When discussing “false start bedtime,” sleep experts focus on wakings that happen within the same hour that you put your baby down. This can be frustrating and disrupt sleep for both of you. While waking every couple of hours certainly feels too short from an adult perspective, this is considered developmentally normal– your baby is connecting more than one sleep cycle, which is a win!
Why “false starts” happen
Specific to newborns, the most likely answer is that your baby is either undertired or overtired. In other words, it’s not the right bedtime for them.
Undertired might look like:your baby takes a while to fall asleep (30 minutes+), followed by a false start.
Overtired might look like:your baby falls asleep fast (5-10 minutes), followed by a false start.
How to find the right bedtime for your newborn
It all has to do with wake windows, which help you understand how much time awake your baby needs at their current stage. Generally speaking, 8-10 p.m. is an ideal bedtime for babies under 4-5 months of age. This is later than many parents assume.
You can build nap and bedtime routines around wake windows, which help you offer sleep when your baby is most likely ready. A wake window is not just playtime. It includes anything and everything that happens between one sleep and the next, so you can calculate it as the time between picking them up and placing them back down.
How to find your baby’s wake windows
Just observe. Follow your newborn’s sleepy cues. These are visual indicators that your baby is done with their current wake window.
Consider general, stage-based guidelines.
In the first month home, most newborns need to rest after 35-60 minutes awake.
In the second month, most newborns need to rest after 60-90 minutes awake.
In months 3 and 4, most newborns need to rest after 75-120 minutes awake.