Is a 5.30am wake up a regular occurrence in your house? Do you wake to the sound of tiny feet? Early morning wake ups can be one of the most exhausting. Check out some of our top tips for encouraging a later wake up time with your toddler.

Be realistic
Is your little one getting enough sleep? At 12 months old the NHS recommends that your child should get 11 hours sleep at night, this increases to 11.5 hours at 2 years and 12 hours for a 3 year old. With that in mind, is your child going to bed at the correct time at night? Having too little or too much sleep can really contribute to the problem.

Putting your little one to bed when they are starting to get tired rather than when they are exhausted, could impact the amount and quality of sleep they have each night.

Routine
Getting your little one into a routine can be tricky, but once you have accomplished it, bedtimes become that little bit easier. Check out our article on mastering the perfect bath, book, bed routine here. Once you have cracked the daytime napping and bedtime routine, stick to it. By following this pattern every night your child will know what to expect and will be a lot more likely to be relaxed and ready for sleep.

Consistency
As with everything, consistency is key! Cheeky toddlers will always try and push those boundaries so if your little one wakes earlier than you would want, try not to reward them, and stick to your guns. Brace yourself for the long haul, when it comes to bedtimes it is unlikely to change overnight.

Groclock Sleep Trainer
The Groclock is a sleep trainer for toddlers to help them to understand when it is time to get up, but importantly when it’s not. The Groclock uses fun images of the stars and sun to communicate when to go back to sleep and when it’s time to spring out of bed. The Groclock is a vital part of teaching your child when it is OK to give them a point of reference. This is especially important with the change of seasons and the clock change. Using the Groclock in conjunction with a reward chart can really help to reinforce the wake up times! You can download our big bed challenge reward chart and certificate.

Make sure your little one is settled
Is your little one’s nursery sleep friendly? Check out our article on what to consider when designing your nursery for sleep. There a couple of essentials that might help! Firstly, make sure you are able to create a snoozy environment; a Gro Anywhere Blind is perfect for making their room dark in minutes for when it’s still too light to say night night, especially if your early riser stirs around sunrise. The Gro Anywhere Blind has Velcro fastening which is easy to use and quick to adjust, to help keep the room dark until it is time to wake up.

Other bedroom items such as your little one’s duvet can also help! The Gro to Bed is a unique zip-in system that keeps the duvet secure on the bed with the toddler safe underneath it. It makes it impossible to kick the duvet off and makes it almost as hard to fall out. This makes the risk of your little one being waken up in the night or too early in the morning that little bit lower.