Why is only half of my sleep recorded?

[cornyjeff]

Before recently, the sleep tracker on my Fitbit worked fine. Now, it only records about half of my sleep for each night. I usually wake up in the middle of the night and fall back asleep, but the second half of my sleep isn’t recorded. How can I fix this? I’ve tried resetting the charger so please don’t tell me to do that.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[MarreFitbit]

Hey there @cornyjeff, welcome on board! Are you still getting only a half of your sleep?

One thing I recommend is switching your heart rate setting to 'On' instead of 'Auto.' If the heart rate setting is set to 'On' your heart rate will always be active. Keep in mind that you need to record heart rate to calculate sleep stages. If you were to turn off heart rate, your sleep logs will go back to the classic style.

In addition, I think it's great that you update the Fitbit app to the latest version (iOS and Android). I always recommend keeping both the tracker and the Fitbit app up to date with the latest versions. 

Also, please take a look at all the requirements for receiving sleeping stages in this post. 

Please don't forget that you need at least 3 hours of consecutive sleep. This is important to note because you typically won't see sleep stages if you are waking up multiple times through out the night or taking short naps.

Give this a go and let me know how it goes! 

[Blujin]

My HR has has been ‘on’. There are no software or app updates. Tracker only caught half my sleep last night. 

[donjaybee]

I'm getting the same issue where it doesn't seem to be recording my sleep till 3 or 4 hours after I fall asleep.

[AlvaroFitbit · Accepted solution]

@Blujin @donjaybee It's great to see that you've visited the Fitbit Community! Sorry to hear that your Charge 2 isn't recording your sleep. Your device will start recording sleep after it detects an hour of inactivity. If you have a light sleep or move too much then this may difficult your sleep detection. Additionally you can try wearing your device on your non dominant hand to decrease the amount of movement it is subjected to. Finally you can restart your device. You can also manually log your sleep time.

Let me know how it goes!

[Tina528]

Hi Marre,

I'm not sure if you are still available to respond but thank you your answer is the best explanation of why my Fitbit is not recording my sleep patterns. However is there so fix for this problem. I have been waking up multiple times. I want my tracker to record all activity between my 12 to 8 sleep schedule. It shouldn't matter if you don't have 3 consecutive hours of sleep first. I'm a restless sleep and the tracker should record this. Any response appreciated.

[Texpat1]

My Fitbit as well started losing half of my sleep tracking a couple days ago post the IOS 13 update.  Before that time it tracked just fine so must be the update. ) I can see why the suggestions are not working ).  Hope the Fitbit fix is sorted out soon...!

[Sarah4321]

Last night, as often happens at my age, I slept soundly for four hours, got up to go to the bathroom, and went back to bed. My fitbit says that I went to bed at 4am - not 11:30pm.

This is a programming issue. I'm weary of Fitbit refusing to spend a few thousand dollars to fix glitches like this. 

[MomWithABraid]

When my tracker gets my sleep times wrong, I edit the sleep log by:

on the incorrect sleep page, tap the 3 dots in upper right corner, which gives choice to edit or delete the line; choose edit—you can change start & end times;

Delete clears that entry altogether ( the one sleep event, not the entire record for sleeping.  
When I watch TV laying on sofa, sometimes it thinks I’ve gone to bed, & begins my sleep time early. Other times I’ve gotten up in middle of the night, & it records my sleep as separate events—I delete the last part, then edit the first to my morning wake up. 

[techprof]

I had this same problem. In my case, Fitbit kept both halves of my night’s sleep but did not join them. I tried changing the start time to see if I could join the shorter first “half” to the kids get second and got an error message saying that sleep is already recorded for this period. Since I’m trying to use edit to extend the period, of course it is. I’m wondering if I make note of the start time then delete the early night entry before editing the start time of the later entry will I get a complete picture including the sleep stage estimates.

[PasadenaMD]

I have a Versa 2. Today it only recorded sleep between 7am and 9.  Basically when I got up to use the restroom it reset.   I manually changed my start time but don’t have any data as to the sleep I am getting.  Going on there days and I thought it was odd I would have 3 am start times when I crashed at 11 or 12.  Is there anyway to get it to record all my sleep.  I can see my heart rate slow down but I’d I can’t get this sleep to work the tool is useless to me.  It is the only reason I got it. 

[ToniKO]

I have had my Fitbit HR since November. I update whenever there's a new update and I keep it charged. However, this week, my Fitbit started only recording the first part of the night. I don't even know that I'm getting up to use the bathroom at those times - it just simply stops, generally somewhere between 1:30-3am. I am most definitely still sleeping soundly for multiple hours after that, yet no recording of my sleep.

So far, I just see people mentioning their own similar problems - is there anyone from Fitbit who can give us a fix??

[MomWithABraid]

In reply to Techprof: Yes, to merge 2 half-night segments, make note of the start/ end times for one of the segments,  delete it, then edit the other segment to the right start & end time. That’s what I do, & it usually gets the stages about right. 

[techprof]

Thanks, MomWithABraid. I find that sometimes that works, but other times it causes loss of the sleep stages already recorded and I get only the simplified report after joining.

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[Daharpa]

Fitbit! Please fix this.  My previous Fitbit Alta HR worked perfectly tracking my sleep.  My new Versa 2 is frustrating!  It randomly chooses what sleep to track sometimes using the first 3 hours only or sometimes using the last few hours only.  

[SunsetRunner]

I have the same issue as Tonniko. For the last 3 nights, my Fitbit is saying I slept from 11-1:30 or 11-3am. When really I woke up at 7am. It’s so frustrating. My app is updated. Nothing has changed about my sleep pattern or my heart rate or anything. I do not get up in the middle of the night; I sleep through from 11-7. I am in the same location, the watch is on my non-dominant wrist, etc etc etc. @@FitBit— clearly this is a programming issue. Many of us are experiencing it. What is the plan to fix it?

[AmandaC18]

I am having the same issue! Did all of the suggestions above and still having issues. Just got my Versa 2 a month ago. So frustrating 😞 

[Probal]

Similar in my case. Just records my morning sleep, not my night sleep. Has this been responded or solved pl?

[Daharpa]

No response whatsoever. Customer service sucks.

[Squiggly]

Recently ‘upgraded’ from Alta HR to Charge 4.  Sleep worked great for me on the former but new Charge 4 only registers first half of sleep until 3 or 4am. This is useless. Literally would not have bought it if known this.