The Slumber Studio

😍🥳🤩

This post is a continuation of info on early morning wakings. If you haven’t seen my previous posts on this topic, scroll back to take a look! ⁣
⁣
Today we will look at culprit #8 - hunger! ⁣
⁣
Sometimes babies aren’t taking in their total caloric needs during the day which can cause both frequent night wakings and early morning wakings in order to make up for missing calories. ⁣
⁣
I really like to see babies eating every 2 - 3.5 hours during the day. I know some people like to do a 4 hour feeding schedule but if your baby eats every 3 hours instead of every 4 hours, he or she will get in one more daytime feeding each day. That can ultimately have a big impact on their sleep! ⁣
⁣
If your family eats dinner pretty early then there could be the possibility that your toddler is waking because of hunger as well. You can always consider the possibility of offering your toddler a nutrient dense snack closer to bedtime and see if that helps.⁣
⁣
Not all babies or toddlers will have early morning wakings because of hunger but if you take a look at your schedule you can try to evaluate if there’s any way to add in a few extra ounces, nursing sessions or calories during the day if you think hunger may be the culprit!

This post is a continuation of info on early morning wakings. If you haven’t seen my previous posts on this topic, scroll back to take a look! ⁣
⁣
Today we will look at culprit #7: they rely on parental intervention to put them to sleep. ⁣
⁣
This could mean holding, rocking, feeding, replacing the pacifier, laying next to them, bringing them to your bed, etc. ⁣
⁣
When you assist in putting your infant or toddler to sleep by using any of the above methods, they’ll expect to be put back to sleep in the same manner upon waking.⁣
⁣
I have had countless clients come to me needing help because their baby (or babies) are waking multiple times between 3 and 5am needing parental intervention to get back to sleep. ⁣
⁣
If this is a problem you are experiencing, I highly recommend teaching your child to put themselves to sleep independently. This way when they wake they will be able to quickly and efficiently put themselves right back to sleep! Otherwise it’s highly likely that they’ll continue to wake expecting to be helped back to sleep. ⁣
⁣
In addition to parental intervention to be put back to sleep, parents can inadvertently reinforce the early wakeup by getting their child up for the day at 4:30 or 5am. Please keep in mind that wake ups this early should be treated as a night waking and not as their daily wake time. Try to wait a little while before going to get them, or try using your sleep coaching method to help them get back to sleep! 😴 ⁣

This post is a continuation of info on early morning wakings. If you haven’t seen my previous posts on this topic, scroll back to take a look! ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐭 #𝟓: 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Sometimes an early wake up can happen because your child has maxed out on their total sleep needs. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Infants and toddlers have day time AND night time sleep requirements and those are calculated in a 24 hour period. So if they get too much daytime sleep, it can easily affect their night time sleep.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Sometime this is why I will recommend capping naps. For example: I have to wake up my 1 year old almost every nap and my 2 year old I have to wake sometimes. I do this because I know if I don’t, they will get too much daytime sleep which will then translate to this: ⁣⁣
📌they won’t be tired enough at bedtime⁣⁣
📌they’ll take longer than normal to fall asleep⁣⁣
📌they’ll then become overtired ⁣⁣
📌they’ll then wake early (either because they were overtired by the time they actually fell asleep or because they were maxed out on their total sleep needs)⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Sometimes your baby can get too much daytime sleep because it’s time to drop a nap, other times it’s simply because they are sleeping too long during each nap.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Here’s some typical sleep needs by age:⁣⁣
0-3 months: 4-5+ hours ⁣⁣
4-6 months: 3-4 hours ⁣⁣
7-9 months: 2-4 hours ⁣⁣
9-15 months: 2.5-3 hours ⁣⁣
15-24 months: 2-3 hours ⁣⁣
2-3 years: 1-3 hours⁣⁣
4 years: transition to 1 hour quiet time ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Please note: every baby is unique in their individual sleep needs. Some babies truly need more sleep than others and that’s okay! However if you’re dealing with early morning wakings, it’s definitely worth evaluating your schedule! ⁣⁣