How to fix Early Wakings
The Early Bird catches the worm! Well, what if you’re not a bird and you don’t like worms? For those of us that like our sleep, this saying really does not help when your baby is waking at 4.30am ready for the day!
What causes early wakings? There are so many reasons (click here) however, what we are here to do today, is guide you when it comes to fixing it and stopping your baby or child waking so early!
Early wakings in babies and children is one of the trickiest areas of sleep to conquer as it is right at the end of your child’s sleep and their sleepy hormone (melatonin) has been replaced but the wakey one (Cortisol) but, with consistency of message, patience and a good look at some key factors, it can be fixed.
The first thing to do when dealing with an early riser is to be realistic and lower your expectations. Sadly, it is normal for a baby to wake up anywhere from 6-7am. In fact, we recommend getting your child’s day off to a start by 7.30am at the very latest to allow for the body to be hormone-regulated. So, if they are up at 6.45am, seem happy and well-rested it is unlikely you can change this too much, so a reality check is definitely tip#1.
It seems counter intuitive I know but the main culprit for a baby waking up early is actually over-tiredness. When our children are overtired, extra cortisol (the natural stress hormone) is released in barrel loads. What does this do? Well, it actually send a signal to the brain to stay awake, alert and ready for action- the exact opposite of what you want. Have you ever been super tired but then experienced a second wind? This is your body producing an extra shot of natural expresso (cortisol) to wake you up again. So, if you have an over-tired baby or child, those cortisol levels will remain high over night (when they normally should dip until the early hours) often leading to bedtime battles, interrupted sleep AND a baby that wakes early in the morning.
Let’s be honest, no one wants ANY of those! So here is our advice on eliminating early waking in your baby:
Day timings and routine- Look at the timings of your child’s day. Very often, if their morning nap is too early it is seen as an extension of night-time sleep whilst also reinforcing the early morning wakeup. Depending on their age, you need to leave a decent gap between morning wake up and nap 1 and this can vary between 1.5 hours for a very small baby to 3 hours for a toddler. Getting this first nap right is important!
Bedtimes- Whist you are trying to eliminate early waking, look at your child’s bedtime, is it age appropriate? It is key to watch how long your child is awake between the end of their last nap of the day and their bedtime. For example, we would suggest that a 5-month old isn’t awake longer than 2.5 hours before their night sleep whilst a 10-month old could stretch to 4 (maximum) so you may need to bring bedtime forward to compensate for this.
Environment: Especially relevant in the summer months but also for naps, make sure the room your child sleeps in is as dark as possible so that you eliminate light sneaking in to wake them up! If you live on a road with streetlights or headlights these can also impact sleep, so we recommend using black out blinds or curtains if possible!
Also, check the temperature of your child’s room (especially at the moment-it is freeeeezing) ensuring that they are not too hot or cold! Socks are a good trick for keeping babies nice and cosy during winter nights!
Wake ups- If you are having to go into your child’s room, treat all wake ups prior to your agreed wake up time as night-time. This means, keep all interventions in the dark, quiet and calm and use the same method you would to get them back to sleep at 11pm at 5am. A top tip here is to make a big deal of awake time: curtains open, lights on and lots of smiling and enthusiasm! This really helps them to understand the difference between night and day and re-tune their internal clock.
Props- For children aged 2 years or older, the Gro-Clock (https://gro.co.uk/product/gro-clock/) can be a life saver but we would recommend reading the (slightly dull but ever so effective) book it comes with religiously for the first couple of weeks. If your child responds well to praise, reward charts are a fantastic idea too (https://www.supernanny.co.uk/Reward-Charts.aspx) and can really help to positively reinforce the stay in bed message! Both of these do not get to the root cause but can help if part of your issue is behaviour related which can often be the case as your children grow up and start to test the boundaries!
CONSISTANCY is key when it comes to trying to stop your baby waking up early. With a combination of the above, most parents will see an improvement quickly! As with all sleep challenges, if you feel you need further support tackling the early bird, please feel that you can get in touch here.
Love, as always, C&E xxx
Picture credit: mumsgrapevine.com.au