Kid’s Finding it Hard to clock off? Night time temperatures increasing and sunlight streaming through the bedroom blinds?

YOUR BABY IS GETTING UP TO 1-2 HOURS LESS SLEEP or up to 14 HOURS LESS SLEEP a WEEK!

A simple change is season is enough to create extreme chaos in a previously well rested child, and with NO Daylight Savings in some Australian states, early rising can become a family sleep deprivation disaster.

Correcting sleep habits in a baby or toddler is easier than you think, and the outcome is one that will stay with you for years.

Here are 10 Tips to Prevent Early Morning Rising:

In order to stop early rising, you need to understand it. Here are the most common reasons for early rising:

1. Bedtime too late making baby overtired. When a child misses his bedtime window he tends to sleep less. Also, if baby is overtired at bedtime, he won’t be able to put himself back to sleep when he wakes at 5am. Doesn’t seem logical, but it’s true! This is why he goes down so easily at the moment, but is waking early. Check your child’s OVERALL sleep requirements.

2. Too big of a window between wake up from afternoon nap and bedtime (average window is 4 hours). Your child will end up going to bed overtired. A common example is if a child has too short a nap or one nap too early in the day, like 11am-1pm. If your child takes one nap and still wakes before 6am, don’t let him nap before noon or he will then be overtired at bedtime which will lead to early rising.

3. Make sure the room is dark! If too much light is coming into the baby’s room, buy blackout shades (also good for napping).

4. Make sure the room is quiet! If an external noise—garbage trucks, noisy birds, dad turning on the shower—is waking your baby, try putting a white noise machine/music or fan in his room.

5. Stop hunger. Making sure he eats more food during the day, dinner combines protein and carbs, and that your baby actually needs overnight feeds developmentally.

6. No early morning naps before 8am.

7. Going to bed to late- bed should be 6pm-8pm, age dependent.

8. Not napping enough through the day – use your chosen settling technique to extend naps or catnapping.

9. Staying up to long between end of afternoon nap and going to bed- check 4 hour max awake time for baby’s older than 11 months.
10. Going to bed when past drowsy but awake mark, if to drowsy won’t know how to get back to sleep when more alert at 5am!

For More Information Email To amanda@groovybabies.com.au