If you have not already done so, please read Blog Posts 1 through 5 that describe how sleep is important and beneficial. I will post specific information for parents and children based on my book, “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.” Please do not be put off by my book’s length. This is a reference book. Read only the topic of interest to you.
Some statements are easy to understand and easy to study, for example: “teething causes sleep disruptions”. This popular myth, and others (Blog Posts 36 and 37) are clearly identified as false statements in scientific publications.
Other popular, but false, beliefs arise from an incomplete understanding or a simplistic point of view. For example, healthy sleep might be viewed only from the perspective of sleep duration. Thus, a parent might incorrectly conclude that early bedtimes are not that important because they believe that their child will sleep in longer in the morning and/or take longer naps. Stated another way, a parent might believe in the ‘myth’ that a later bedtime associated with a later wake-up time and/or longer naps is equivalent to an early bedtime associated with an earlier wake-up time. With this mind-set, the timing of the sleep period or the consolidation of sleep is ignored. But sleep quality is more than just sleep duration (Blog Posts 6, 8, 11, and 15).
In the past, “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise” was a popular proverb. But today, modern parents may struggle with long commute times and may conduct business online at home. Or they may be distracted by digital devices at home. Thus, early bedtimes for their babies and children are especially challenging.
Here are some reasons why early bedtimes are especially important:
Moving the bedtime only a few minutes earlier, over time, may produce dramatic results; it’s as easy as ABC:
A. Begin soothing and bedtime routines when drowsy signs (Blog Post 9) begin to appear or just start 10-20 minutes earlier than you customarily do this.
and/or
B. Do not allow a late afternoon or early evening nap to occur.
Start this on a weekend when both parents are available to help distract and soothe your child through a possible rough patch.
and/or
C. Control the wake-up time. Nobody wants to wake a sleeping child. But if your pre-school child is falling asleep late at night and waking up way too late in the morning, then start waking your child in the morning around 7:00am to reset his sleep-wake cycle to be in synchrony with his circadian rhythm.
The importance of small differences in sleep duration cannot be overstated (Blog Post 6). A few minutes of extra sleep in the early evening might make a world of a difference! Please don’t get stressed if circumstances make it impossible to get ideal early bedtimes on weekdays. Remember, a bedtime that is a little too late is still better than a bedtime that is way too late. Maybe your child can get some catch-up sleep on weekends.
Late bedtimes coupled with late wake-up times and/or long naps are not a substitute for early bedtimes.
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Excellent blog article!
Hello Dr Weissbluth, I have been listening to the audio version of Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child, and used your methods to get my very tired 6 month old sleep trained in 3 nights. She was sleeping 12-14 hours at night starting around 5:30 or 6 pm (which is when she gets drowsy in the evening) Around 7 months she started teething and waking earlier and earlier in the morning. First at 5 am, then 4 am and now (at 8 months old) usually between 3 am and 4 am. When she first started waking early, I thought she was ready to get up for the day because she had already gotten around 11-12 hours of sleep. But with the wake times getting even earlier, that now seems unlikely. Do you have any advice on how to stop these early wakings? Daytime naps have decreased as well, from 2 hour naps 2-3 times a day to just 1-1.5 hour naps 2 times a day.
Currently, when do you start your bedtime routine?
When are lights out?
When do you leave the room?
When does she actually fall asleep at night?
We start the routine around 5:30 usually. She nurses, takes a bath, gets dressed, sometimes a little massage, I sing a lullaby, nurse her a little more and I put her down. Lights are out usually about 5:55. I lay her down and leave the room right away around 6. She usually falls asleep right away.
How is her mood and behavior between 4-5pm when she is by herself with toys and not in front of a screen or interacting with you?
Around 4 her mood is pretty good and she likes to crawl around and play with her toys and try to get into stuff. As it gets closer to 5 she is usually fussy and will still play if I’m there playing with her but is not as interested in her toys
This is evidence that her sleep tank is going to empty. For 4-5 nights, move all your bedtime activities earlier so that you are leaving the room (expected fall asleep time) at 5:30pm. Do not go to her in the morning until about 5-6am, but if she is asleep, don’t wake her. Listen to the section in my book, ‘Sleep Begets Sleep’ to understand why this works.
MOVE THE BEDTIME EARLIER
This may seem counterintuitive if your child is having trouble sleeping, but dramatic improvements occur even when children get very small amounts of extra sleep. Hyperarousal in your child causes difficulties in falling asleep and staying asleep. Early bedtimes dampen or eliminate hyperarousal. Early bedtimes will not necessarily cause your baby to wake up earlier in the morning. More sleep at the front end at night makes it easier for babies to sleep in later in the morning and/or wake up better rested.
Dr Weissbluth, thank you very much for taking the time to respond. We will give the 5:30 fall asleep time a try.