Sleeping FAQ: 18-24 Months – Early Morning Waking

My 17 month old has dropped her morning nap but is now wakes early.

Since my 17-month-old daughter has dropped her morning nap, which she was having at 9.30 am for 15 minutes, she has started waking earlier and earlier in the morning despite a good 2 hour sleep at lunch. Everything remains the same as before – I have tried earlier and later and shorter and longer naps at lunch but there is no difference to waking in the morning having moved from 7am to 6am. I have scoured the web site and know the CLB books back to front. I have found a few useful things but in general I have checked and been through nearly all the suggestions: she is not going down overtired as she is talking in her cot for 10 minutes before falling asleep. Possibly she is getting over tired in the morning but I have brought forward her lunchtime nap to nearer 12-12.15 for 2 hours and I have also tried moving this to nearer 1 and cutting back the time to 1 half hours : she is having lunch at 11.30; she is in her room by 12 and she is down by 12.15. Life has been very disrupted recently with a move to Mozambique but I have kept things pretty calm and on schedule and she seems very happy. I am desperate for advice as there is little support for me here in Africa and I am getting exhausted with lack of sleep and trying to cope with setting ourselves up here!

Getting your daughters sleep cycle to lengthen in the early morning so she is waking nearer to 7am will take a consistent approach which you will need to follow for at least 10 days before you probably notice any real difference. It can take at least two weeks for early morning waking to be corrected. By following the same plan every day her body will gradually readjust itself to sleeping for another cycle of 45 minutes or so before 7am.

Try moving her lunchtime sleep forward slowly to nearer 1pm. Do this by moving it 5-10 minutes on every 3-4 days. She may go down at 7pm and chat for slightly longer but this will help her drift off to sleep which can really help in the mornings. Offer her a drink of water before going down at lunchtime to make sure she is not thirsty and so will sleep well. At her age and with all the recent changes she will probably need two hours in the day to regain her energy. And prevent her from becoming chronically overtired.