Early Morning Wakings: Why is my baby waking up early?
Are you wondering why your baby is waking up early? How early is too early for a baby to wake up? Should I feed my baby if they wake up early? There are numerous reasons your little one could be waking up early, let’s explore these reasons together!
Early morning wakings (EMWs) refer to the habit of infants waking up earlier than the desired or expected time in the morning. EMWs can be caused by a number of different factors; including hunger, developmental milestones, discomfort, teething and inconsistent sleep schedules.
Why are early mornings so difficult for babies?
To put it simply, during those early hours between 04:00-06:00, sleep pressure is at its lowest. Many things are working against us in the early morning. The sun is coming up, the birds may be chirping outside baby’s window, alarms are ringing, traffic is starting or diapers may be full.
What is Sleep Pressure?
Time for a little bit of science! A hormone called adenosine regulates the drive to sleep based on how long babies are awake (wake windows) and how much energy they’re expanding. Naturally, the longer a baby is awake and the more energy is being expanded, the more tired they become.
What makes my baby overtired?
This usually comes down to baby being overstimulated and therefore their body releasing the hormone - cortisol. If a baby misses their nap, or their wake window is too long for their age, this can cause them to become overtired and their body to release cortisol to keep them awake. This in turn makes it much more difficult for them to fall asleep - despite being really tired!
What causes early morning wakings?
The Environment
The sleep environment can be a critical one. I cannot reiterate enough about installing efficient black out blinds. We know babies can fall asleep in their strollers in broad day light - we’ve all seen it! But when the lighting changes from pitch black to sunlight seeping in, this stimulates all of us to wake up. Therefore I cannot urge you enough to invest in extremely good blackout blinds - it needs to be pitch BLACK in their nursery.
Another disturbance we should consider is noise pollution. Is there any traffic noise starting around the time they wake up? Do you live near a train track? Are the birds tweeting in the early morning and disturbing them? Does anyone in the house have an alarm going off that they could hear? Is there a pet that could be disturbing them?
With all of these things considered - a white noise machine placed closely to their crib but out of arms reach should help combat this along with preventing any of the other possibilities within your control (alarm, dog barking etc.)
Hunger
It is common for younger babies to wake up hungry in the early morning - especially if
1. they do not feed earlier in the night
2. are approaching 6 months and are getting ready to start solids
3. babies between 6-8 months who are still learning solids
If you're confident your baby is waking hungry, treat this wake like a night wake and offer a small feed (if the wake is between 04:00-05:30) to help them resettle back to sleep until 7am. Offering a smaller feed at this wake helps to ensure they are still hungry for their breakfast milk feed.
If your baby is under 6 months of age and only waking once for a feed in the early morning, offering a late dream feed around 10-11pm can help to fill them up earlier in the night so that they can sleep through until 7am without waking hungry.
Their Routine
The daytime routine can also be a big driver of a little one waking early. Not getting enough sleep in the day can lead to over tiredness, meaning increased cortisol levels in a little one’s body which can cause them to wake up earlier than they otherwise would.
The reverse is also true; too much day sleep can contribute to early wakings and it might be a sign that your infant is ready to drop one of their day naps or maybe is just getting a little too much sleep in one or more of those naps. It is necessary to do some trial and error on this – every single baby is different and as we know has varying sleep needs.
Developmental Milestones
Cognitive and physical developmental milestones can often be the cause of EMWs. Infants go through such a huge amount of advancement in their first few years and their little brains are in constant overdrive. You may find little one’s waking early to chat, roll around, or stand in their crib through these developmental stages.
Teething & Illness
Another culprit can be teething. Babies typically sleep through what we like to call ‘normal baby teething’ but there are often times when their little baby teeth are pushing through the skin which can be an incredibly tough time.
When babies are suffering with a cold or flu like symptoms, we often see them waking up early due to discomfort from a blocked nose or snotty face.
How can I stop early morning wakings?
The key to stopping early morning wakings is to identify the root cause. Once we have considered all the possible reasons for your little one to be waking early, it is much easier to find a solution.
I advise carefully examining the list above and figuring out which one applies to you. If nothing obvious is jumping out, it’s probably to do with their routine.
Let’s dive into that a little bit and see what adjustments we can make.
How can I adjust baby’s schedule to stop early morning wakings?
The first step is to decipher if baby is overtired or under tired in their day schedule.
Signs of under tiredness;
resisting settling
short naps
frequent wakings
easily frustrated
crying while trying to settle
Signs of over tiredness;
falls asleep within minutes of being put in crib
catches a false “second wind” making it seem like they aren’t ready for bed/nap
tosses and turns in the night or babbles
sleepy facial cues - rubs their eyes, has red eyebrows (for lighter skin tones), pulls their ears, has red eyes
holds long gazes
wakes up in bad mood
Adjusting baby’s schedule based on under tired ness
If they’re under tired, it’s potentially time to drop a nap. This could be from 3 -2, or 2 - 1, or maybe if they’re a toddler, they’re ready to drop their nap completely!
You can learn all about transitioning naps here!