5 reasons your baby is waking early in the morning
One common issue many parents face is an early-rising baby. If you’re finding your little one is waking up at the crack of dawn, you’re not alone. This sleep challenge is common and can come-and-go for many reasons during your child’s life. Understanding the reasons behind this can help you adjust routines, set realistic expectations and have more peaceful mornings for both you and your baby. For the purposes of this blog, early mornings will be defined as anything earlier than 6am. When analyzing anything about your baby’s sleep, it’s also important to know that there will be one-off situations where your baby just has a hard night, hard nap or early morning. They are babies not robots. If an early morning wake becomes a pattern (e.g., multiple days in a row), this would be a good indicator it’s time to make some changes.
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Natural Sleep Cycles
Many babies are naturally early risers (e.g., waking around 6:30-7, rather than 8:00). This is because they often go to bed earlier (e.g., 6:30-8:30). In the early morning hours, sleep becomes more difficult because our bodies are priming themselves to wake up (melatonin production reducing, body temperature increasing etc.) making your baby more prone to waking up from other external variables (e.g., creaky floor, room temperature change, assistance back to sleep not happening, etc.) As they grow, their ability to tolerate these fluctuations increases and they can also handle the “responsibilities” of early wakes (e.g., they can play toys quietly in their room rather than needing continuous supervision like a baby/toddler). Some children are just naturally early rises despite all best efforts. I know that’s not what some of you want to hear but it’s true! The term ‘early bird’ and ‘night owl’ exist for a reason!
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Hunger
Simply put, your baby might be waking up because they’re hungry. Let’s have realistic expectations here! If your baby has slept 8-10 hours already, they might truly be hungry! Babies have small stomachs and need to be fed frequently, especially in the early weeks and months. If they’re waking up very early, they might need nighttime feeding until they’re a bit older.
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Room Environment
The sleeping environment plays a crucial role in how well your baby sleeps. If the room is too bright, too noisy, or even too hot or cold, it could be affecting their sleep schedule and causing early wakes. Consider blackout curtains to keep out early morning light, and use a white noise machine to create a consistent, soothing background sound (especially if you have a partner who wakes up early for work/gym, etc.).
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Sleep Associations/Reinforced Waking
Your baby may have developed certain sleep associations, meaning they rely on certain conditions or actions to fall asleep or back asleep. If they wake up and these conditions aren’t present, they might have trouble going back to sleep. For example, if you fall asleep with your most favourite pillow but in the middle of the night it’s removed from your bed, you’re likely going to wake at some point noticing the difference in your sleep space. If your baby uses a pacifier and it pops out, they may have a harder time going back to sleep during an early morning sleep cycle transition. If they wake and are not being rocked back to sleep, the wake may continue.
This doesn’t mean sleep associations are bad, it just means it’s important to have realistic expectations of what your baby/toddler/child can handle. If you’re starting your child’s day when they wake up early (e.g., 5:30am), their circadian rhythm will recalibrate to continue to wake at that time. If your child is older, they may benefit from a visual clock to help them understand when morning time truly is. You can read more about this strategy and how to use it here.
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Sleep Scheduling
Early wakes can sometimes happen when your baby is overtired OR when they don’t have enough sleep drive to make it through till later in the morning. For example, if your baby is having significant daytime sleep and sleeping mostly through the night, they may have just run out of sleep drive by 5am. Another situation families encounter is moving bedtime too early after a hard nap day. This then means your baby may max out their overnight sleep needs too early, causing an early wake up. Then their whole daytime nap schedule shifts forward and the cycle repeats.
Scheduling was recently a reason my daughter had a stretch of early morning wakes. She needed a bedtime adjust (30 minutes later) to help her sleep drive to make it to a more reasonable wake time in the morning. For some babies that are overtired, their ability to stay asleep in the morning can be impacted.
A loose guideline that may be helpful is to look at their nap scheduling:
- for babies on a 3 nap schedule, their first nap shouldn’t happen before 8am
- for babies on a 2 nap schedule, their first nap shouldn’t happen before 9am
- for babies on a 1 nap schedule, their first nap should happen midday (12pm)
Final thoughts about early morning wakes
While early wake-ups can be frustrating, they’re often a normal part of a baby’s development. By understanding these common reasons and gently adjusting your baby’s routine and environment, you can help them (and yourself) get a little more rest. Remember, every baby is different, and what works for one might not work for another, so patience with the process. Resolving early morning wakes can take time! Circadian rhythms are stubborn sometimes and don’t resolve overnight despite hoping for this quick fix. If you’re looking for more early morning wake ideas and strategies to try, check out my early morning guide. This PDF document will guide you further in the troubleshooting process to help you get more restful mornings.
Wishing you calm mornings!
Chelsea
Chelsea is Mom of 2 and a Baby, Toddler and Child Sleep Consultant. She has advanced certification in Infant and Early Mental Health and Pediatric Sleep Health and has a Master’s of Professional Education with a specialization in Applied Behaviour Analysis. Chelsea supports families within Hamilton and beyond with hands-on, no cry-it-out, responsive methods towards longer naps and better nights. Chelsea works collaboratively with families to empower them with the confidence and tools they need to reach their unique sleep goals. Hear from rested families here and book a free call with Chelsea here to discuss how she can support your family’s journey to more sleep.
