One of the most common sleep issues I hear about is having an early morning riser. There are a number of reasons why your baby may be waking up early. Let's first define what EARLY means. Between 4-6am would be considered an early morning wake up. This may not be what you want to hear but between 6-7am is an ideal time for a baby to wake up! Our sleep pressure is low that early in the morning because we have been sleeping almost all night and our melatonin levels start to drop. The sun starts to rise and our circadian rhythm tells us it's time to wake up.
Top reasons why your baby is waking up early:
Your baby is not going to sleep independently at bedtime. If your baby does not know how to go to sleep on their own at bedtime they will most likely not be able to put themselves back to sleep, especially early in the morning when their sleep pressure is so low. Practice putting them down awake but drowsy at bedtime so they can master this skill. Let me know if you need help with this!
Light is sneaking into their room. That early morning sun may be sneaking in somewhere. Make sure you have blackout blinds and light is not sneaking in anywhere! Their room should be pitch black.
Bedtime is too late or too early. You would think if you are putting your baby down later they would sleep in later right? Well not if they are overtired at bedtime and have a hard time falling asleep. This can cause an early morning wake up. On the other hand if bedtime is too early and they have already been sleeping for 10-12 hours they may just be ready to wake up for the day. A bedtime between 7-8 pm is ideal depending on baby's age.
Baby is getting too much daytime sleep. If your baby is napping too long during the day this can take away from nighttime sleep. We want our babies to take good naps but nighttime sleep should always be the priority as this is the most restorative sleep. Depending on your baby's age- daytime sleep should be limited to a certain number of hours. You may have been told never to wake a sleeping baby but if you would like them to sleep good at night you will need to limit daytime sleep. I have a wake time chart to refer to that is very helpful if you are interested let me know!
Baby is not getting enough daytime sleep. On the other hand if your baby is not getting enough daytime sleep this can cause them to be overtired and they will most likely have a hard time sleeping through the night and this can cause early morning wake ups.
Parents response to early wake ups. Okay so hear me out.. you may not even realize you are doing this! If your baby is waking up early and you are immediately responding, feeding them, getting them up, giving them attention- they are going to get into the habit of waking up at that time. This is NOT for babies that are still eating during the night and may be hungry. If you baby is older and no longer eating during the night or you do not think they need a feeding treat their early morning wake up as if it were a middle of the night wake up. Give them some time to see if they go back to sleep on their own. Keep it quiet and dark to communicate to them it's still bedtime we need to still be sleeping.
As always, feel free to reach out to me with any questions doulasandbeyond@gmail.com
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Happy sleeping!