Having a consistent morning wake time (within 30 minutes) is very important when trying to establish a good routine and healthy sleep habits and particularly when you are trying to problem solve with your routine. If your baby wakes up at a different time every morning you are never able to get a consistent daily routine and his body is never able to get accustomed to waking and sleeping at the same time each day. You also end up having to constantly time how long it has been since baby has been awake or asleep instead of simply putting baby down or getting baby up at a certain time. Of course, with young babies you will most likely need to use this method accompanied with sleep cues at first, but over time, baby should start to sleep around the same time each day.
A consistent morning wake time also helps keep night time sleep during the night rather than during the day. If you let baby sleep in until noon each day he may not be tired enough to go to sleep at a reasonable time at night, or he may start to wake up during the middle of the night because he has had too much sleep during the day.
Lastly, if you do not have a consistent wake time there is a possibility your child's routine may drift later and later since our biological time clock lasts a bit longer than 24 hours (see Biological Rhythms and Sleep). Normally this isn't a problem for adults because we have to get up for a variety of reasons (work, kids etc), but if we are free to sleep in late we may end up sleeping later and later each day.
A consistent morning wake time also helps keep night time sleep during the night rather than during the day. If you let baby sleep in until noon each day he may not be tired enough to go to sleep at a reasonable time at night, or he may start to wake up during the middle of the night because he has had too much sleep during the day.
Lastly, if you do not have a consistent wake time there is a possibility your child's routine may drift later and later since our biological time clock lasts a bit longer than 24 hours (see Biological Rhythms and Sleep). Normally this isn't a problem for adults because we have to get up for a variety of reasons (work, kids etc), but if we are free to sleep in late we may end up sleeping later and later each day.
I am wondering if I should wake my 4 month old in the morning, in order to take a consistant morning nap. She sleeps from 7pm-8:30 or 9:30 am (waking twice to eat) so her morning naps aren't happening at a consistant time. Sometimes a later nap (10:45) due to a later wake time gets interrupted because of us having to go get her oldest brother from school. I have a hard time waking babies but will do it if it is necessary. Advice appreciated! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLaurie,
ReplyDeleteI think it is really important to try to get that morning wake time within around 30 minutes since it helps keep the consistency for the rest of the day. So yes, I would wake her. And you might try putting her to bed a bit earlier to make up for any wake time lost in the morning since she seems to be a child that needs a lot of night sleep. I would make sure the night sleep isn't robbing too much of her nap time. I have no idea if this is an issue but I am just throwing it out there. Maybe she is up at night a fair bit and that is why she is waking so late in the am even with a good 7 pm bedtime.
Rachel
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI have a 2 month old. We are now elongating her sleep time at night. Most times she goes 5-6 hours from her dream feed. I'm having a hard time deciding what time her morning wake time should be... I'm on maternity leave now so 7am would be ok, but I'm concerned that we'll need to move it earlier when I go back to work and she needs goes to daycare. Do you have any advice?
She typically wakes on her own now between 5:30 and 6:30 depending on when her dream feed is (we're working on finding the sweet spot). I like 6:30am but her daddy would like her to be awake before he leaves for work at 6:30 so he can at least say good morning.
I'm not usually this indecisive but this is kind of a big thing and I could use some advice.
Mama S,
DeleteYou can do it at 7 am now and then slowly move it earlier as you get close to ending your maternity leave. Moving to an earlier morning wake up is a million times easier than moving the other way around. Most kids do pretty well with this. So that would mean you would feed an put her back down if she woke earlier than like 6:30 for now.
If and when you move her earlier, whatever times works for you will probably be fine. Just make sure bedtime is approximately 11-12 hours prior to morning wake up time. She may have a later bedtime right now (compared to morning wake up) but it should be moving earlier relatively soon. If not, issues often pop up.
Rachel
Hi Rachel- Thank you so much for your helpful Blog.
ReplyDeleteMy question is the opposite. My little 6wo guy keeps waking earlier than wanted. I would like to start the day at 6:30 am but he consistently awakens at 6 or 6:15am. SOmetimes as early as 5:45. Seems like a little bit of time difference, but makes big difference later in day. I agree that if he awakens more than one hour prior, I would feed and put back down until 7am and adjust the day, but how can I get him to sleep later? I have since been shush patting him and using the pacifier from 15-30 minutes to get our wake up time the same every day.
If I keep this up and only feed him at 6:30am will he eventually sleep until 6:30am?
His bedtime is 7-7:15pm. In past few days, he is now awakening before his dreamfeed at 10pm (used to dream feed at 10:30pm) and used to wake at 2:45am and now awakens at 2am, but has still slept until 6 or so... Is this a sign that the awakening time will also move earlier?
Thank you again for answering both issues...
Nicole
Nicole and Joe
DeleteIf I keep this up and only feed him at 6:30am will he eventually sleep until 6:30am?
Very likely and it is probably your best bet right now.
Is this a sign that the awakening time will also move earlier?
It may or may not but my guess is that it won't make a difference. If it does, it will hopefully be short lived as he gets bigger and older. Keep in mind that he is pretty young and may end up with some growth spurts increasing feed frequency every now and again. Some kids don't wake up more, others do for a short time.
Rachel
Ds is 7 mos and wakes at 5 a.m. a lot if no NightFeed. I try doing a feed at 5 and he win't go back to sleep. I have tried ignoring and that does not work either. He will only go 10 hrs before waking and I am thinking if I do a bedtime at 6, he will wake at 3:30/4. He will always go back to sleep if he wakes at that time. Think that sounds like a good idea?
ReplyDeleteMolly,
DeleteI wonder if he is a ten hour sleeper. There are some kids like that.
Consider trying wake to sleep method
Can't hurt to try 6 and see what happens.
Good luck
Rachel
Just found your blog and could use some advice! My baby is four weeks old and I'm wondering if she is too young to implement a wake up time, or if I can start now. I have been consistent with her bedtime routine and she is usually down by 8 pm, then gives me three long stretches at night (4 hours, 3 hours, 3 hours) and wakes up sometime between 530 and 6 but will always go back down for another 1.5 to 2 hours after that.
ReplyDeleteI would like her wake time to be either 7 or 730, should I start trying to implement this now, or wait until she is a bit older? Her ped said not to try to schedule her until six weeks.
I have a 4 month old. I have been trying to follow her lead, but her pattern is no pattern. Each day is slightly different and I am at a loss. My first daugther went to bed at 8:30 and slept to 8am. She is 2 years old now and is the best sleeper! My second daughter is vastly different.
ReplyDeleteI try get her up the same time each day, but by the last meal of the night she is either too tired and goes to bed early (and can't leep all night) or goes to bed by 10pm and still can't make it. Sometimes I let her cry if she sounds whiney,but other times I have to get up and feed her. That said, I know she can sleep through the night as she was averaging 10 hours a night before she hit her 4 month growth spurt. Plus, she appears to be a cat napper. I started putting her down 2 hours after waking and she would take 30-45 min. naps, but then she throws me a curve ball and wants to sleep only an hour after getting up! Then I try to feed her every 3.5 hours and she is not hungry, so I wait to every 4 hours and then she throws another curve ball and wants to eat somewhere in the middle. The naps and feedings always collide and I am constantly adjusting. I just feel so out of place. I am scheduler -- I want the routine. I know newborns can't do that, but she is getting to point where I know she testing me. What can I do? Please help.
I would be so grateful if she would get up at 7am or 8am daily (which happens most of the time), but the rest of the day is all over the place. No matter what theory I follow. Lately she has been getting up to feed once a night and I am chalking it up to a growth spurt and I am hoping she goes back to sleeping 10 hours. Then at least I could stick 2-3 naps in the daytime and work feedings around it. Please guidance!
Noelle Taylor,
DeleteI would 1) get her up at the same time each day. Maybe 30 minutes later than usual if she has woken up and eaten and gone back to sleep within 30 minutes of her morning wake time.
I highly suggest keeping a sleep log. See how long she normally can handle staying awake at 1) certain times of the day and with 2) certain prior nap lengths.
I would try to work with the clock and with sleep cues, not just the sleep cues right now. She may be tricking you with her cues (they can get a bit fuzzy as they get older) which could be adding to the short naps. It certainly is making things inconsistent for you and not allowing you to get the structure you desire. I suggest starting around 1 hour -1.5 hours in the am and 1.5 hours for the other waketimes maybe with 2 hours at bedtime. It is fine if she goes to bed early at night--that will likely make her sleep better. But try to either put her to bed early enough that she isn't too tired and gets a good feeding or 2) add a short extra nap in if she can't make it to bedtime and putting her to bed early is a little tooo early. An hour early for bedtime is likely fine if needed.
You can work at the short naps (see the short nap post and extending nap posts) but you may not be able to extend them. You can at least get a routine with them. Look over the EASY routine too. That is my favorite for getting in to a routine with babies. You can find these post in the index...no time to find them for you right now, sorry.
Rachel
my almost 4 month old goes to bed too late and wakes up too late. She wakes up at 11am naturally so I am trying waking her up at 10am every morning and then I am planning to gradually wake her up 15 min earlier each day until she wakes up when I want her to (at 7am). Is that a good idea? Will she learn to go to bed earlier if I do this?
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great plan leah mellinger. You may have to wait a couple days between 15 minute changes to let her body adjust more and don't be afraid to aim for 8 am either. I don't think it is an issue with most kids (unless they want to wake closer to 7).
DeleteRachel
Hi Rachel
ReplyDeleteMy 11 wk old ... I wake her at 7 every morning.. However some mornings I go in and she is already awake. I have got up a bit earlier on a few days to check on her and have found her to be awake as early as 6.15.. just lying there happy until 7... Should I adjust her day schedule on these days or just go with it (she has a morning sleep at 0830) - some times she does seem very tired by the time I put her down for this. But as she is lying quiet in a dark room with no stimulation maybe its ok for her to be awake from 0615 -0830??? During the day her awake time is 1.5hr MAX. I worry that without me checking on her from 6am I have no idea at 7 (unless she is asleep when I go in) how long she has actually been lying there.
keepingmum,
DeleteI'd probably let her stay in her bed until 7 to help her adjust to that wake time. If she wakes a bit earlier and gets upset, then you are probably fine to get her up then too. You are right, it is much less stimulating for her to be in her bed than playing. I'd probably still put her down for her first nap a bit early, maybe 8. I often split the difference to determined when to do the next nap (if she's up 1 hour early, I'll put baby down 30 minutes early). If you don't know when she woke up, just go off of how she is acting. See how she does with this. If she start waking earlier and earlier, you may need to adjust her morning nap and keep it at a set time to see if this helps.
Hey There! I have a 4.5 month that is waking after her am feed. We just had to spring forward for Daylight savings... It is messing everything up! She eats at 430-5am and then wants to play and won't go back to sleep. Her bedtime is 7pm, but sometimes can take her anywhere from 10min to and hour to go down.
ReplyDeleteHow do I get her to go back to sleep after the morning feeding, she is genuinely Hungry at the hour!
Danilo,
DeleteFirst off, try to interact as little as possible. No talking (unless it's a quick "time to sleep"), no lights, most likely no leaving her bed. If you can't get her to go back to sleep with a swing or feed then you can try leaving her to go back to sleep. Don't stress if it takes her some time, she should improve. If she starts to cry, you can either continue to leave her, or you can try some technique to help her got to sleep then (but just keep the attention to when she's crying, not playing).
Danilo,
Deleteyou could also try waking her an hour earlier than her normal feed. Feed her then and see if she'll go back to sleep then. AFter several days of this, don't wake her anymore and hopefully she'll get back into the habit of sleeping int he morning so a feed at the old time won't cause issues.