wakes too early

What is your child’s chronotype?

Chronotype describes the time of day when you feel most alert or energetic – whether you are a morning lark or a night owl or somewhere between the two, often referred to a “third bird”. If you prefer to go to bed early and wake early, you are a ‘morning type’ or ‘lark’. Or if a later bedtime and wake up time suits you better, you are an ‘evening type’, or ‘owl’.

Your chronotype is inherited from your parents, genetically determined in the same way as your eye colour and your natural sleep rhythm is passed on to you through the PER3 gene.

Larks make up roughly 40 per cent and owls 30 per cent of the population with the remainder coming somewhere in between.

Why do I need to know my child’s chronotype?

Knowing your chronotype will help you sleep better, and plan your day knowing when you perform at your best.

Larks tend to function well in the mornings, when owls are slowly coming round. Whereas owls come into their own come late in the day and evening times, when larks are ready to put their feet up.

As well as knowing how much sleep your child needs, identifying their chronotype means you will be able to establish a sleep pattern for them in line with their natural body clock. Work out which chronotype best describes you and your partner and use this as a basis for your child’s bedtime and waking time. By working with your child’s natural body clock they are more likely to fall asleep faster, have more and better-quality sleep and wake less at night.

Larks

A lark child is likely to need an earlier bedtime. Putting your lark to bed later usually means they will have less sleep that night, as they are still likely to wake at their typically early morning time.

Owls

An owl child is likely to have a slightly later bed and wake-up times than their lark-like friend. It is particularly important for owls to have a regular set bedtime and, just as importantly, a fixed wake up time. If owls are put to bed late, they are more likely to wake later too. If this pattern is repeated, for example over school holidays, their body clock will shift into a later phase. Limiting light exposure in the evening and having a good dose of light in the morning will help keep an owl child’s body clock on track.

Early morning waking is one the most tiring problems for parents and often one of the most difficult problems to solve.

Unlike you, most young children feel refreshed and ready to start their day if they wake at this time.

The good news is though, with patience and consistency you can help your child sleep later or learn to stay in bed longer in the morning.

help with early rising — my child wakes too early

Ensure your toddler is having the right amount of sleep (both in the day and at night) for their age. It can be a fine balance, but your child could be waking early if they’re having too much or too little sleep in the day. And at night too; early rising can be caused by having too little sleep overnight….this can be impacted further by putting your child to bed late in the hope they will sleep later in the morning.

Encourage your toddler to take their nap either late morning or after lunch. If their nap is taken very early in the morning this could be part of their night time sleep that has split away. Continuing to have this early nap can perpetuate their early waking. You can solve this problem by slowly shifting their nap later by 15 minutes each day until their nap is after lunch.

Aim not to offer your child milk or food until after 6 am, so they don’t have a “learnt hunger” at 5 am.

Try not to inadvertently “reward” early waking by bringing your little one into your bed to sleep, to watch fun DVD’s or play games. Instead aim to keep them quietly in their bed until it’s getting up time; even if initially you have to stay with them in their room to do this.

Environmental factors can also be important. Check their room is not too hot or cold…ideally it should be between 16-20C/60-68F. Keep their room dark and quiet until it is time to get up.

For a child closer to 3 years, or older, a reward system combined with a morning light system can encourage your child to stay in bed in the morning.

Here’s how………

Choose a small lamp; something you already have at home and set this up in your child’s room.
Place it somewhere your child can easily see it from their bed, but not right next to their head.
Plug the lamp into a digital timer switch.
Use a low wattage bulb in the lamp so it won’t wake your child if they are still asleep when it comes on.
Set up the morning lamp to come on at the earliest time your child usually wakes; this could be as early as 5.00am! It’s important that you make it very easy for your child to achieve your goal in the first few days.
The lamp acts a guide of when it is morning and when your child can come through to you.
Explain to your child that to achieve their reward, they must stay in their bed until the lamp comes on.
Then once you know they fully understand the goal and are keen to have their reward , in small incremental steps of 5 minutes a day, gradually move the timer switch so the lamp comes on later…. repeat this slowly until you reach your goal.

Please bear in mind that early rising can take a few weeks to see signs of improvement. It is a good idea to keep a record of your child’s waking times so you can see the gradual improvement in their sleeping patterns.

Is your child a lark or an owl?

What is your child’s chronotype?

Why do I need to know my child’s chronotype?

Larks

Owls

My little one wakes too early….please help!

Early morning waking is one the most tiring problems for parents and often one of the most difficult problems to solve.

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