Setting a wakeup time can be a good way to help LOs body clock to regulate, but it is important to remember that EASY was never meant to be a schedule (which means watching the clock rather than your baby) and some variation day to day is normal. There are different ways to approach this - some mums treat any waking before ideal time as a night waking and try to resettle, or at least leave LO in their cot if they are happy, and don't start counting A time until they officially start the day. Others will count quiet time in the cot as half A time (e.g. WU is 6.30, ideal WU is 7am so count as 15 mins of A time if LO is quiet and happy). I never had much success with that and instead counted A time from when LO actually woke up and accepted that each day was a bit different, but I tend to have a WU 'window' - as in, I don't get DD up to start the day before 6.30am, even if that means sitting in the dark with her, and I wake her by 7am unless she is unwell. Bear in mind the age of your LO will likely determine if you can count any of the quiet time in the crib as sleep time - for example, a four week old who wakes 30 mins before ideal time will likely get very OT if that time is counted as sleep time, whereas a 12 month old may be able to cope with that variation a lot better. Does that help?
