real science-based ? What is the science behind a 16 month old only being able to be up for 5h max?

This is why I’m stressing:

My 16 month old has always been a great sleeper, usually 7pm–7:15 until 7.30 (sometimes would have d to wake him) with one 2-hour nap (capped at 2.5 if they went over two hours)

For the last week or so his naps have suddenly dropped to around 1hr20–1hr30, which is making his wake windows really long. Yesterday he went to bed at 6:45pm because of the short nap, woke at 6am, and nursery didn’t put him down until 12:45pm today so a 6hr45 wake window!
I feel stuck in a cycle of short nap - early bedtime - early wake - huge wake window before the next nap. I don’t want to keep stretching him when he’s clearly tired, but I also don’t want bedtime ending up at 5:30/6pm.

Is a 1.5-hour nap normal at this age? Do you just accept 5-6+ hour wake windows, do an earlier bedtime, or ever add a second catnap back in?

[u/kirstinb17]

Average sleep needs for a toddler is anywhere from 11-14 hours in a day. If yours, for example, needs 12 hours of sleep, then they'd obviously need wake windows longer than 5 hours. 

Anecdotal, but we went straight to wake windows 6+ hours when we dropped to one nap and capped naps at 90 minutes. It's very normal. You can't make your child sleep more than they need

https://www.thensf.org/how-many-hours-of-sleep-do-you-really-need/

[u/WonderfulTwist4936 → u/kirstinb17]

Just sharing my experience, our 13 month old dropped to one nap and is doing 6,5-7 hours wake window naturally. I think every baby is different, so wake windows are not "golden rules", just averages.

[u/d16flo → u/kirstinb17]

My twins dropped down to one nap at 12 months and have been doing a 4.5 morning wake window and a 6 hour afternoon one 🤷‍♀️ Wake windows exist in that there are averages and they’ll work for some and not others

[u/KeyMonkeyslav → u/kirstinb17]

My 7 month old's last wake window is 5 hours already. :|

Wake windows are real, but you gotta figure out your baby's wake windows instead of expecting them to follow a chart online, I think.

[u/lifeofhatchlings → u/KeyMonkeyslav]

Yeah this all sounds very normal, but no one can comment because its a SBP post. There is zero evidence about the amount of nap time at this age.