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Quick Tips: Breaking the 30-Minute Curse

  • Nya Renee
  • Jun 13, 2024
  • 2 min read

Hi families! We’re back with some quick tips on an issue that we’ve seen many of our parents struggle with. Does your baby seem to wake up after only sleeping for about 30 minutes? Trust us, you’re not alone!


What’s actually happening here is called a sleep cycle. Your baby is not fully waking up after sleeping for only 30 minutes, but rather they are just going through a sleep cycle. The first sleep cycle is normally around 30 minutes. Once they hit that first sleep cycle, they are not ready to fully wake up. Instead, they might just need a little help getting back to sleep; but, just a little! Soon, with proper sleep training techniques, your baby will actually learn to self-soothe and put themselves back to sleep after that initial sleep cycle. One of the things we emphasize when thinking about sleep training – and it’s especially important in this instance – is how you put your baby to sleep is how they are going to expect to be put to sleep any time they wake from a sleep cycle. For instance, if you’re going through an elaborate sleepy-time dance and song, while rocking them to sleep before a nap or for bedtime, they will want that same song and dance when they wake up out of a sleep cycle. Ideally, this is not what we want, and why we always recommend that you do not rock your baby to sleep. Instead, lay them down once they’re tired and almost asleep, but not fully asleep. That way, they begin to learn how to put themselves to sleep. Once they wake up out of a sleep cycle, they will begin to understand that the same way they were able to fall off to sleep by themselves once mom or dad put them down, is the same way they can fall back to sleep after they wake up out of a sleep cycle.


By not treating the sleep cycle as your baby fully waking up after 30 minutes and instead allowing them to self-soothe back to sleep, you’ll break the 30-minute curse in no time!


Key Points:

  • Babies goes through sleep cycles, and many times the first cycle is 30 minutes.

  • How you put your baby to sleep, is how they expect to be put to sleep every time. Avoid rocking your baby to sleep.

  • After your baby wakes up out of a sleep cycle, give them the chance to learn to self-soothe and go back to sleep.

Disclaimer: We want to be clear… we are not doctors or medical professionals. The information presented here is the opinion of the authors from years of experience and education in the field, and is intended to provide our readers with general information. The information on this website is not intended as medical advice or a substitute for obtaining medical advice. Always follow your pediatrician’s recommendations. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment because of something you have read on, or accessed through, this website. You are encouraged to confirm any information obtained from or through this website with other sources. Loving Care Newborn Care Consulting, LLC assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information contained on, or available through, this website, or liability for any actions taken from the advice of this website.

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