My daughter is waking up earlier each day. For a while she would wake up around 6 -- which I can handle -- but in the past couple of weeks she's been waking up earlier and earlier every morning. This morning she woke up before 5 and that's just too early. We've been getting up with her since she just won't go back to sleep, but I really want to get her to sleep to 6. This morning we tried to soothe her and put her back to bed, but she didn't go back to sleep -- just cried and cried. :(
We've been putting her to bed at around the same time -- between 7:30 and 8:00.
Any suggestions?
I came up here to do a search based on this exact question. It seems almost everyone is in agreement that we should put them to bed earlier. I'm all for that! So, I'm going to start with that tonight. Thanks for asking the question I had and good luck!
Though it's counterintuitive, putting my daughter to bed earlier at night resulted in her sleeping longer in the morning. Her bedtime used to be between 8-8:30, and she'd get up btwn 6:30-7. Now she goes to bed no later than 7:00 and wakes up between 7-8. I moved her bedtime up in response to her struggling with an afternoon nap, which she has since dropped; so if your daughter still has two naps, this could result in her having only one. Sometimes I think a 6:30 bedtime would be even better for her!
I actually found that when I put my daughter (who is 23 months old now)to bed earlier she slept later. It is challenging sometimes - her bed time is 630pm, but she sleeps til 630-730a in the morning and naps for 2-3 hours a day. Her sleeping habits improved dramatically after I moved her bed time. When I was putting her to bed anytime after 7pm she was waking at 5a - 530am.
Good Luck!
R.
E.,
I feel your pain! My son gets up everyday at 5am. It's hard but it is just his body clock which may be the case for your daughter. My son goes to bed at 7pm and sleeps solid until 5am. My friend told me about a night light which you can set to illuminate at a certain time and tell her that you can't get up until the sun shines on the night light. They are currently in production but you can get on the wait list (like me). www.goodnitelite.com
J.
I agree with Cindy, try putting her to bed earlier. I am also a believer that sleep begets sleep. It would be ideal if you could slowly move up the bedtime and get her to bed by 6:30-7pm. The nightlite also sounds like it would help in conjunction to putting her to bed earlier. My 18month old does much better with a 7pm bedtime and only occasionally wakes up at 6:30am. He starts talking/babbling, but I wait until 7am until I go in to get him so he is used to that time. Hope you find something that works.
I also agree with Cindy below, put her to bed earlier in 15 minute increments. It always worked for my kids. Even now (at ages 5,3,2) they are all in bed by 7:30 each night and we don't have any sleep problems. I learned the sleep begets sleep idea from the best sleep book called "Heathly Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth.
Good Luck!
I think my daughter went through a similar early-waking time around this age, and it really sucked. Very hard. She woke up at 5:30 for a few weeks. All I can say is...it passes. When she has major cognitive/physical bursts, her sleep is really affected. Naps are also much harder to achieve. Then things restabilize. Don't assume anything is permanent, and ride it out.
Hi E.,
Is she getting enough nurishment before she goes to sleep? I started my granddaughter at 2 days old on whole food supplements along with a magnetic pad to sleep on to help her relax and get a good nights rest. She is 7 years old now and loves her supplements and sleepsystem.
You may check out the web site www.nikken/ninamarie and check out what would be best for your baby and family if interested.
Please let me know if I can assist you in any way.
Have a blessed day.
N. Marie
____@____.com
Hi...my son has always been a very early riser. I found that putting him to sleep earlier actually resulted in him sleeping later. There were always those mornings when he still woke up at 5, but for the most part it worked. If you research sleep and kids, I think you'll find this to be the case. I would start putting him down earlier in increments of 15 minutes until you reach a 6:30 bed time...and this is a great time of year for an early bedtime, since it gets dark earlier. I hope this helps.
C.
As kids get older, they need less and less sleep, which is probably what you're experiencing. You can try shortening or cutting out her naps, or putting her to bed later. I have four kids, who have all needed different amounts of sleep. The one who needed the least didn't have naps at all at 18 months, and we put him to bed at 9:00 pm, and he woke at 7:00 am. You may have to experiment to find the right schedule.
