How often do you put your baby to bed only for them to wake up 30-45 minutes later and they WILL NOT go back to sleep? This is what we call a false start in the baby sleep world. Basically, your baby treated bedtime as a nap and now they want to get up and play or they might be fussy and wanting to go back to sleep but having a hard time doing so! These false starts can be frustrating because it seems like baby is even more resistant to sleep once they’ve woken up and it can take hours to get them back asleep.

How Can I Prevent False Starts?

The most common culprit of false starts is over-tiredness and under-tiredness. It’s also super common for them to occur if your baby is between 4-6 months when they are usually most sensitive to staying awake longer than 2-3 hours at a time. It’s so easy as moms to get off our baby’s schedule by accident or intentionally because…well, life and before you know it it’s too late for that last cat nap, so you have no choice but to stretch baby’s last wake window. Don’t feel like you’re doing something wrong, it happens and it will probably happen again!

If your baby is falling asleep very quickly (under 5 minutes) at bedtime and wakes up at the false start crying/screaming/groggy they are most likely overtired.

If your baby is taking longer to fall asleep at bedtime (more than 15 minutes) and wakes up at the false start happy/babbling/playful they are most likely undertired.

Here are some things you can do to prevent the false starts from occurring:

+ Put your baby to bed earlier/later based on their cues prior to bedtime + how they are acting upon waking at the false start

+ Focus on daytime sleep – is your baby getting too much or too little daytime sleep? Optimize naps where you can!

+ Make sure their sleep environment supports quality sleep

Baby sleep doesn’t have to be hard!

But it won’t be perfect either. Bumps are going to happen along the road, but with the right tools you can make baby sleep easier to navigate when these challenges occur. If you are dealing with persistent false starts or other sleep challenges, that’s where I come in! We can work together via a 1-on-1 support package if you need a clear plan and support or you can DIY your sleep training journey using one of my downloadable sleep guides which will walk you through your baby’s sleep needs and how to create your sleep training plan.