Why is my baby waking so darn early in the morning?
When you have a baby, you kind of know that your sleep is going to take a hit. What we don't always consider are the actual details of that - being woken multiple times a night, awake for long periods, plus an early start to top it all off. Before you know it, it's 7am, you've drunk 3 cups of coffee, watched 142 episodes of Bluey, eaten 3 breakfasts and it feels like it must be lunchtime already. Only it's not and you're Googling 'why is my baby waking at 5am?'
Early rising is a common issue among families with young children so I promise you, you’re not alone. If you’re struggling with early wakes, stay here, I’ve got some early waking tips to share with you.
What is considered an early rise?
Whilst there are some true ‘early birds’, for me, I’d say anything before 6am is too early and it’s unlike your little one is ready to start the day or if they feel they are, they may struggle to get through the rest of it. Although 6am may sound very early to some, especially if you are new to this parenting thing, honestly, 6am is fair game. Your little ones wake up time may gradually get later as they get older and need less daytime sleep but 6am isn't really considered early any more.
A bit of science....
In the early hours of the morning, our levels of melatonin (our sleepy hormone) will begin to reduce, and our levels of cortisol (our stress hormone) will increase. This is what wakes us up to start the day. It's important process which we couldn't live without.
What could be the cause of my baby's early wakes?
There are several causes of early wakes. Take a look and consider what might be going on with your little one.
Environment
A baby’s sleep environment is often the easiest one to fix.
Darkness
We all sleep best in a dark room. It helps us to switch off and relax and, it’s a great cue to a little one that it’s sleep time. Because melatonin is produced when in the dark, you’ll want to ensure your little one’s room is dark – completely dark, even in the early hours. This is especially significant during the Spring/ Summer when the sun rises earlier. Velcro blinds and total black out blinds are a great solution for ensuring no light is creeping in through gaps in the blinds or through the curtains in the early hours. They can be expensive though, so consider opting for tin foil on the windows which can be applied using water!
Noise
What is the noise like around the house in nearby environment in the early hours? Is there a motorbike passing? A car door closing? A toilet being flushed or an alarm going off? Little one’s sleep can be easily disturbed, especially in the early hours when coritsol is rising and they are in a lighter stage of sleep. Many noises around the house may be out of your control, so consider using white noise for the whole duration of the night to drown out any unwanted noise disturbances.
Temperature
Little ones may wake in the early hours if there is a change in temperature. The ideal room temperature for a baby is between 16 – 20 degrees c. In the winter months with dips in temperatures, your little one may be waking up a bit chilly. If so, you can pop a pair of socks on them under their baby grow. You could also consider a sleep sack/ sleeping bag if they are kicking their covers off.
Sleep balance
Nap time, length and bedtime all matter here. If a little ones sleep balance isn’t quite right, it can affect their morning wake up so you may need to look for a pattern in their sleep schedule to work out what might be going on. Too much or too little daytime sleep can both have an impact so it’s about working out what might be going on for your little one.
Under tired
If your baby takes too long a nap or their nap happens at an inappropriate time (e.g. too late in the day, this could be having an impact on their morning wake up time. There is only so much sleep your little one can have in 24 hours. As a general rule, babies less than 2 years old need 10-11 hours of night-time sleep so if they’ve taken some lengthy naps in the day and they go to bed at 6.30 or 7pm, I’m sure you can do the maths and figure out what might happen. Remember to treat your baby as an individual here and work out their own sleep needs. Here are some things you can try:
- Cap naps at a certain length
- Push the morning nap back
- Push all naps back
- Increase the length of time they are awake for between all sleeps
- Consider whether you're baby is ready to drop a nap
- Offer a later bedtime
All of the above may need to be approached gradually to allow your little one an opportunity to adjust.
Overtired
As we now know, cortisol levels rises in the early hours anyway – this is what wakes us up. If your baby is over tired, they might be finding it more difficult to fight against that rise in cortisol and return to sleep. If you have a cat napper, bedtime is too late or your little one is going through a nap transition, here are some tips to conquer this:
- Cat napping is really common, however, you could opt for a contact or motion nap if your little one sleeps longer like this (no this won’t ruin their sleep). Alternatively, practise some nap extending techniques.
- If your little one is going through a nap transition and they are waking early, you can reintroduce the nap which is being dropped on alternate days, or on days they wake early in the morning.
- Offer an earlier bedtime of around 6.30pm
Method of falling asleep
If your little one sleeps well throughout the night, it’s unlikely that your chosen settling method is the cause of the early waking. However, if you’re struggling with frequent night waking and early rising, it may be worth looking at changing up how your little one falls asleep – if you want to. The reason for this is that your baby may be looking for the same method or conditions to fall back to sleep in the early hours as they did when they went to bed or when they woke in the night.
Final thoughts
If your baby wakes early but they are happy, you can leave them be. They may be singing, rolling around, looking about or blowing raspberries – these are all signs they are comfortable in their sleep space so you can continue to rest a little during this time.
If your baby is not happy when they wake early, deal with it as you would if it was a night wake. You may go to them to offer reassurance and encourage them back to sleep with a ‘shhhh’ or by rocking them or feeding them but remember to keep it dark, calm and quiet until it’s ‘morning’ (6am or later). Many parents opt to co-sleep in the early hours and if this is something you’re keen to explore do research safe co-sleeping guidance.
Try to stick to a consistent time to begin the day. Having a regular wake up time can really support your little ones circadian rhythm so choose the time you will begin your day and stick to it.
If you're still feeling stuck and not sure how to fix your little one's early rise, get in touch!
You deserve a good nights sleep.
Luci x