Early Morning Wakings: The Causes and How to Address Them
Waking up at 5:30 daily is not my cup of tea. Not now. Not when my then-14-month-old son was up at that time and ready to start his day. Not ever! Any time before 6am is not morning.
I’m very thankful to say we are now beyond this stage. Looking back, though, I realize it didn’t have to be this way. I let these early morning wakings happen for months. 9 months actually! It. Was. Brutal. Why, oh why, did I torture myself like that?!
I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did. As a parent, you’re tired enough. No one wants to rise before the sun unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Trust me, 7/7:30 a.m. is a much more appropriate time for your little one–and YOU–to start the day.
So, why is your child waking early in the first place?
Causes of Early Morning Wakings
Your child may simply be “stuck” on an early schedule…
…meaning, they’re getting the appropriate amount of sleep for their age and development, but it’s early to bed and early to rise, with nice naps sprinkled in between.
Maybe they go to bed at 6:00 p.m. and wake at 5:00 a.m. That’s 11 hours of sleep at night! That’s great! It’s just early. If you find that you’re in this camp, you’re simply going to shift everything by about 15-20 minutes every few days until you’ve reached a later schedule, say 7:00 p.m. - 6:00 a.m. or 8:00 p.m. - 7:00 a.m.
Their environment might not be optimal for sleep.
If your child’s sleep space is not conducive for sleep, something environmental could be causing your child to wake earlier than you’d like - maybe the heat or air kicks on at 5:00 every morning and your little one hears or feels it; maybe there’s a beam of light that starts to shine through their window at 5:30; maybe they can hear you or your partner moving around as you get ready for work; maybe they can hear the birds chirping or traffic outside their window.
The good news is all of these external causes can be combated!
If there is light coming in, find a better blackout solution. It should be as dark as night in the room where your child is sleeping, for as long as they’re sleeping.
If there are external noises waking your child, it’s time to crank up the white noise machine (or buy one if you don’t already have one) to 60 dB. There are apps you can download and use to measure the level of sound in your baby’s sleep space.
If it’s too warm or cold in the room, your little one could definitely be waking early due to temperature changes! Try to keep it a comfortable 68-72 degrees and dress your child appropriately. There’s a natural dip in your child’s body temperature in the early mornings, and if they don’t have adequate layers, they could wake up because they’re chilly.
Addressing Early Morning Wakings with Your 0 to 2-Year-Old
There’s usually more causation when it comes to younger babies and toddlers having early morning wakings, so let’s dig a little deeper.
If your little one is up before 6am–
How is their schedule?
Are their sleep needs changing? Do you need to extend their wake window?
Is it time to cap naps, or drop a nap?
Do you need to bring bedtime earlier or push it later?
What time are you offering their first nap of the day?
Are they hungry?
Are you offering a feed and getting them up for the day, or are you offering a feed and laying them down to sleep a little longer?
How are you responding?
Are you rushing in at the first peep without giving your child a chance to fall back asleep?
Is there something you’re doing that may be reinforcing the early waking (Screen time? Feeding if they’re not hungry?)
See what I mean??
Let’s think through each scenario.
Are any of these things possibly the cause of your little one’s early mornings?
I’m willing to bet, now that you’ve read this, you may have an idea of what’s going on. And, usually when we know the problem, we can find the solution.
For example–
Baby is hungry at 4:30 a.m.? Feed them! Then put them back down (calm but awake) for another hour or two.
Your 16-month old is still taking two SOLID naps during the day?? It’s probably time to drop to one nap.
Toddler is coming into your bed before 6am and watching Peppa Pig on your phone while you try to catch a few more zzzz’s? Ditch the screen time.
Addressing Early Morning Wakings with Your Child (Older Than 2)
Use an Okay-to-Wake Clock!
This is my go-to recommendation for children who are older and waking early.
Why? Because around 2 years or so, early wakings are usually less about sleep skills and a child not knowing how to get themselves back to sleep (although that definitely can be the case if your child isn’t falling asleep independently at bedtime), and more about behavior. A 2-year-old can call out for you by name, ask for water or another hug and kiss, insist that their stuffy has a bellyache, etc. At this age, children are discovering how to use their independence to get what they want. And of course, sometimes what they want and what you want really don’t align–especially when sleep is involved. That’s why an ok-to-wake clock can be a really useful tool; it removes the power struggle between you and your child and still holds the boundary around sleep.
An okay-to-wake clock uses colors, or a certain display, to show the child when it is okay to be awake or okay to get out of bed and start their day.
Parents will program the clock to turn on/turn a certain color at a specific time wake time. (For my 4-year-old, ours is set to 7:15am.) They then teach the child that if they wake up and the light is red or isn’t on yet, it’s time to go back to sleep.
Sometimes you may need incentives to reinforce this idea. These can be very specific and highly motivating to a child!
We first incorporated an okay-to-wake clock AND started capping my son’s monster 2.5-3 hour naps when he was about 18 months, and guess what happened?? No more early wakings! Wish I would have figured that out sooner!
But what do you do when you just can’t figure it out??
You call me!
If your child is already an independent sleeper AND they’re having early morning wakings, I offer an Ask-Me-Anything call that is perfect for helping you navigate this type of sleep and schedule issue.