How to Solve your Child's Early Morning Wakings
One of the most common questions we get from parents is about early morning wakings. Parents will message us to tell us their baby or child is waking up between 4 and 5 am every day and they want to know how they can help them sleep longer.
In this episode, we’re going to explain what could be causing your child to wake up early and what things you can do to help your little one extend their mornings.
IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
What things may be causing your child to wake early
What you can do to help solve your child’s early morning wakings
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Favorite Sound Machine: Hatch Rest. We also have and love these sounds machines: HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Blog Post: Is my child ready to stop napping?
1:1 Personalized Sleep Packages for babies and children over 4 months old
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What is considered an early morning waking?
Anything before 6am is considered NIGHT TIME as far as baby and toddler sleep is concerned ;)
There are a few things to take into consideration though: it isn’t an early morning waking if they’ve slept 11-12 hours straight (this may require a bedtime adjustment if you want them to sleep in later in the morning). It also isn’t considered an early morning waking if your child wakes for a few minutes but quickly falls back to sleep.
Babies and children are going to naturally have off mornings, so an early morning waking here or there is nothing to be concerned about. If the early morning wakings persist past 3-7 days, you may want to dig a little deeper and make a plan.
What causes early morning wakings?
It’s really important to understand and find the root cause of why your child is experiencing early morning wakings (or any sleep challenge, for that matter). Many times, we see tired parents attempting to solve their child’s sleep challenge by trying several different strategies all at once, without ever finding the underlying cause. Doing this can ultimately cause your child’s sleep to fall apart even more.
Your Child’s Sleep Environment:
If your child’s room is too bright, if it’s too hot or too cold, or if it’s not quiet enough, your child may struggle with early morning wakings.
Solution: If your child’s room isn’t dark enough, they may quite literally be waking up with the sun! Light coming through your child’s eyelids will tell their brains that it’s time to wake up! Check out our post all about our favorite blackout room solutions HERE.
The ideal temperature for sleep is 68-72 degrees fahrenheit. You can buy an inexpensive room thermometer if you’re unsure if your child’s room is too hot or too cold. Adjust their pajamas or the temperature accordingly.
If noise is the culprit, a sound machine can make all the difference in the world. White noise can also help your child connect their sleep cycles more smoothly. We love the Hatch Rest because it grows with your child. We also have and love these sounds machines: HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Your Child is Overtired:
Sleep begets sleep. If your baby or toddler is not getting enough sleep, it will make it harder for them to fall and stay asleep because of an increased production of the hormone cortisol. Over tiredness is a huge reason for early morning wakings.
Solution: Ensure your child is getting the appropriate amount of daytime and nighttime sleep for their age. Specifically, you’ll want to look at the time they’re awake before bed and consider bringing bedtime earlier.
Your Child isn’t Tired Enough:
If your child is getting TOO much sleep, they may be having early morning wakings because they truly are not tired enough to keep sleeping. We see this happen a lot with older toddlers (2.5+ years) who are napping for several hours each day.
Solution: make sure you have realistic expectations around your child and their sleep needs. It is absolutely appropriate to expect your child to have healthy sleep habits and have boundaries around sleep, however if their little body can’t physically sleep as much as you're requiring of them, it might be time to make some adjustments. Check out our post Is my child ready to stop napping? if you believe your child is ready to drop their nap completely and to learn about an alternative to their afternoon nap.
Click HERE to get your child’s perfect daily schedule!
Your child depends on someone or something else to help them fall asleep
In the sleep world, you will hear us talk about “sleep props.” A sleep prop is simply anything external that helps your child fall asleep.
There are Independent Sleep Props, which are sleep props that don’t need parental intervention and a child can be independent with them. These include things like swaddles or sleep sacks, a dark room, a bedtime routine, white noise, etc.
There are also Dependent Sleep props, which are sleep props that require parental intervention to help the child fall asleep. These include things like rocking to sleep, feeding to sleep, walking to sleep, and bouncing on a yoga ball to sleep.
If your child has one or more dependent sleep props, this can be a major cause of early morning wakings. Your child will have to call you for help to assist them back to sleep.
One way to determine if your child is dependent on something to fall asleep is to pay attention to how awake/sleepy they are when you lay them down in their crib.
On a scale from 0-5, 0 being completely wide awake and 5 being asleep, how alert is your child when you lay them down? If you rate them between 2-5, they’re probably depending on something or someone to fall asleep.
Solution: Make a list of all of the sleep props your child uses. Which ones are independent sleep props? Which ones are dependent sleep props? Once you’ve figured out what your child depends on for sleep, you can make a plan to move away from those dependent sleep props and help your child learn how to fall asleep and transition through sleep cycles unassisted.
If you find you need help tackling your child’s dependent sleep props, check out our 1:1 Personalized sleep plans to work one on one with us. We will come alongside you to create a personalized step by step plan for your child’s sleep!
Still having trouble with early morning wakings or is your child struggling with sleep in general?
If you’ve read through this list and feel you need additional support tackling your child’s early morning wakings OR your child struggles with sleep in general, please know there is help. Our mission at the Goodnight House is to equip parents with the tools necessary to help their babies get the sleep they need and experience more rest, peace, and joy in parenting.
If you’re expecting or you have a newborn (0-12 weeks old), our online Newborn Class is the perfect way to introduce healthy sleep habits and help them get better sleep from day one.
If you have an older baby, toddler, or preschooler, we offer 1:1 Personalized Sleep Plans to help get your child (4+ months) sleeping independently for 11-12 hours per night.