Early Morning Wakeups: Why is My Baby Waking up Early and What Should I do?
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Does your baby or toddler wake every day at 4:00 or 5:00 am?
Early morning wakeups are usually one of the very last sleep pieces to fall into place and can be one of the most frustrating to figure out how to navigate.
There are several reasons why your little one may be waking up super early, but thankfully there are several things you can do to help address this and start pushing back wakeup time to a more appropriate time.
Top 3 culprits of early morning wakeups:
Morning nap is too long or too early
It’s time to drop your toddlers morning nap
Bedtime needs to be adjusted
Hunger
What is an early morning wakeup?
An early morning wakeup is any wakeup before 6:00 am. An age-appropriate wakeup for most babies, toddlers, and preschoolers is between 6:00 – 7:00 am, with 6:30 – 7:00 am probably being ideal for most parents.
Unfortunately, if you’re not a morning person, you may feel like anything before 8:00 am is too early. I hate to burst your bubble, but your child’s circadian rhythm will most likely guide their bodies to start rising before then.
The circadian rhythm is our daily sleep cycle. In babies, the circadian rhythm starts to develop over the first three months of life, and by three to four months old your baby is producing melatonin and their wake cycles are synchronized to 24-hour cycles.
This is why we notice that dreaded 4-month sleep regression, which is less of a regression and more of a maturing of the circadian rhythm when sleep cycles become very pronounced (aka: they wake up more frequently and have trouble falling back asleep).
The 4-month sleep regression and maturing of the circadian rhythm is why you may notice such a drastic change in your baby’s sleep, when one day they are sleeping four to six-hour stretches and then suddenly they start waking up overnight every hour and being much harder to get back to sleep.
Melatonin starts to decrease in the second half of the night between 3:00 – 4:00am, and your baby’s sleep drive lessens as the night goes on, which can makes falling back asleep independently at 4:30 or 5:00 am extra challenging.
What to do if your baby or toddler is waking up too early
If your baby or toddler is waking up well before 6:00 am, these are the things you should look at first to figure out why they’re waking, and what to do to help.
Reasons why your baby may be waking up early:
1. The Morning Nap
If your baby is still taking a morning nap, then the first thing I look at is if they still need that nap, and if they do, what time and how long is it. If the morning nap is too early or too late that can significantly impact wakeup time.
If you have a baby between the ages of 5 months – 14 months, check the length of the morning nap. That nap length should decrease as your baby ages, from 1.5 hours down to 30 minutes as they get older.
I recommend pushing back the start of the morning nap as your baby gets older. By 6 months, if your baby takes a morning nap earlier than 8:30 am, their nap can be seen as a continuum of night sleep and encourage early starts.
For example, if your 8-month-old is currently napping from 9:00 – 10:00 am every morning and you’re dealing with early morning wakeups, try pushing back the start of the morning nap until 9:15 or 9:30 am and still get them up at 10.
Your toddler will drop their morning nap between 15-18 months old. If your toddler is still napping in the morning, it may be time to look at if you should drop the morning nap. Yes, some toddlers drop this nap earlier or later, every kid is different!
Here are some signs that your toddler is ready to drop their morning nap:
They refuse to fall asleep for the morning nap until after 10:00 am
They can happily stay awake from 7:00 am until 12:00 pm
They were sleeping 1.5 to 2 hours after lunch until recently, and now that nap has shortened significantly or they flat out refuse it
2. Bedtime
If overall daytime sleep looks on point, the next step is to check bedtime: is bedtime too late or too early?
If bedtime is too late, especially in babies under 12 months old, they go to bed overtired which can actually cause them to wake up earlier. Reasons for this can include disrupted sleep cycles and higher levels of cortisol, which can make it harder to fall back asleep in the wee hours of the morning.
Usually, bedtime for babies 12 months and under should fall between 6:30 – 7:30 pm, or about 4 hours after the lunchtime nap ends. Bedtime for toddlers should be about 4.5 hours after their lunchtime nap ends. For example, if your 11-month-old wakes up from their lunchtime nap around 2:45pm, bedtime should be about 6:45 – 7:00 pm.
If your child is typically happy throughout the day, able to sit or play independently, and eating without dozing off, a slightly later bedtime may help. However, if they are irritable, always falling asleep in the car, or cyring immediately upon waking up, then those are signs that they may actually be overtired.
When adjusting bedtime, try moving it in 15-minute increments to find that sweet spot for your kiddo.
3. Sleep Environment
Sleep environment can play a huge role in early morning wakeups.
First, ensure your child’s room is not too bright as the sun rises. If you do not have blackout curtains, this portable curtain is a great, temporary option that is cost-conscious! Bonus, you can travel with it! We still take this on trips with us for our 5 and 7-year-olds since Airbnbs are notorious for cheap, light-filtering curtains.
Second, make sure wakeups are not caused by your baby being too hot or too cold. Arms-free sleep sacks are excellent options from 4+ months all the way through toddlerhood. Make sure the TOG (the measurement for warmth) is appropriate for the time of year and the temperature in your house.
I love the Halo brand of sleepwear because they offer it in multiple TOGs that you can change based on the weather, and size options for infants all the way through toddlers. My favorite infant sleepsack for warm weather months is 100% cotton and comes in tons of cute colors and patterns.
Also, you may think it’s crazy to put a toddler in a sleep sack, but it helps discourage them from climbing out of the crib and it is a great way to keep them warm if they have trouble replacing their own blanket. This toddler option keeps your little one warm all year without them waking up 10 times a night to ask you to tuck them back in.
Finally, ensure your baby’s wakeup is not due to hunger. If you suspect hunger, keep their feeding small that it’s enough to satisfy them but not too much that they are not hungry for their first feeding around 7:00 am. If they are not eating well at 7:00 am, then that is a good sign you can reduce the overnight feeding slightly. If you are bottle feeding, try just 2-3 ounces, and if nursing, just offer one side, to start.
How to Stop Wakeups at 4am or 5am
If you’ve checked all of the boxes above and your baby or toddler is still waking up super early, what should you do? If naps are age-appropriate, bedtime is on point, they are not hungry, and their sleep environment is encouraging a later wakeup, then it’s likely an issue of habit and difficulty self-settling (going back to sleep on their own).
The first step to solving your problem will be to choose an appropriate wake-up time. Ensure this time is age-appropriate, which again, will be between 6:00 – 7:00 am.
Next, take a look at your response in the morning.
Do you currently get your baby up right away and turn the lights on to start the day? Do you bring your toddler downstairs and turn the TV on? If so, getting up and starting the day with light, interaction, and food will reinforce their circadian rhythm. Gradually move your start time for the day back in 15-minute increments over a period of 1-3 weeks and reduce the interaction your child has prior to this wakeup time.
Next, are you confident that your baby or toddler has the skills to self-settle?
If they cannot fall asleep at bedtime independently, it’s unlikely their early morning wakeups will get better. The first place to start in this case would be to choose a sleep training method to use at bedtime (when sleep drive is highest) and help them learn to fall asleep independently. Then, you can use that same method overnight and in the early hours of the morning to help them fall back asleep on their own.