Early rising is one of the most common problems that parents have when it comes to their little one’s sleep.
Between 5am and 7am is a tricky time for babies as they are in the lightest stage of their sleep and most likely already have 10 hours under their belt, so if they are woken, it is very tough to get them to go back to sleep.
The reality is, early mornings are probably going to be a part of your life for a while (a side effect of being a parent unfortunately), but here are a few suggestions that I recommend you try to see if you can make that early morning not quite so early.
A dark room
Is your baby’s room as dark as possible? Even the slightest bit of light can encourage your baby to wake before an appropriate time, especially during the summer months. We sleep best in complete darkness so investing in good blackout blinds for you and your family will help encourage restful sleep.
Eliminate environmental noise
Is there any environmental noise happening? Somebody getting up for work, building noise, a garbage truck rolling by?
Using a sound machine set to white noise can help eliminate the chance that an outside noise wakes your baby up. Make sure if introducing white noise that it is on when baby goes to bed and stays on all night long so their sleep environment is consistent.
Stick to wake-up time
Stick to your guns when it comes to wake-up time. I never suggest getting your baby out of bed prior to 6 a.m. If you start bringing them out earlier than this it will only persuade them to call for you at this time.
Decide on a minimum wake-up time (within reason) for your family and make it a rule. If you have a toddler who is in a bed, introducing a night light that changes colour when it is morning can be very useful.
Extend the first nap
What time is your baby’s first nap? If you’re putting your little one down too early after rising then they will start to use this as an extension of their night time sleep.
Delay the first feed
What is happening when your baby is waking early? Could they be waking up early looking for something?
Make sure to delay your baby’s first feed by about 10 minutes. If you rush to them and feed them right away when they wake at this time, you’re only supporting their decision that it’s time to get up.
An overtired baby wakes up early
What time is baby’s bedtime? It could be that your baby is overtired, which can lead to early wake ups.
Ensuring that your child gets to bed somewhere between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. is ideal, depending on when their last nap ended.
Keep in mind that when changing bedtime you often need to stick to the new time for a week or two to see any results, so be patient.
If that doesn’t work, try a later bedtime
If after trying an earlier bedtime for a week or two with no change in wake-up time, it may be time to look at slowly moving bedtime later by 10 minutes every three days until it is 30 minutes later than normal.
Again, you cannot expect to see results for at least a week, if not two; just be consistent and patient.
“Wake to Sleep”
This is usually the last thing that I suggest to parents when nothing else has worked and you have looked at all other possible causes for the early rising. This can only be done if the wake-up time is fairly consistent;
- Set your alarm to go off 10 minutes before the time your baby wakes up
- Go into the room and lightly rouse baby, but not fully awake (this is the tricky part), then quietly leave the room.
- If your baby still wakes at the same time then leave them until your decided minimum wake-up time. I suggest 6 a.m. at the earliest.
- If your baby manages to sleep longer but still not until your minimum wake-up time, still leave them until that time.
- This will have to be done for a full seven days until you will start to see any success, so be patient.
About the Author: Good Night is a child and baby sleep consultancy that specialises in helping parents with children who struggle to sleep soundly. For more information, visit: www.goodnightbaby.co.za
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