If your little one routinely wakes around 5am, you’ve got an Early Riser! For any parent, it’s a rough hour to wake in the morning. And if you’re dealing with a child who has also been up regularly through the night, it can leave you feeling shattered before the day has even started!
Early risers tend to wake for two reasons
- They’re overtired and adrenaline is affecting their quality of sleep
- They slept well for more than 10 hours and are genuinely ready to get up
How can you tell the difference?
Do you have a cheerful baby in the morning? If the first part of the day is filled with babbling, happy sounds and generally feels like a lovely time, chances are your little one is well rested and ready to get up at that hour. On the other hand, if you’re faced with uncontrollable crying, resistance to going back to sleep, or a ball of energy who crashes quickly, chances are you’re dealing with the first scenario.
Overtiredness can present in several ways. In younger children you’ll often notice increased catnaps, long and tearful bedtimes, moody wake windows, lack of interest in activities, clinginess and poor appetite. With toddlers you may notice mood swings and tantrums getting worse as the day progresses, often peaking around bedtime.
In the latter case, hyperactivity is often blamed. Except it’s not hyperactivity in the sense that they have too much energy, quite the opposite. The abundance of energy they appear to have is actually a surplus of adrenaline, caused by overtiredness. When this happens, and left unchecked, bedtimes tend to get later and morning wake ups become earlier. It’s a vicious cycle.
How early is too early?
If your baby wakes before 5am it’s important to help them go back to sleep, as this is still night time. I know when you’re faced with this situation, sometimes it can feel like an impossible task. One of the areas I help parents with is extending wake times – and usually it comes down to addressing overtiredness during the day.
Here’s something to try on your own
The best piece of advice I can give you to remedy early rising is to get daytime naps in order. Do you know what your little one’s sleepy signs are? As soon as you notice them during the day, it’s time to help them settle and get good quality sleep. As they sleep more in the day, you will likely notice an improvement at night. With patience and persistence, you’ll also be able to tease out mornings to a more sensible waking hour.
