Early Rising is one of the most frustrating parts of Baby and Toddler Sleeping Issues. You have put great effort into helping your child learn sleep skills and even though they are generally sleeping through the night, the early rising is slowly killing you. (I’m being just a little dramatic)

Early Rising is when the baby or toddler wakes and can’t get back to sleep well before you are ready to wake up and start your day. More technically, it’s likely before 6am. The body’s sleep cycles are different in those early hours and it’s harder to get back to sleep anyway.
Here are the things that typically cause Early Rising and once you have identified the cause, you can work on the solution.
2. Too late bedtime. Similar to Lack of day sleep, missing your bedtime sleep window also causes a rush of cortisol and its residual affect can cause early rising.

4. Lack of skills from being put to bed asleep. If you hold or rock or nurse your baby to sleep, they are in a different place when she wakes up between sleep cycles and needs you to help her fall back to sleep. Again, she has insufficient sleep skills. She may get more cortisol in the night from waking and needing help and by the early morning hours, just can’t get back to sleep.
6. Developmental milestones like crawling and walking. These are major skills that require brain and muscle changes. When your baby is working on a new skill, they want to practice this new skill when they wake up between sleep cycles. It’s a very exciting time. The sooner she masters the skill, the sooner her sleep can get back on track.
Tracy Spackman is a Certified Gentle Sleep Coach.
Call her if you need sleep help.
www.GetQuietNights.com
602-524-7610