my baby wakes up at 5am- what do I do?
Tips for early morning wakings in babies and toddlers
Early rising is typically defined as baby habitually waking earlier than 6am. A 6am wake time might feel very early to us but it's actually pretty appropriate for babies and young children.
Things to consider:
Look at environmental factors first- is there light coming in? Noise? Is baby cold?
Next think about biological factors. Is baby’s diaper super full? Could they be hungry? Do they need less or more sleep?
Think about sleep total for 24 hours. If the early wake is habitual, and they go to bed very early, they could be ready to wake up at 5am! Some babies don’t need much more than 9-10 total hours overnight.
Things to try:
Remember that if your baby has slept a long stretch overnight, they might be genuinely hungry by 4 or 5am. See if offering a feeding gets them back down until a more reasonable time.
play with bedtime to see if baby might need less (or more) total sleep overnight.
rule out environmental factors by blacking out the room with darkening shades and introducing a white noise machine if not already using.
be sure they aren’t cold, hungry or too wet
try a late-night diaper change or use overnight diapers (game changer!)
get baby in natural light closer to when you’d like them to start their day, vs. turning on bright lights or screens when they're up at 5
try to stick with your “ideal” schedule when planning for the first nap. If baby wakes up at 5am and then you offer the first nap at 7am, this is going to set the whole day in motion, meaning all naps are earlier, bedtime is earlier, and yes- the morning wake will continue to be early! We need to work on shifting the body clock, which can take a couple of weeks.
keep things dark, quiet and boring until your ideal wake up time. Don’t send the message that it’s time to be awake, as this will reinforce the waking if it’s habitual.
consider if it may be time for a nap transition. Early morning wakes can be a sign that your little one is getting too much daytime sleep.
I hope this was helpful! I know early mornings are no fun, so try these tips to see if you can get your baby to sleep a little bit later!
Was this helpful? Save it for later!
