Is your baby waking up extra early?

Early morning rising is described as AT LEAST one hour BEFORE your designated wake time. Let's have checklist to go over so we can take steps towards helping babies sleep a little longer!

1 Ensure your response to the early wake isn't encouraging the wake up. Social interaction is a trigger for the body to start the day, sometimes how you respond can encourage bub to wake up. Things like bringing baby into bed or actually starting your day.

2 Is the room still dark in the mornings? Light is another key trigger to wake up so make sure there's no early morning sunlight coming into the room.

3 Are you offering your baby breakfast too early when they're up early for the day? Food is another key element that signals to the circadian rhythm it's time to wake up. BUT if your baby is waking for a milk feed, try to resettle back to sleep to ensure that early wake is not hunger. The older they get the trickier this is so a feed at that 4.00-5.00am mark for a bubba over 8 months could be your mel factor here - could be time to wean!

4 Is your baby having a very long morning nap or if your baby is 'maxing out' their sleep needs, then they may only need to sleep 10 hours overnight, not 12, which could mean a 5.00am wake is totally acceptable depending on their day sleep and overall sleep needs.

5 If your baby is going to bed overtired, this can also cause early starts due to higher amounts of cortisol - the wake/stress hormone. When the body has extra amounts of cortisol, it is harder to stay in a deep sleep and have a restful sleep. Cortisol is what helps us wake in the mornings, as it starts to peak for the day - but if levels are already higher than normal then it will peak earlier and may cause an early morning rise.

Share this with a parent battling early morning wake ups!