Early waking in infants
Hello
How do you overcome early waking infants.
My 15 month grand daughter wakes around 4.30am most days and is then ready for the day.
She has an early nap around 9-10am as she is so tired.
Parents are trying to keep to one nap to help her sleep longer at night!
In bed and asleep at around 7pm.
Help….
Hi there! This is a tough one. I have found early morning wakings to be the toughest habit to kick in the kiddos I have helped. There’s a couple things you can try.
- Try as best you can to extend that first nap. By letting her take a nap that early, you may be perpetuating the habit of her waking up earlier. The circadian rhythm is strong, so try to get her out of the house and into the sunshine in the morning so she can hopefully stay up a bit later.
- This one is tough as well, but I would recommend not getting her out of her crib at 4:30 when she wakes up. If she’s falling asleep at 9, she’s clearly not ready to be awake that early. See if she will go back to sleep on her own. Give her 10 minutes and see if she will lie back down. My best recommendation is basically no fun until your preferred wake-up time (at least 6am). This can be really taxing on the parents but it I have seen it work.
Unfortunately, I do see this often being the last piece of the sleep training puzzle at this age. Hang in there and happy to answer any questions they may have!
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Thank you so much Logan.
Well put all your ideas into action.
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Glad to hear it! How did it go??
I have dealt with something similar with my niece. What helped was gradually shifting her bedtime a little later in 10–15 minute increments and making the early morning environment darker and quieter, so she wasn’t fully stimulated when she woke. Sometimes a white noise machine or blackout curtains can make a difference. Also, keeping the morning low-key until a reasonable hour can help her learn that it’s not time to start the day yet.
Thank you for the advice.