7 Key Reasons Your Baby is Waking Early
Overview
In today’s article we will be pulling back the curtain on early morning wakings.
You will learn:
What exactly constitutes an early morning waking
Seven (7) of the most common reasons why your baby is waking early
How to fix early morning wakings once and for all
When Your Baby is Waking Early
Tell me if this sounds familiar.
You put your nugget to bed. He sleeps well. Maybe a night waking here or there. Maybe no night wakings at all. And then, like clockwork, he’s up at 4:30, 5:00 in the morning every single day.
What. The. Heck.
And you’ve tried it all. You’ve tried putting him to down later, thinking maybe then he’ll sleep in a little longer. Nope. You’ve tried soothing him back to sleep at that time. Nope.
You understand that he’s just a baby, but starting the day at 4:30 just isn’t feasible. You don’t know how much longer you can do it.
This is a textbook early morning waking. Baby wakes early, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. And no matter what you do, he won’t go back to sleep until he’s ready for his first nap. Whether that’s after a full wake window or whether he can barely keep his eyes open by the end of his first wake window.
Why Baby is Waking Early
So I’m sure you’re wondering “why?” Why is my baby - who was sleeping just fine - all of a sudden waking before the rooster even crows, ready to start his day?
I’m glad you asked.
Let’s talk about 7 of the most common reasons why your baby is waking early. And don’t go anywhere – because after we talk about 7 of the most common reasons why, we’re also going to talk about how to fix each reason.
Why Baby is Waking Early: Bedtime Too Late
One of the most common reasons, hands down, that babies wake early is because of an issue with bedtime – many times this means that baby is going to bed too late.
Babies need a lot of sleep at night. Often, from the very beginning, babies need around 10-12 hours of nighttime sleep. And that continues into toddlerhood.
What many parents mistakenly do in an effort to get our kids to sleep later, is we put them to bed later. Later bedtime equals, later wake time, right? But what ends of happening is the opposite. Either baby wakes up exactly the same time as before, or, worse yet, she wakes up even earlier!
And NO one needs that.
Instead of shifting our child’s sleep, as we intended, we ended up accidentally making them overtired before they get to bed. Which – if you’ve heard any of the previous episodes – you know will cause adrenaline to be released in baby’s body, making it harder for her to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Why Baby is Waking Early: Soothing to Sleep
Another common cause of baby waking early that happens at bedtime is when we soothe our babies to sleep. This may seem unrelated – like, how can soothing my baby to sleep make him wake up early? Aren’t they 2 unrelated events?
What happens is this. When we soothe our baby to sleep – especially if he’s 3-4 months old or older, he begins to associate whatever is happening in his environment with falling asleep. Which means that later – either in the middle of the night or even in those early morning hours – when he comes to a brief awakening in his sleep cycle, his brain will scan his environment to make sure it’s exactly the same as it was when he fell asleep.
And if it’s not? Sirens go off and baby’s brain wakes him up because it doesn’t think he can fall back asleep without that same environment.
Now how could this only happen in the morning, you may think. Why not in those first hours of sleep?
The first 4 hours of sleep – between the hours of 8 pm and 12 am – tend to be the deepest sleep we get. And as the night goes on, our sleep pressure wanes, meaning it becomes easier and easier for us to wake.
So as your baby’s sleep pressure is waning, his chances of waking fully after a sleep cycle increase.
Why Baby is Waking Early: Environment at Wake Time
Now let’s talk about a third common reason why baby is waking early.
I want you to think about what baby’s environment is when she has her early waking.
Has the temperature in the house dropped? Or gone up?
Is there light peeking into the room?
Did the furnace just kick on?
Did the birds start chirping?
Did your spouse just get up for work or did someone’s phone go off?
Basically, ask yourself – did something in baby’s sleep environment change that could have woken him up?
Why Baby is Waking Early: Preferred Activity Soon After Waking
A fourth common reason why baby is waking early is when baby gets to do a preferred activity soon after waking. This can be feeding, snuggling in mom and dad’s bed, going out of the bedroom, or – for older kiddos – watching tv or having breakfast.
If our babies and toddlers are doing these things immediately after waking at this early hour, they may be waking up early intentionally to get to do these things sooner.
Now, I know your 6-month old isn’t thinking to himself, “Hmm, I sure do love snuggling with mom in her bed. I think I’ll start waking at 4:30 every morning so we can do that.”
No, he’s not that fluent or deliberate yet.
But his brain sure knows how to help him achieve desired results.
And sometimes these early wakings have gone on so long that we’ve accidentally started reinforcing them, treating them like it’s time to get up for the day.
And at this point, it can simply become a habit to wake up early because it’s accidentally become part of baby’s routine.
Why Baby is Waking Early: Too Much Daytime Sleep
Now let’s talk about naps. The next 2 common reasons why baby is waking early both have to do with naps.
The first one is napping too much during the day. If baby is getting too much daytime sleep, he may not need to sleep as much during the night.
And, when we can, we really do want to prioritize those nighttime sleep hours because those are some of the most restorative hours for sleep that we have.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Naps are important, too.
It’s a delicate balance.
Our babies need a pretty regular amount of sleep per day – split between daytime and nighttime sleep. So it stands to reason that if they’re getting too much sleep during the day, they would then get less sleep at night.
Why Baby is Waking Early: Early First Nap
And now our second common reason why baby is waking early that’s related to naps – an early first nap.
If your baby is taking a nap not too long after he wakes up in the morning, chances are, he wasn’t ready to wake up yet.
Basically, what’s happening in this instance is his first nap is becoming an extension of his nighttime sleep.
Why Baby is Waking Early: Hunger
Now this last one has some caveats.
I’ve had the question before – is my baby waking early because she’s hungry?
And the answer is – maybe. It depends.
If she’s not getting enough to eat during the day. Or if she’s younger than 6 months. Or if she’s going through a growth spurt.
Maybe.
If your baby has really solid independent sleep skills, and a great schedule that lines up with her circadian rhythm, and she’s still waking up early? It’s possible.
It’s just that the hunger reason – and I don’t mean normal hungry like you get in the morning, I mean so ravenous that she literally cannot go back to sleep because her tummy is on negative empty – is most common in those first 6 months or if she’s somehow not getting enough to milk (in the infant months) or solids (in the toddler years) during the day.
How to Fix Baby Waking Early
Now, finally, let’s dig into how to fix each of these problems and help baby stop waking so gosh darn early.
How to Fix Baby Waking Early: Bedtime Too Late
Okay, first, newborns may need to stay up pretty late because their circadian rhythms are still developing, they take a ton of naps, and they have to feed pretty often. So newborns can go to bed anywhere from 8-10 pm.
But once you get to that 4-month mark, all the way up through 3 years, optimal bedtime for the vast majority of babies and toddlers is between 7:00-8:00 PM.
For some families, that may seem crazy early. For others, it may seem like a dream-come-true.
The fact of the matter is, the way baby and young child circadian rhythms tend to be structured, that bedtime allows those 4 solid hours of restorative sleep right exactly at the time when the circadian rhythm is ready for them.
If your baby’s bedtime is super late – like 10 or 11 PM, you can start bringing it earlier gradually. Shift 30 minutes per day until you’re at 8:00 or even 7:30 PM. And see how that feels to your child.
How to Fix Baby Waking Early: Soothing to Sleep
Now let’s talk about soothing to sleep. If you enjoy soothing your baby to sleep and the early morning wakings are really not a big deal to you, then that is 100% your prerogative. You are the parent, and as long and both you and baby are healthy and well, that is what matters.
If you aren’t okay with the early wakings, and you think soothing to sleep may be the key factor, then it’s time to start researching sleep methods to find one that you are both comfortable with and confident will be effective.
I myself use leave-and-check and stay-in-the-room methods with my children, and the same methods with my clients.
Some people call these gentle or parent-responsive methods.
For some families, these methods work extremely well, while other families prefer other methods.
There are a myriad of methods out there, and I have an episode that talks about how to find the right method that fits your family. I’ll drop a clickable link in the show notes.
How to Fix Baby Waking Early: Environment at Wake Time
Now let’s shift gears and talk about what to do if the environment is the issue causing your baby’s early waking.
If the issue is light peeking in from the window, then it’s time to get some room darkening shades or Velcro command strips for the shades you already have.
If the issue is someone’s phone going off, try to change the sound or vibration to something that will still alert you to wake up, but won’t bother the baby.
If the issue is that baby is too hot or too cold, causing him to wake up, consider changing the setting on the thermostat. Optimal temperature for baby sleep is typically between 68-70*F.
Or look at what baby is wearing to bed, maybe that could be adjusted.
If the issue is the birds chirping or the furnace kicking on or some other sound waking your baby at the same time every morning, consider whether you’re using a white noise to drown out background noises. And if you are, what kind of what noise are you using? Does it turn off during the night? How loud do you keep it? Obviously don’t make it too loud, just make sure it’s also not too quiet so that it’s effective.
How to Fix Baby Waking Early: Preferred Activity Soon After Waking
Now what about those preferred activities after waking?
As we mentioned with soothing to sleep before, if when your baby wakes up early and you bring him into bed with you to snuggle – if that’s not an issue for you, and you’re, of course, 100% sure baby is safe in bed with you – meaning, baby isn’t predisposed to SIDS, baby’s not swaddled when in bed with you, no blankets that can cover baby, mattress is firm, no one is next to baby but you, etc. - then that’s, again, your prerogative.
And, you may have heard from previous episodes, I can’t recommend co-sleeping on this podcast due to the safe sleep recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
What I will say is that this is your baby, and I know you will do what you believe is best and safest for your baby.
And if you and baby are safe and healthy, that’s what matters. That’s what I care about.
But what if you aren’t okay with snuggling in bed just to get baby to a normal wake time?
Or you aren’t okay with having to keep baby entertained during these wee hours?
Or you’d really rather sleep a bit longer than take your toddler downstairs?
Then it’s time to make a change.
This is when we delay that preferred activity.
Instead of bringing baby into bed with us, we wait until it really is wake up time, and then take baby into the living room to snuggle.
Instead of bringing baby into your bed for the first feed of the day, change baby’s diaper. Then, if he’s still up and at-em, get him dressed and take him out into the living room for the first feed. Delaying that first feed until after a non-preferred activity – like changing the diaper and getting baby dressed – can separate that preferred activity from waking, helping to split those 2 activities – waking and immediate feeding - in baby’s brain.
Instead of letting your toddler go into the living room as soon as she’s up to watch tv, make her sit on the potty and get dressed or brush her teeth first – pick activities that aren’t her favorite. On purpose. You’re not punishing her. You’re helping her separate the activities of waking up and watching tv in her brain.
How to Fix Baby Waking Early: Too Much Daytime Sleep
Now what if baby is waking early because he’s getting too much daytime sleep.
You know that phrase, “never wake a sleeping baby”?
Yeah, they were wrong.
This is one of those times when you need to wake that sleeping baby.
If your baby is taking nice long, luxurious naps during the day, that’s awesome. But if they’re cutting into his nighttime sleep, not so awesome anymore.
So trim back those naps.
Really, how long or short a nap should be depends on your kiddo’s age and how many naps they’re taking.
If you’d like a cheat sheet that tells you how many naps your child should be taking and the range of how long those naps should be – based on your child’s age – then send me a message and I’ll email a copy of my Sleep Totals Guide. I’ll drop a clickable link to make sending a message easier in the show notes.
And you can always include in the message how long your kiddo’s naps are, and tell me about the early wakings. I can help you figure out how to adjust those naps.
How to Fix Baby Waking Early: Early First Nap
Let’s next talk about what to do if your baby is taking an early first nap.
Remember, we said that this is likely happening because baby is using that nap as an extension of her nighttime sleep. Meaning, she really wasn’t ready to get up in the first place.
So this is what you can do – when baby begins to wake up, you can wait before responding. Let baby squirm and wriggle. Let her complain a bit. She may surprise you and go back to sleep.
If you can tell that she really isn’t about to fall back asleep, you can give her a kiss, a quick snuggle, and then right back to bed. Don’t take her sleep sack off or anything. Just straight back to bed.
And if she’s under 6 months, or has special feeding needs, maybe she’s ready for a feed and to be burped and put right back in bed.
Keep it dark. Treat it as any other night waking.
How to Fix Baby Waking Early: Hunger
Lastly, let’s talk about what to do if baby is hungry.
So, as we just mentioned, if baby is younger than 6 months or you asked the pediatrician and they want you to continue with nighttime feeds, then go ahead and give her a feed! Make sure it’s a full feed, burp her, and put her right back to bed – unless you have a different protocol with the pediatrician due to reflux, or something else.
If baby is older than 6 months and you’ve checked with the pediatrician and they gave the green light for baby to drop night feeds, baby is growing well and you know she ate well yesterday, then try treating that early waking as any other night waking. If you’ve gotten into the habit of feeding her at this hour, but the pediatrician says she’s good to go without night feeds, you can carefully shift that feed to the daytime instead.
Baby Waking Early: Summary
Holy cow, that was a long one. You made it.
7 of the most common reasons why your baby is waking early. And how to solve those early wakings once and for all.
Remember, if you are struggling with your baby’s sleep and you can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong or you simply don’t want to do it alone – that’s what I’m here for.
I’m a mom of 3 and certified pediatric sleep consultant. If you need help, schedule your free 15-minute sleep evaluation with me at www.calendly.com/playsleepgrow.
