Since my last blog post, I have been very busy helping many families overcome their sleep problems. You may be surprised to hear that in all cases, there was usually only one thing that needed to change in order to solve a sleepy issue. Whether it was introducing a dream feed, or learning a settling technique to aid parents who want to reduce feeding in the night, all have been achieved with minimal fuss and very few tears! One of the most common themes for the last month was early risers, so I am going to share some of the experiences I have with you about how to tackle this.

When you are looking at any sleep issue, it is important to look at what is typical for your baby at that age and stage of development. For example, it isn’t really worth trying to get a newborn into any sort of sleep routine as they need to be waking frequently to feed in the night, as well as having nice big chunks of sleep in the day. However, as babies change and develop, they are able to stay awake longer in the day and as they are taking on more solids, you can start to see a pattern emerging as their circadian rhythm develops. Whilst this pattern is becoming more predictable, you can start to plan holistically about how to aid your little ones into a better night time sleep routine. Below are some examples of things that may be causing your little ones to wake too early!

Daytime sleep insufficient

Inconsistent response to early rising

Babies rely on you to know what to do when they wake up. If on Monday baby wakes at 5am and you take them downstairs to start their day, then on Tuesday they will expect the same. If you are happy to start your day at 5am then that’s brilliant – your baby will expect this response every day. If you are not ready to start your day at 5am, then you need to be consistent with settling your baby at this time so that they know it isn’t time to start the day.

Hunger 

Some babies will be waking because they are hungry. Your baby will go through big development leaps and this will cause your little one to need more food – day or night! If you know your little one is going through a big milestone, then this is more than likely why your little one is waking early.

Ready to drop a nap

Between the age of 12 – 14 months, your little one will transition from 2 naps to 1 nap in the day. You will know that they are ready as they will start to resist the second nap of the day and begin to wake up very early! If this is the case, then keep them up a bit longer in the morning, have an early lunch and let them sleep for a couple of hours in the afternoon. You may need to bring bedtime forwards a bit too until they get used to it!