How to Get Your Baby to Sleep Later

So, you’ve got an early riser on your hands?

I see you, Mama. You’re tired with a capital T, and Should you have the rare but oh-so-desired opportunity to sleep in on a Saturday you want to take full advantage. It’s hard to squeeze in those few extra golden minutes when you’re dealing with early wakings.

If your kiddo is waking you up at the crack of dawn every single day you might be asking, “How can I get my child to sleep later?” Well, the answer isn’t quite as simple as you may think. Some parents assume that changing up their child’s nap and bedtime routines will prove to be a simple solution to this problem. However, I’m going to caution against that. By doing so you can create a vicious cycle of over-tiredness that will only make things more difficult!

Keep Naptime Consistent

Even though it’s really tough, and I totally understand that, you’ve got to hang on to his normal nap time. If it’s 09:30 AM, even if he’s been up since 04:30, you’ve got to hang in there until 09:30. My advice would be to give him a bit of fresh air around eight o’clock, make sure that you give him enough snacks and food to keep his energy levels up, to really encourage him to hang in there.

It’s similar to if you got up at 04:00 AM, wandered around, maybe had a snack, and then eventually went back to bed and finished your night. That’s what’s happening here, most likely. Hang in there until the first nap of the day. 

Maintain Bedtime Routine

I always suggest that people do not change bedtime. That is super tempting when you’ve got an early riser. You think, “Oh, if we just keep him up late, he’ll sleep later in the morning.” That hardly ever works.

In fact, all you end up doing, then, is creating a huge amount of over-tiredness in your child, which leads to more fragmented sleep and even earlier morning wake ups. Whatever you do, don’t do that.

I’m curious, how do you manage early wakings? Let me know over on Instagram @liveandrestbaby