False starts: why your baby is waking 30-60 minutes after bedtime
You’ve just gotten your baby down for bedtime. You head to the kitchen to grab a snack, then you sit down on the couch to enjoy some Netflix and unwind after a long day. But shortly into your relaxation time, you hear your baby awake and crying again. So you head back upstairs to start the bedtime process all over again. What gives?
Welcome to the frustrating world of false starts. These can be even more frustrating when it’s a long process to get your baby asleep in the first place.
What is a false start?
A false start is when your baby wakes between 30 and 60 minutes after bedtime. Basically, they’ve been asleep for 1 sleep cycle and now are fully waking back up again and struggling to stay asleep. Sometimes it will just happen once. Other times they will fall back asleep, only to have another false start 30-60 minutes after the first false start.
But the good news is that there are 3 main reasons why your baby may be experiencing false starts. And it can be easy to fix when you have the right information! Keep reading for the top 3 reasons your baby may be experiencing false starts.
Overtired at bedtime put down
If your baby is already in an overtired state by bedtime, this can absolutely lead to false starts. Overtiredness can not only lead to false starts but it can also be the culprit for other night wakings and early morning wakings.
How do you know if your baby is overtired at bedtime?
Look for a couple signs:
If your baby is becoming fussy or agitated before or during the bedtime routine then this could be a sign that you are missing their ideal put down time. We don’t want to wait until your baby is fussy and acting tired to put them to bed, instead we want to beat them to it.
Sometimes, babies become hyperactive when they're overtired, almost as if they're trying to fight off sleep. If your baby seems unusually energetic or restless close to bedtime, it could be a sign of overtiredness.
Overtired babies may have trouble feeding properly, either because they're too fussy to latch on or because they fall asleep before finishing a feed.
f your baby is falling asleep very quickly at bedtime (within 5 minutes), this is another sign that they are overtired. It’s natural for the process of falling asleep to take 5-15 minutes so if you notice it’s pretty instantaneous AND you’re experiencing false starts, this is a big clue.
What’s the solution for overtiredness at bedtime?
Pull that bedtime earlier! Make it earlier by 30 minutes or so. Try this for a couple of nights and if there is no improvement go another 15 minutes earlier. We also want to stop waiting for those tired cues before getting your baby ready for bed and instead try to beat the fussiness and yawning when possible.
Too much daytime sleep
If your baby is napping too much or too long during the day, this can be another big culprit for false starts. While napping and rest during the day is great, too much can cause sleep pressure issues. Babies require sleep pressure to sleep well throughout the night. That sleep pressure builds during awake time in the day. It’s important to ensure they nap during the day but without overdoing it.
How do you know if your baby is getting too much daytime sleep?
Watch how long your baby is napping for each day. Do they seem to be making up for lack of night sleep by napping a lot during the day?
If your baby is on 3+ naps a day, their last nap should be more of a cat nap (30-45 minutes). If that last nap is longer, it could be stealing night sleep.
Check out my FREE wake window guide to compare your child’s sleep schedule with my age-based recommendations.
What’s the solution if my baby is getting too much daytime sleep?
Tweak their daytime schedule so that it is more age appropriate and balances naps and night sleep better. Compare your baby’s current schedule to the free schedule guide I offer and see where they might be overdoing it. Also, don’t be afraid to wake your baby from any nap that is reaching 2 hours (or reaching 45 minutes for that last nap of the day).
Lack of independent sleep skills
If you’ve worked on your baby’s sleep schedule and feel like everything is in alignment, then the last likely culprit is a lack of independent sleep skills. If your baby is waking about 30-60 minutes after bedtime, this lines up perfectly with a full sleep cycle for them. It’s normal for babies to have partial or full arousals after each sleep cycle. But if they don’t know how to fall back asleep and start a new sleep cycle on their own, then they will be calling out for you right around this time.
How do you know if your baby is lacking independent sleep skills?
If your baby needs your assistance to fall asleep (rocking, nursing, laying with, bottle-feeding, etc.) then that means they either don’t have independent sleep skills or they aren’t consistently using those skills.
Even if your baby is able to fall asleep alone in their crib but needs a pacifier in their mouth (or replaced by you each time it falls out), then they are still not technically using independent sleep skills.
What’s the solution if my baby is lacking independent sleep skills?
Teach them! Our babies are so smart and more capable than we often realize. Even if your baby has never fallen asleep on their own, we can work with them to help them learn this important skill. This is often done through the process of sleep training and can be a game-changer for many families.
If this is something that you’d like to teach your baby but you don’t know where to start, let’s chat! I offer 1:1 consultations to help walk families through this process and support them along the way.
