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If your child is taking a short nap and waking up happy it is likely that the amount of sleep pressure that they have built up before their nap is not enough, and it might be time to extend the wake period before that nap. Bedtime will fall between 6:30 and 7:45 on a regular basis, although an earlier bedtime is necessary when going through nap transitions or dealing with an early morning wake up. Under two months old: 45 minutes to an hour If experimenting with different wake times is not successful, start paying closer attention to the signs your child is giving you before each nap and bedtime and see if those can lead you in a better direction. However, if your child is due for their next nap or bedtime within the next 30-45 minutes and you are in the process of determining the correct wake period, then you must watch for your child’s sleep signals and let them lead the way.

This includes making sure the sleep environment conducive to sleep, choosing the most appropriate sleep training method, taking into consideration day sleep and wake times, and removing all crutches/sleep associations. In addition to considering the wake times during the day, you also need to make sure that the timing between the last nap of the day and bedtime is also not too long, because this is the most sensitive wake time of the entire day. The early bedtime is biologically advantageous to their child learning how to self-soothe and getting the restorative sleep that they need. It is best to avoid feeding your child too close to nap time, instead feed them when they wake as opposed to before they go to sleep.

I have found that in most instances parents know what to do, they just don’t know how to put a plan in place in order to get the job done. Taking some time upfront to develop a plan that allows the parents to think through the process and better understand how to handle situations that arise, even at 3:00 AM when they are dead tired and at their wit’s end. While this is completely understandable, it is important to keep in mind that a child who has never been sleep-trained before will take to the process better than a child who has been through the process, but didn’t succeed. Although, it is important that the sleep training process includes both day and night sleep.

In fact, I advise my clients to treat a 4:00 or 5:00 am wake-up the same way as they would treat a waking in the middle of the night. If they don’t fall asleep, I suggest doing a “dramatic morning announcement” at 6:00, which means opening the curtains, turning on the lights, and switching from stoic night-time parent to happy/fun daytime parent ready to start the day. Another essential element to fixing the early morning waking is making sure that your child is falling asleep independently and without any props, such as a pacifier. Bedtime should be between 5:45 and 7:30 pm after a solid schedule has been established, otherwise it will be the culprit for perpetual early wake-ups.