Dramatic Sleep Change

If she sleeps in a crib make sure to put a few toys (small ones that couldn't be a suffocation hazard) in with her. Sometimes kids just turn into early risers, but many times they can occupy themselves in the morning for awhile while you get you needed extra hour of sleep..some will even play for a little and then go back to sleep on their own for a bit. As long as she is in a crib or her bedroom with a gate then she is in a safe place and can play and amuse herself. Don't go in and get her and soon she should realize that she won't be able to get up so early. Or she may still rise early but can learn to just play until you wake and come get her.

My friend had this problem with her daugher at this age and she set her alarm for 5:15 each morning and would go in and gently wake her daughter by rearraging her position - but not to a full wake - before she woke up at 6am. After about 4-5 days, her daughter slept until 7am again.

On a personal note, when my daughter was 6 months old, she would wake up exactly an hour after we put her down for bed. I tried this method by going in about 45 min after she slept and she no longer woke up after an hour. Good luck

My 21 month-old son is also doing this. The book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child says you should not get them out of bed until 6:00 so I let me him cry/talk to himself until at least 6:00. It seems to be working because he is now not waking up until after 6:00 on his own. Good luck.

N.,
This sounds like a normal change in sleep patterns. This can happen abruptly. If you are too tired to go to her, put some toys or books in her sleeping area. I would never let a child cry it out, though.
Amy

There could be many reasons for this but....seeing that is so sudden, don't forget, we are going to be changing clocks here pretty soon...and that means??? Dramatic changes in wakeful times. I went through this with all three of my kids. No fear, it will pass.

Hi, N. ~ My daughter is 21 months old as well, but about three weeks ago she started doing the exact same thing your daughter is doing. She was waking up between 7:00-8:00 and all of a sudden she started waking up at 6:00. She has two crib toys as well as stuffed animals in her crib so she would hang out playing and "talking" until about 6:30-7:00. This went on for about three weeks, but just this week she's back to waking up at 7:00. Unfortunately, she doesn't just hang out, she will cry for me until I go and get her, but at least she wasn't doing that when she woke up at 6:00! Maybe your daughter is just going through a phase and hopefully like my daughter she will go back to waking up a little later. Good luck! L.