False starts , What you need to know
Hey everyone, let's chat about false starts. You know, those times when you think your baby is down for the night, but almost an hour later they're wide awake again!
How frustrating!! But don't stress, we'll break it down simply: what false starts are, why they happen, and what you can do to help your little one get back to sleep.
What Are False Starts?
A false start is when your baby wakes up 30-60 minutes after they fall asleep for the night, and the wake-up lasts 10+ minutes or has difficulty going back to sleep.
Why Do They Happen?
Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to help your baby get back on track and find a successful sleep routine. The most important part is to identify the cause of the problem.
1- Sleep Environment not conducive to good sleep: It could be that your baby’s room is not dark enough, or they are too hot or too cold, or maybe everyone in your house is noisy.
2- Insufficient sleep pressure (Under-tiredness) Can cause little ones to treat bedtime as another nap and be harder to resettle. Babies and Toddlers need to be awake for a certain amount of time to build up enough sleepiness to fall, and stay asleep.
3- Over-tiredness: Cortisol can build during the day and interrupt the onset of sleep, making it hard for your baby to stay asleep and enforcing frequent wakings.
4- Self-settling issues: If your baby has not yet mastered independent sleep skills and relies on external soothing methods, they might wake up after a sleep cycle looking for you to help them connect with the next sleep cycle.
How to Help Your Baby Through False Starts
Now, onto the good stuff—how to handle those false starts ( please try one at a time)
1- Check the Environment:
Before changing anything on your child's schedule ensure they have an ideal environment to sleep.
Is a noise waking your baby up? Use a white noise machine to drown external noises.
How is the temperature in your baby’s room? too hot? too cold? Touch their back to check if they feel hot or cold and add/remove extra layers.
What about lights? Use black-out blinds to block any lights
2- Undertiredness or Overtiredness:
Once their room is conducive to sleep, check their sleep schedule.
Consider checking out awake windows, ensuring that they are age-appropriate,
Check total 24-hour sleep to see if they are getting too much/too little sleep.
Try earlier/later bedtimes
Drop or cap a nap or bring a nap back if dropped too early.
3- Bedtime Routine
Keep a consistent and calm bedtime routine. Having a consistent sleep routine and wind-down ritual is essential for your baby. This helps them to relax and be ready to sleep.
It’s also essential you keep bedtime, naps, and wake-up times consistent every day to help your baby’s body clock.
While addressing these areas will typically help with false starts, sometimes they are more complex issues that require a bit more digging. so If those false starts keep happening and you're feeling overwhelmed, don't hesitate to reach out for help!
Book your FREE call today to discuss current sleep struggles and begin your journey to better sleep.
Until next time!!!
Maga :)
