What can we do to get 22 month Isla to sleep later?
Isla has been a great contented baby, but we are having troubles with early waking. She is waking at 5.30-6am. I have checked all the usual reasons; she sleeps in a bag, and has done since a baby, she is definitely not cold, her room is completely blacked out. In the space of several weeks she went from having a 2hr lunchtime nap (1-3pm) to refusing a nap altogether. We tried that but then started to have night time waking. So after a few noisy days we got back to having a lunchtime nap which I reduced to 1hr. I keep her up to 7.30pm yet she still wakes early. She gets outside as much as the weather allows, and is never still. She eats well and is otherwise a healthy child. She has a 9mth brother who is also a contented baby.
Being overtired at bedtime and falling straight into a deep sleep is one of the causes of early morning waking in toddlers. As Isla has cut back on her daytime sleep she may be better going down at 7pm. She will have been on the go from 2pm.
If you would like her to go down at 7.30pm because of her brothers bedtime or having a spell with Daddy, if he comes in around this time, try alternating the later time with 7pm two or three times a week to stop her becoming overtired.
The ideal would be for her to go down still awake and happy to chat to herself for a while before settling to sleep at about 7.15/7.20pm.
Another reason for early waking, can be a very wet nappy by early morning which becomes uncomfortable. If she is still having a large beaker of milk or bottle before bedtime consider bringing this forward to earlier, possibly before her bath and change her before settling her at night.
If Isla is crying in the morning and you are concerned she may wake her brother, go to her and simply state that it is still night time and she must lie down until you come for her. Being consistent with the words you use will help. Even if there are two or three mornings in the beginning when she protests and possibly wakes her brother it is better she gets used to the idea that the day does not begin just because she has woken. Providing the room is very dark she may well learn to drop back to sleep again when she realises that just being awake does not mean that the day begins.
At this time of the year the dawn chorus can be a source of waking, or even a timer on a boiler kicking in, which is a problem sometimes overlooked. The former cannot be helped but if Isla is going down exhausted at 7.30pm she is more likely to be disturbed by the sound at 5.30/6am. If you realise she wakes just after a boiler or a water system has begun, do what you can to change its timing not to coincide with her light sleep in the early morning.
If Isla still persists in waking early, consider putting a low light on a timer to come on at 6.30am so she is able to amuse herself until you begin the day at 7am. Leave her a few soft toys and board books in her cot. Some toddlers just do not need so much sleep and it is better she learns to amuse herself rather than expect someone to come and get her as soon as she wakes. During the day build in quieter periods where you both enjoy a cuddle and story together, to help her not to get overtired.