14 month old waking at 5am. Help!

[Ros2023]

So my 14 month old is waking at 5am everyday. This has been happening for the past week and I’m wondering if anyone has any advice? I’m wondering if it is to do with her daytime schedule?

this is what it used to look like
wake between 6am and 6.30am
morning nap between 9am and 9.30am for about 2 hours.
afternoon nap around 2.30pm and 3pm and would last for about an hour. Then bedtime between 7.30pm and 8pm.

but now she is waking at 5am and napping around 8am for about 2 hours then having her afternoon nap around 2pm for an hour and a half. Then bedtime around 8.

because shes waking up so early there is no way she is ready for one nap a day.
should I cap her naps to an hour?
and should I gradually make her first nap later as it seems early to have a first nap!

any advice would be great. Thank you!

I would say it’s definitely the naps. Can you try and cut the morning nap down gradually until you’ve phased it out in favour of a 2 hours (or so) lunchtime nap?

Do you ever wake her from naps? I’d start by cutting the morning nap down by 20 mins every few days.

It maybe light in the mornings or she could be cold. Try blackout blinds or an extra blanket and see if that makes a difference!

3.5 hours sleep during the day is way too long.
Cap one of the naps at 30 mins.
5am is a phase many toddlers go through so it might not change, but so much sleep during the day will definitely only fuel it more.

Personally I’d cap the morning nap to 45 minutes which is one complete sleep cycle.

Then get her up and out to something busy like playgroup, the park or swimming.

Thanks everyone!
yesterday I managed to keep her going until just after 9am after waking at 5am which is a little better and capped her nap for an hour. Then a nap just after 2pm and she had just under an hour. She then went to bed at 7.30pm and woke a couple of times in the night for a cuddle. She did wake at 4.30am ad though she was ready to start the day but I managed to get her back to sleep and she slept until 6.15am! Which is so much better.
however it is now 8.30am and I’m struggling to keep her awake! 😩

At 14 months she’s probably transitioning to toddler times. It’s not uncommon for a 5am wake for toddlers. It’s usual at this age to transition to one nap a day too. I’d go with a very short morning nap and bring the afternoon nap forward to more like 1pm. Then an earlier bedtime at 7pm.

Let her have a nap if she’s struggling but don’t let it go on for too long. 30 mins until 9am is probably enough to get her through to an early lunch and then a good two hour nap afterwards.

Anytime before 6am should be treated as a night wake. Any noise, light, activity, screens, play, literally anything at all will rewire their brains to wake up at that time for it.

How has today been so far @Ros2023?

She woke at 6.15am and then had her first nap at 9.15am. Which is earlier than I wanted but she was SO tired!
i woke her at 10.15am then her second nap was 2.15pm for just over one hour.
we will see how tonight goes and what time wake up is in the morning.
im trying not to get so hung up on the sleep situation because you can drive yourself crazy. With my previous 2 children I just ran with what they did but this time I am tired out and the wake ups and early mornings seem to really be affecting me this time around!

I think right now she still needs the 2 naps but hoping soon she will go down to the one nap (I’m hoping it will be more manageable)!