Sleeping FAQ: 12-18 Months – Early Morning Waking

What can I do to get my 14 month old to wake later and sleep less in the day?

For the past month and a half I have become stuck in a cycle of early morning waking, which I suspect is down to too much day time sleep but I can’t seem to resolve the issue. My daughter is now 14 months old and previous to the early morning wakening she was managing to get through quite a few mornings without a nap and sleeping well until 7am or longer. She then went through a spell of needing the morning nap again and then started waking at 6.30am and then it just got earlier and earlier. Now she wakes at 5.30/5.40 every morning and is ready to start her day. As a result I have to give her a short morning nap as she is shattered by 9am and if she gets less than 2 hours at lunchtime it seems to result in her being tired and miserable all afternoon, she has a meltdown at bath time and still wakes early due to falling into a deep sleep at 7pm. She always settles immediately to sleep at 7pm.
When she wakes at 5.30am I leave her as long as I can until she is shouting and screeching at about 6.30am and then I go in and give her milk. She then plays in her cot until 7am and we get up and start our day. I often take her out in her buggy to try and get her until 9.30am for a nap. I then started cutting back on that which is difficult as she can’t wake up and is thoroughly miserable until lunchtime. I have been giving her 30 minutes at 9.15-9.45. She then goes down for her lunchtime nap from 12.30 – 2.30pm. I work in lots of quiet time and rest periods etc. Some days she has had 30 minutes in the morning and then only slept an hour and 20mins at lunchtime and again, still wakes at 5.40am.

I don’t know how to resolve this one and have tried everything I can think of. She eats very well and her room is pitch black.

It can be difficult to resolve a problem like this when the whole sleep cycle appears to have shifted. As with most sleep problems you will need to move things slowly and not expect any immediate results. It can take two weeks for the cycle to be moved back.

Try getting her into bed before she is shattered at 7pm. A bedtime of 6.30/6.40pm could help her stop falling into such a deep sleep so quickly. If this begins to help the problem, remembering it can take at least a week for things to begin to change, then very gradually move it back towards 7pm, but only changing things by 5 minutes every few days.

If your daughter begins to sleep longer in the mornings, push her morning nap forward, but still give it unless she really shows she does not need it any more. Get her going down at 9.30/9.45am for 20 minutes. This will then help you push her lunchtime nap forward to 1-3pm.

Once she is able to do this and stay up to 7pm without becoming exhausted you should be able to cut out the morning nap altogether.

You could also try giving her a small healthy snack when she wakes after her morning and lunchtime nap along with the water she has already. Babies of this age are becoming much more mobile and active. They need to “re-fuel” to help them keep going until their next meal. Tiredness, coupled with hunger can make for a very miserable baby.