Yeah, what you describe sounds like what happens to me if I am not in a REM state when I try to WILD. I think. I don't want to sound like I know everything, though. WILDing is a mysterious thing that is different for everyone. For me, true SP is a step or two beyond where I stop feeling my body and feel heavy and tingly. It is like a very heavy weight being laid down over my body. Like cement is being poured onto me from my feet up. This is more than just a feeling of heaviness. It feels exactly like cement or being buried alive. Or that feeling of having pins and needles so bad that it hurts and you can't move the affected limb. But all over my body. Once I reach that point, there really is no transitioning to do. I usually can suddenly see what looks like my room but I know is a dream. Then I just get up and start the dream. Sometimes there is a short transition before this where I see an image and focus on it until I am pulled into the dream.

I wish I could say I have gotten to the point where my LDs are "consistent". The overall trend has been towards more of them since I started, but they are still spotty and not as frequent as I would like. I am just strange in that WILDs and DEILDs work best for me. Most of my lucids have been from a waking or semi-waking state, so I've become more familiar with that transition than a lot of beginners, I think. I've only had maybe 2 or 3 DILDs out of my 20 or so LDs!

But yeah, try setting an alarm for around 6 hours after you go to sleep. I don't usually get up, I just turn over and drink some water from a glass next to the bed, then get comfortable and focus in the images behind my eyelids until I feel SP. When it works it usually takes from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. Not too much sleep lost.