Reply To: Recent Issues

[Emma H]

Hi Jennifer,

Waking up after an overnight feed and staying awake isn’t ideal, but it’s pretty common.

This situation is often called a “split night,” where the baby’s sleep pressure (which builds during wakefulness) is out of sync with their circadian rhythm (the natural cycle that regulates sleep). Normally, sleep pressure helps your baby fall and stay asleep until the circadian rhythm takes over to keep them asleep until morning. However, if these are misaligned, your baby might wake up after the sleep pressure decreases and then remain awake until it builds up enough for them fall back asleep.

Here are some strategies that could help with split nights:

1. Check Daytime Sleep: Babies between 4-6 months generally need 12-15 hours of total sleep over 24 hours. Too much daytime sleep can mean less need for nighttime sleep, leading to waking periods during the night. It sounds like her naps, totalling 2 to 2.5 hours, are within a normal range, so excessive daytime sleep might not be the issue.

2. Adjust Bedtime: On average, babies at this age sleep about 10-12 hours each night. If her bedtime is too early, she may end up awake in the early hours. For example, a 6:30 pm bedtime with a 7:30 am wake-up is 13 hours in bed, which may be too long if she only needs 10 hours of sleep. I don’t believe this is the primary issue here, but to make sure, could you let me know what her bedtime is? And what time she wakes up overnight?

3. Encourage Independent Sleeping: Learning to fall asleep independently can greatly improve sleep patterns. Once she gets the hang of it, those overnight wake-ups and long periods of being awake might reduce naturally. Plus, once she can fall asleep on her own her naps will lengthen, possibly allowing for a later bedtime, which might help her sleep more soundly through the night.

I hope that makes it a bit clearer for you.

Emma