Waking up crying or cranky in the mornings

If a child wakes up in the morning when he is in deep sleep he will probably be very cranky for about ten minutes or so. This isn't anything you should worry about since it is simply a matter of timing and "there is nothing you can do to change the sleep state out of which a child wakes spontaneously" (Ferber).

Ferber says that if a baby wakes during light sleep or REM sleep he would probably act just fine.



This contradicts a bit with the Babywise philosophy of having a well rested baby always wake up happy. I've found that although a baby/child will occasionally wake up cranky from waking during deep sleep (or for whatever other reason), most of the time a baby will wake up happy if he is well rested as Babywise states.

In other words, if your baby is waking up cranky, MOST LIKELY, this is because he is overtired and not getting enough sleep. Sometimes a child that has slept a really long time will even wake up cranky if he was very sleep deprived before the nap or is sleep deprived long term (as in he usually doesn't get enough sleep). Often, if you leave a child alone for a bit after he wakes up cranky, he will fall back asleep for a while longer then wake up later and be happy and well rested.