The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep

but 10 percent pop up between 5 and 6 A.M.

you think bedtime may be too early:
Take a long walk in the bright sunlight every morning.

If you think bedtime may be too early:
Take a long walk in the bright sunlight every morning.
Move the morning and noon feeds later by fifteen minutes (to nudge back the naps).
Use rumbly white noise at all sleep periods.
Keep your house lights bright until 7:30 P.M. (to delay melatonin release and sleepiness).

Two classic ways to do this are cluster feeds and dream feeds.

Cluster feeds are a series of quick milky meals given every one to two hours from 4 P.M. to bedtime. They’re meant to load your baby’s system with calories to keep her well stocked with nutrition through the night.

So make sure you use harsh, rumbling white noise, as loud as a shower, for all naps and nights. And if your infant is still waking, cover bright lights (put a towel over VCRs and clock radios, put dark shades on windows, and dim the hall light outside her door). Make sure the room isn’t too hot or cold, and use a humidifier if the room is very dry or her nose is stuffy.

And that’s just on a normal day! You may also need to bend the rules if your baby is ill. And if company comes, all bets are off.
So don’t feel like you need to run your schedule like a Marine drill sergeant. But if you and your baby’s other caregivers can stick reasonably close to a flexible timetable and regular routines, you’ll all sleep better.
This is especially true at night, because responding to crying one night and holding back the next will accidentally teach your munchkin to cry more. (“I’m confused. Sometimes she comes when I yelp. Hmm … let me try it louder and harder!”)
So try to be consistent … and predictable. Use dim lights, warm milk, the 5 S’s, storybooks, and loveys … along with a

She may be troubled by:

Scary situations, including barking dogs, loud noises,

I know this goes against every parental instinct! But it is the key step in your little one’s education on how to soothe himself back to sleep when he wakes at night.