What is an early wake-up?
If your little one goes to bed around 8:00 pm and wakes up between 6:00 – 7:00 am, we could say this is an early wake-up.
If your baby wakes up before 6:00 am, it is considered a night waking.
*Early wakings are characterized by your little one’s energy levels; if they are ready to start their day even though it is still very early, we can safely assume you have an early riser on your hands.
Don’t worry, Lullaai is here to help but first let’s cover a little more ground on why these awakenings can occur…
There are two main categories of an early awakening:
• Occasional: This means it could be an isolated incident, due to a change in routine from the previous day like sickness or a lack of sleep.
• Constant: This means it is a regular occurrence which can be caused by a number of things. They may have an irregular schedule, a sleep support that generates fragmented sleep, no real balance between daytime and nighttime sleep, etc.
What can you do?
• Establish good sleep routines.
• Stick to a regular bedtime (8:00 pm): babies will wake up at more or less the same hour every day no matter what time we put them to bed at night.
• Adjust the environment: darken the room, check that the temperature is comfortable and keep the same sleep supports in their crib.
• Keep a record of the hours of sleep during the day: daytime sleep affects nighttime sleep so make sure your little one isn’t over sleeping during their nap-time.
• Don’t change the space: Try to keep your little one in the same room or crib when they sleep.
• Use white noise, scientists have found that these sounds mimic the noise babies hear in the womb which can have a calming effect on your little one.
• Be patient: This cannot be achieved in one day; your little one needs time to adjust to a schedule or routine – especially if they were previously irregular.
