Sleeping FAQ: 18-24 Months – Early Morning Waking

My 23mth old son had always slept from 7pm to 7.30/8.00am and enjoyed a good lunchtime nap but since the birth of his brother, eight weeks ago, he has begun to wake early. He settles well at 7pm but he is now waking between 5.45am and 6.30am and is ready to get up.   When he wakes he calls out and wakes the baby too.

My son eats three good meals a day at the times recommended by The Contented Baby. His lunchtime nap is from 12.30-2.30pm.   Before the arrival of the baby he would sometimes sleep from 12.30-2.30/3pm.

There are two main reasons why a toddler of this age should suddenly change his sleeping habits.   If he is physically exhausted at bedtime, his quality of sleep will be deeper and he might wake earlier as a result.

The other more common reason is that his daytime nap needs to be reduced.

If your son seems over-tired at his normal bedtime, then you will need to adjust his bedtime routine to accommodate this.   Your little boy has had to adapt to the changes of a new baby in the house.  He has had to share you with his brother.  He is also developing rapidly, learning new skills every day and it is easy for him to become tired and overwhelmed.   If your son is falling straight to sleep when put into his cot at 7pm, or appearing over-tired at bedtime, aim to bring forward his bedtime to 6.40-6.45pm.

Bath and bedtime with two young children can become fraught and hectic.  Start the bedtime routine in plenty of time in order to enable your son to wind down before settling to sleep.   Make it your priority to give your attention to your son at this time in the day.  Once you have bathed and fed the baby put him into his cot, with a dim light and mobile or soft book to play with, and focus your attention on your older son.

It can take over a week for this earlier bedtime to improve early morning waking.  Take a look at the routines in The Contented Toddler Years or the website article; Routine for Babies and Toddlers which gives helpful advice about how to cope with this time of day.

It is not unusual for a two-year old child’s daytime sleep needs to change.   The two hours they have had at lunchtime may need to be reduced to an hour and half.  This needs to be taken at the right time of day otherwise your son will be too exhausted for bath time.

During the course of a week, in order to prevent your toddler from becoming too tired at bedtime, put him down for his nap 10 minutes later each day, until he is settling nearer to 1.00pm.

Try waking him after an hour and a half for a few days and see if this helps him sleep longer in the morning.

It may take a few days for you to establish how long he needs to sleep at lunchtime and do take into account how active he has been in the morning. Some days he may need a longer sleep if he seems to be getting overtired.

While you are making these alterations to his routine, you need to discourage your son from waking the family early in the morning.   As soon as you hear him calling out, go to his room.  Open the door slightly and simply tell him, “It is not time to get up yet”. You might have had a disturbed night with the baby, so it will be worth encouraging your husband to do this.  It is important that the same few words are used every morning and said with a firm voice.   Don’t get into any discussions about it being daytime.   If your son persists in calling out then go back to his door and say exactly the same thing each time.  In time he will realize that even calling out does not mean you are willing to start the day. This method does need to be followed through in the same way every day for it to be effective.

Use black out blinds on the windows to ensure that his room is really dark.  Sometimes a chink of early morning light can rouse a toddler in a light sleep.

If you feel that your son is old enough to understand the concept of a star chart, this might be another way of encouraging to rest in his cot until it is time to get up.

Let him help you to draw a chart, and explain that he will receive a sticker for each morning he lies quietly in his cot.  Give him lots of praise when awarding his star.