SLEEP TIGHT
I’m a parenting pro, you’re making 3 mistakes which mean your kids wake up early – here’s the sleep schedule to stick to
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GETTING your little one off to sleep is hard enough as it is, but getting them to stay asleep can feel almost impossible.
It turns out parents always make the same three mistakes which lead to babies waking up early, but luckily they're easy enough to fix.
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is a Paediatric occupational therapist and she revealed that if you want your tot to sleep properly there's a few mistakes to avoid.
She said: "Believe it or not, early morning wakes aren't something you just have to live with.
"In fact, it's not your baby's preference or a requirement, it's simply the current pattern that they're in."
Here's what to do if you want your little one to wake up at a more reasonable time in the morning.
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Follow a sleep schedule
All babies should follow a sleep schedule that's appropriate for their age, Emma says.
This will make sure they're "not sleeping too long during the day and therefor has enough sleep pressure to stay asleep for 10-12 hours at night."
It might be the case that they sleep too much during the day, which can result in them waking up early in the morning.
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Treat early morning wakes like nap time wakes
Emma explains: "You keep the room dark and quiet and stay in bed until the desired wake up time.
"At all costs you want to avoid starting your day at four or five in the morning because you don't want to encourage your baby to develop an early morning wake up habit."
Getting your tot into the routine of staying in bed until it's an appropriate time to wake up will eventually shift their habits according to the pro.
Help your baby fall asleep independently
Since babies go through many sleep cycles during the night they might need an adult to hold or rock them back to sleep if that's what they're used to.
But if your tot can fall asleep independently you won't need to help the drift back off.
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Emma says: "If you're baby need your help to fall asleep they may go to bed easily at 7pm and then wake at 1am, 3am and 5am."
She continued: "At 5am it's going to be impossible to convince them to go back to sleep because their sleep pressure is low."
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