4 Strategies to Avoid Early Wake-Ups
As a parent, one of my favourite things is seeing my baby wake up with a big smile on their face. However, when that wake-up call comes at 5 am or earlier, it’s not so much fun. I completely understand how important it is to get enough sleep, especially when you have a busy infant or toddler to take care of. That’s why I’m excited to share four strategies I use with my clients to fix those early wake-ups.
As a certified sleep consultant, I have seen that there’s always a reason behind early wake-ups. However, with a little effort and these proven strategies, you can get back on track to a full night’s sleep. Every minute of sleep counts! So, let’s dive into these four strategies one by one and say goodbye to those early morning wake-up calls!
1. Evaluate the conditions of their sleeping surroundings
Ok, first things first – creating a conducive sleep environment for your baby is key to ensuring they get a good night’s rest. There are several factors that can influence early wake-ups, including room temperature, noise levels, and lighting. To avoid your baby waking up too early, it’s important to ensure that they’re dressed appropriately so that they don’t get too hot or too cold. A good rule of thumb is to dress them in one layer more than an adult would wear while sleeping in the same environment.
Next, consider using a white or pink noise machine to mask any disruptive sounds. This can be especially helpful if your baby is a light sleeper or live in an urban area. Additionally, dimming the lights in the room during nighttime can help signal to your baby that it’s time to wind down. Investing in blackout curtains can also be helpful in blocking out early morning sunlight, which can trigger early wake-ups.
Do you need help implementing the perfect sleep environment? Have questions about crib safety, introducing lovey, how dark room should be, questions about white noise machine, etc? Book HERE for 1- hour sleep consultation.
2. KEEP AN EYE ON BEDTIME:
Evaluating bedtime is an essential step in ensuring your baby gets the right amount of sleep and avoids early wake-ups. While it may seem logical that putting your baby to bed later will result in them sleeping in, this is not the case. In fact, for babies three months of age and older, a late bedtime or exceeding their wake window can lead to overtiredness. Overtiredness often leads to the dreaded witching hour and early wake-ups, which can be hard to manage and often disrupt the entire household’s sleep schedule. It’s essential to establish a consistent bedtime routine that works for you, your baby’s age and sleep needs.
Encouraging self-soothing skills is also vital but managing expectations based on your baby’s age and ability to learn this skill is crucial. Self-soothing is a skill that develops over time, and as with any other milestone, it takes time and practice. When babies learn to self-soothe, they become better at drifting off to sleep at the end of a sleep cycle (Burnham et al., 2002), which helps them sleep longer and avoid early morning wake-ups.
Do you need help with schedules or are unsure of your baby’s sleep needs? Book HERE a 1-hour online sleep consultation, and we will review your child’s sleep-wake windows, feeding times, appropriate bedtime and develop a tailored sleep plan for your child
3. KEEP AN EYE ON NAPS:
When it comes to fixing early wake-ups, evaluating your baby’s naps is just as important as assessing their bedtime routine. While ensuring that your baby gets enough daytime sleep is crucial, now we also have to evaluate the other side of the coin: is your baby getting too much day sleep? Observe your baby’s sleep patterns and gradually adjust nap times and lengths according to their age and needs; each baby is unique, and what works for one may not work for another. There is also the fact that not every child has the exact sleep needs, but you do want to find a balance between creating enough sleep pressure without causing overtiredness.
If you are struggling with naps, whether short or all over the place, download my troubleshooting nap guide. I use this sequence with my clients and it has save them tons of guessing.
Be consistent with the naps, observe your baby’s cues, and be flexible in your approach. Before you know it, those early wake-up calls will become a thing of the past, and you’ll all be enjoying a few more hours of sleep in the morning.
Do you need help stretching naps? Click HERE for my easy troubleshooting nap guide, or book a 1-hour online sleep consultation where I will guide you through it. Online Sleep Consultations include a customized sleep plan.
4. AVOID REINFORCING EARLY WAKE-UPS:
It’s important to avoid reinforcing behaviour that can cement early wake-ups, such as going straight to feeding. While it’s understandable that babies might still need night feeding depending on their age or weight factor, it’s crucial to ensure that the majority of their calories are consumed during the day. This means that you should avoid using night feeding as a way to soothe your baby to sleep. An easy trick to break the feeding-sleep association is to delay the feed a little bit by changing the diaper first. Again, we have to manage expectations depending on our baby’s age.
I use a different approach with newborns, with whom my priority is to establish feeding, but as your baby is growing, they will show you signals of longer stretches of sleep so you will know when they are capable of doing so. The idea here is to implement strategies that will help your baby sleep longer without compromising caloric intake.
Another reinforcing behaviour is not sticking to your minimum when it comes to starting the day. Every household is different, and while some parents are comfortable starting the day at 6 am, for others, it feels like the middle of the night. If you’re aiming for a 7 am wake-up time, treat anything earlier than that as a nighttime wake-up and use the same strategies you would use during other night wakings.
Do you need help implementing strategies to help your baby connect those sleep cycles, target early wake-ups, or introduce good props? Click HERE to book a one-hour online sleep consultation with me. This online consultation is via videoconference; you will receive a detailed plan of action, one email recap, and one follow-up.
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Have you used these strategies? Does something else work for you? Share your experience with us in the comments below.
REFERENCES
Burnham, M. M., Goodlin-Jones, B. L., Gaylor, E. E., & Anders, T. F. (2002). Nighttime sleep-wake patterns and self-soothing from birth to one year of age: A longitudinal intervention study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 43(6), 713. https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-7610.00076
Indeed. And then the rollercoaster never ends. When baby skips a nap and becomes overtired, I suggest “emergency naps”, that means, do whatever it needs to be done, whether is a car ride, baby wearing, or stroller. The point is getting baby out of overtireness and start brand new on the next nap or bedtime. This is a resource not to be used all the time, as we will create another problem, but only for emergencies. If are struggling handling naps do not hesitate to book an online consultation. I will give a solid plan to get your little one back on track.