Sleep struggles can feel like an unsolvable mystery, but sometimes the clues are right in front of us. One of the biggest (and most overlooked) pieces of the baby sleep puzzle? Sleep latency—or how long it takes your baby to fall asleep.

By paying attention to sleep latency, you can stop stressing over exact wake windows and bedtimes and start working with your baby’s natural sleep rhythms instead of against them.

What is sleep latency?

Sleep latency is just a science-y way of saying long it takes for a person to fall asleep.

For adults (and big kids) you’d start tracking sleep latency from the moment you get into bed. For babies, it starts when you begin rocking, nursing, cuddling, or otherwise helping them settle for sleep. If your baby falls asleep independently, you’d start the clock when they’re placed in their crib.

Sleep latency is a great way to assess whether your baby’s schedule is actually working for them. Rather than fixating on perfect wake windows or bedtimes, observing how long it takes your baby to fall asleep can help you determine if they’re overtired, under-tired, or in their ideal sleep zone.

What’s a normal sleep latency for babies?

A typical sleep latency for babies is about 15-20 minutes.

If your baby falls asleep in a bit less than 15 minutes or a bit more than 20, but seems fine when they doze off and wakes up rested, there’s no need to stress! There are always babies that fall outside the average.

However, if your baby is:

• Passing out in under 5 minutes → They might be overtired.
• Taking 30+ minutes to fall asleep → They may not be tired enough.

Again, these are averages—it’s most important to observe your baby’s mood and adjust accordingly.

What impacts sleep latency?

Overtiredness or Under-Tiredness

Too much awake time before bed? Your baby might be wired and restless. Not enough wake time before bed? They may lie there wide-eyed, rolling around or crying instead of falling asleep.

Circadian Rhythm

Your baby’s body clock follows a biological rhythm that determines when they’re naturally sleepy. If bedtime isn’t aligned with this rhythm, sleep latency can increase aka it can take longer for baby to fall asleep.

This is completely normal and not a sign of overtiredness. The mistake many parents make is confusing the WMZ with overtiredness and moving bedtime earlier, which only makes sleep harder.

The Wake Maintenance Zone

The Wake Maintenance Zone is a natural period of increased alertness that happens an hour or two before sleep. Instead of winding down, some kids will seem more awake—running around, suddenly playful, giggly, or full of energy before bedtime.

Here’s the thing: This is not about being tired.

It’s common to confuse this with over tiredness, but it’s not. And when paired with a too early bedtime, it’s like adding 2 and 2 together and getting 5. Understanding how age-appropriate bedtimes, circadian rhythms, and sleep pressure work together can help you avoid unnecessary bedtime battles.

Instead of assuming that hyper or wild behavior = overtired, observe your child’s overall patterns and tweak bedtime accordingly.

How to use sleep latency to tweak bedtime

• If sleep latency is under 10 minutes, your baby might need a slightly later bedtime.
• If sleep latency is over 30 minutes, try shifting bedtime earlier by 15-20 minutes.
• If your baby has a sudden burst of energy before bed, don’t panic—watch their overall sleep cues.

The goal is to find that sweet spot where your baby is sleepy but not overtired, making bedtime smooth and predictable.

Common mistakes parents make with sleep latency 

🚫 Thinking a quick-to-sleep baby is a well-rested sleeper. Falling asleep instantly usually means overtiredness, not necessarily a sign of the perfect schedule.

🚫 Assuming bedtime battles mean bedtime is too late. If your baby takes a long time to fall asleep, making bedtime earlier won’t help. You might just be catching them in their Wake Maintenance Zone (aka their body’s natural alertness period before sleep).

🚫 Changing bedtime too drastically. Small shifts (10-15 minutes at a time) are key. If you suddenly move bedtime by an hour, their body might struggle to adjust. Slow and steady, my friend.

The key to unlocking better sleep

Sleep latency isn’t just a number—it’s a window into your baby’s natural rhythms. By observing how long it takes them to fall asleep and adjusting bedtime accordingly, you can make bedtime easier without obsessing over rigid schedules.

Sleep latency is one of the best tools you have to figure out if bedtime is working. If your baby takes 10-20 minutes to fall asleep, you’re in the sweet spot. Less bedtime stress, less second-guessing yourself or your baby. We could all use a bit of that, right?

Psst… Have you seen my free mini course about why Cry It Out won’t work for your baby? It will teach you three reasons I recommend avoiding Cry It Out or Ferber methods, and what you can do instead to help nurture your baby towards better sleep! Grab the free course here.