At some point, you’ve likely encountered what’s known as a ‘false start’ with your baby. This happens when you put your little one down for the night, they close their eyes, drift off to sleep, but then wake up again within 45 minutes.
False starts are different from regular night time wake-ups which usually happen after your baby has been asleep for at least an hour or more. Nighttime wake-ups are often due to hunger, their environment and typically after the four month sleep regression, due to difficulty transitioning between sleep cycles. This means that your little one hasn’t yet learned how to connect their sleep cycles independently, often due to reliance on one or more external sleep props.
Understanding the difference between a false start and a nighttime wake-up is key because each has a different underlying cause and, therefore, different solutions. To learn more about night wakings and sleep cycles please see my blog on REM and NREM sleep.
The solution to a false starts can often be found by identifying the cause.
Could your little one be waking quickly due to…
- Environment
Just like adults, babies don’t sleep well if they’re uncomfortable. Teething, reflux, wind or even environmental factors like being too warm or too cold can cause them to wake up shortly after falling asleep.
When it comes to temperature, dressing your baby appropriately for the room’s conditions is key especially as the seasons change. There is information on my social media page or The Lullaby Trust can also help with this.
- Uncomfortable
If you suspect trapped wind, or reflux, I recommend consulting with your health visitor or g.p, who can help you find appropriate remedies. Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of time as these issues pass especially if your little one is below 6 months of age. If over 6 months, could they be eating dense foods too close to bedtime?
Alternatively, could they still be hungry? I always suggest a full feed before bedtime keeping them awake and active so that they can take on the most food. When your little one is established on solids I always recommend a ‘sleepy snack’ in the pre bedtime routine downstairs to make sure they are just a little more satiated before bed.
- Under tired or a lack of Sleep Pressure
There are two main factors that help us fall asleep: our circadian rhythm (which tells our brain to produce melatonin as it gets dark) and homeostatic sleep drive (the body’s natural urge to sleep the longer we stay awake).
In baby’s sleep pressure builds much faster than in adults, which is why they need more naps during the day. However, as your baby gets older, this process slows down, and they require longer awake periods between naps as well as fewer naps to build up enough sleep pressure for night time sleep. If your baby seems wide awake and happy but takes a while to settle at bedtime, it could be a sign of low sleep pressure. In this case, adjusting their nap schedule, reducing a nap or even dropping a nap might help but so check my guidelines for approximate timings for nap transitions just to be sure. Increasing the awake time between their last nap and bedtime can often resolve the issue.
- Overtiredness
When babies become overtired, their bodies release cortisol which makes them appear more energetic, making it harder for them to settle to sleep even though they are clearly tired and irritable. If you think overtiredness might be the cause you could try moving bedtime earlier by 20-30 minutes.
Overtiredness and under tiredness can result in similar symptoms so I would advise you to check on the approximate awake window for your baby’s age which you can find here in my blog on awake windows.
Once you have the approximation of window for your baby you can try a trial-and-error approach. I would recommend starting by moving bedtime earlier as pushing the window can lead to over tiredness which brings with it potentially more sleep challenges throughout the night. Start by simply bringing your baby’s awake window forward by 20 minutes for 3 nights from the average and see if that helps.
Just to note also that if your little one is under 4 months it is still worth following awake windows as a guide but they still may need a bedtime that is later than 8pm.
I hope one of these solutions helps improve your little one’s false starts.
If you would like help with false starts or any other sleep difficulty with your little one please get in touch. Book a free, no obligation call and we can talk about working together to get you a better night’s sleep.
