Episode #150: Why Does My Baby Wake 45 Minutes After Bedtime?

Disclaimer: Transcripts were generated automatically and may contain inaccuracies and errors.

Welcome to the kids sleep Show podcast where we dive into the magical world of sleep, and all things parenting. Join us as we embark on a journey filled with expert advice, practical tips and heartwarming stories that will transform your little ones into sleep superheroes, and empower you to navigate the beautiful chaos of parenting. I’m your host, Courtney Vance, and I’m on a mission to change how the world view sleep and provide accessible sleep coaching resources for all families to build healthy sleep habits in their home for children, and adults of all ages. As an award winning speaker, author and pediatric sleep expert, myself and my team of consultants work intimately with families around the world to teach healthy sleep habits to children and adults. I believe wholeheartedly that sleep is the foundation for which a happy home is built. So let’s sleep together. Hey, everyone, Courtney scents here. Thanks so much for tuning into this week’s episode. I’m the founder and creator of the sleep Steps program, and of tiny transitions, sleep coaching and consulting. We’ve been around for almost a decade now supporting families with postpartum education. And I’m excited to be here today with you to teach you all about a common problem I see with many of our sleep coaching clients. And that is why does baby Wait 45 to 60 minutes after being put to sleep. And it’s actually pretty common. And I’m gonna go through the top three reasons why I see this happen in our practice, and how we help families to solve for it so that children can get consolidated, restorative, independent sleep. So the first and most common reason that children wait 45 minutes after going down to sleep, is that they’re actually overtired. Now, that might seem weird, and you think, well, if they’re overtired, shouldn’t they sleep longer and better and sleep in later in the morning? And the answer is no. It’s actually the opposite. Because when a child gets overtired, the brain gets overstimulated. And some adrenaline and cortisol floods the brain, and then it’s a stimulant. So they go to bed and then they pop back up about 45 minutes later, almost like they took it took a shot of Expresso. overtired can also cause night terrors, which are really almost like your child is awake, but not conscious that you’re there. So if your child has night terrors, it’s pretty common, that they’re overtired. Okay, so watch your last nap to bedtime window. For kids that are under one, I really love a bedtime of seven o’clock. Honestly, I think it’s just the most age appropriate, but anywhere between seven and eight, but it’s really more important that you’re paying attention to the last nap. If your child is eight months old, they should be up by four o’clock, to be ready to go to bed at seven, a three hour week window. If your child is five months old, I would go no longer than two and a half hours, for example. So you really want to pay attention, especially when your child gets over 12 months of age, because now they’re starting to be busier, they’re starting to do more, they’re starting to engage more. And as your child developmentally learns to walk and learns to run, that’s going to tire them out to a lot of kids might start preschool or daycare that tires them out swim lessons, lots of different things, right. So just pay attention to avoiding your child getting overtired. Second thing is your child is actually going to bed drowsy, but awake, I would never ever recommend that you put your child down drowsy, but awake, because it’s actually stage one sleep, meaning that your child is pretty much already asleep. When you’re putting them down. You’re now creating a sleep association. So when you try to put them down from being drowsy, but awake, right, and they’re already actually sleeping, when they jolt 45 minutes into their cycle as they’re passing through their natural rhythms, which is normal. They’re waking going, Wait a minute, I was in your arms. And now I’m in this crib. How did I get here? Right? So drowsy, but awake can be detrimental. So make sure that when you’re putting your child down for the night, after they’ve been changed, fully fed and burped, and you lay them in the crib, that they are awake, and that they are settling themselves to sleep. The third and pretty common thing I see with younger babies as their GI tracts are developing is actually a trapped burp. So if your baby wakes screaming like 45 minutes after they’ve gone down, they took a nice full bottle, they were ready, they settled themselves and then they wake up screaming, it is likely that you just couldn’t get that final birth out of them before they went down. So now as things start to digest, it can be kind of painful. So if you hear this piercing cry that comes out of nowhere, my advice would be go right in there, pick them up and try a good old fashioned burp because there’s probably one stuck there. So when your child is settling, you want to make sure that they’re settling at the right time that they’re settling themselves to sleep and that you’ve done your best to get that good quality burp. Now, if you’re not sure how to burp, or you’re still kind of new in the parenting game. I’m going to take a second and show you the ways that I wish I knew how to burp when I had my little one. So first and foremost, you’re going to have the traditional over the shoulder burp where you’ve got baby He could have propped up with a little bit of pressure on their belly. Because they’re upright, there’s not as much. However, if you were to set them on your lap, and have them leaning a little bit forward, the pressure from their legs is actually going to help push on their belly, which can be a little bit easier to get a burp. Or you can lay them flat across your legs, and then have the pressure of your legs pushing up on their belly, so that they get a nice burp that way. Those are the three most common reasons that I see children wake up about 45 to 60 minutes after they have gone to bed. So just double check with what you’re doing. And make sure that your little one is settling at the right time and independently in the crib. Now one of the things I want to say about this is that your children need to be able to settle themselves independently. So if there’s still a gap in that skill set, meaning they can’t settle themselves for a nap, they can’t settle themselves for a bedtime, or they’re dependent and reliant on you to get them to sleep overnight, out of a habit not a need. Right, then you probably have to do a bit of sleep training. And it is going to be something that doesn’t generally go away on its own because your child believes that’s how they fall asleep. They’re deficient in the skill of sleep. And there’s a lot of different ways that families choose to work with us here at Tiny transitions. We have our sleep steps membership program, it’s 47 bucks a month, cancel anytime. And it’s a course a written sleep plan a community and coaching every Wednesday with me or a member of my team live out in zoom. It’s an opportunity for you to talk to me to ask me unique questions in the moment, no pre submitted anything, and get the help you need as you’re implementing your own sleep coaching journey. The second way is a mini session if you’re just struggling with something like this around bedtime, and you really just can’t solve for it. But they seem to be doing pretty well. In other places. You can book a mini session 30 minutes or 60 minutes with myself or a member of the team. And as always, we have private sleep coaching that starts at two weeks and goes all the way through a year depending on your needs, and what you’re looking for to feel the most supported. Thanks so much for tuning into this week’s episode. I know it was a quick one. But we want to be succinct in what we’re sharing and make sure that you are getting the best sleep of your life. Be sure to click subscribe. And any questions please feel free to reach out. We’re always here to help. Bye for now. One more thing before you go. Did you know that we offer the industry’s first affordable and effective self paced sleep coaching program that includes time with a pediatric sleep expert here on the tiny transitions team. It’s the industry’s first and only membership program like this that you can cancel anytime. And the best part. It’s cheaper than a cup of coffee every single day. So say goodbye to the ebooks and courses that are not helping your child sleep better. And join sleep steps today. The most comprehensive sleep education you need to get everyone sleeping through the night. Learn more by visiting tiny transitions.com