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When your baby can finally sleep through the night, it’s a game changer. But unfortunately, babies who snooze better overnight often still wake up at the crack of dawn (or even earlier!).
If your LO is a too-early riser, Olufunke Afolabi-Brown, M.D., a board certified pediatric pulmonary and sleep medicine physician and the leader of BabyCenter’s infant sleep courseOpens a new window, has some suggestions that might help.
Read on for doable ways to get your baby to sleep longer in the morning. And for more sleep strategies tailored to your baby’s specific needs, age, and stage, check out The BabyCenter 3-Stage Sleep SolutionOpens a new window in its entirety.
1. Avoid going in to get your baby the moment they wake up.
No one likes to hear their baby cry, but try to hang back for a few minutes when your little one calls for you in the morning. This can give them a chance to self-soothe and put themselves back to sleep.
2. Do a light check.
Lots of babies are quite sensitive to light – after all, it is what controls the circadian rhythm, telling our bodies when to wake and sleep. So if your baby is waking up super-early, it might be because the sun is getting into their room, signaling to them that it’s time to wake up.
Blackout shades or curtains can be a huge help, but it’s also important to go into the room with the curtains drawn when it’s light outside to see if any light is still coming through. If it is, you might want to try a different window covering – or some parents get creative by taping up paper or aluminum foil onto places where cracks of visible light would typically come through.
3. If your baby sleeps with a noise machine, make sure it stays on all night (and morning!) long.
In the course, Dr. Brown explains why this is so important: Babies and adults alike wake up several times per night in between sleep cycles, but we usually put ourselves back to sleep quickly and without even realizing it.
Sleep associations – or the conditions that you need to fall asleep – help facilitate this process. For instance, if an adult has learned to fall asleep with a blanket and a pillow, then they will be more likely to wake up in the middle of the night if they are missing at the end of the sleep cycle.
Similarly, if your baby learns to fall asleep with a sound machine, then you want to keep that sound machine on the entire time you’d like them to stay asleep. Otherwise, they might end a sleep cycle in the wee hours of the morning and wake up more fully when they realize their white noise is no longer playing.
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4. If none of the above work, try moving your baby’s bedtime 10 to 15 minutes later.
This can be especially helpful if your baby is taking very long naps during the day or going to bed too early.
5. Alternatively, you can also try moving your baby’s bedtime 10 to 15 minutes earlier.
Other babies wake up early because they’re actually overtired (counterintuitive, but true!). If you suspect your baby might not be getting enough sleep, you can try moving your baby’s bedtime up in 10- to 15-minute increments. You might find that it helps your baby sleep in.
These tips just scratch the surface of the great advice that Dr. Brown gives in The BabyCenter 3-Stage Sleep SolutionOpens a new window. I definitely recommend that any parents who are struggling to get their babies to sleep better check it out.