A guide to the cause and solutions for Early Wakings

Early morning wake-ups can be one of the most common but challenging sleep issues for parents to handle. If your little one is consistently waking before 6 a.m (if on a 7-7 routine), there are several underlying causes to consider and effective strategies to try.

Here’s a complete guide to help you understand and resolve those early wakes so you can start your days feeling more refreshed.

​

Common Causes of Early Wakes

1. Overtiredness: When little ones are overtired, they tend to wake up earlier due to increased levels or cortisol

2. Not tired enough: Too much daytime sleep can also mean that your little one is waking too early. They may be ready to drop a nap or they may be getting too much sleep in the naps they are having.

3. Sleep Environment: Light coming in through windows or early-morning noises can disrupt your little one’s sleep as they transition into lighter sleep stages.

4. Habit: if little one is waking early all the time it might have become a habit. This can then be a challenge to undo.

5. Developmental Milestones: Babies going through milestones (like crawling, standing, or teething) may temporarily wake early as their brain is active, even during sleep. You may find they are waking early to chat or roll around in their cot.

6. Teething: When your little one’s teeth are pushing through the skin it might be causing them to wake. This is particularly true in the early mornings when sleep is lighter.

 

Solving Early Wakings is about getting little one back to sleep after they wake early. It is one of the harder aspects of sleep to fix but there are a number of solutions to try.

​

Solutions to Early Wakes

1. Environment: start by checking your little one’s sleep environment. Is it dark? Are they being woken up by outside noise? Are they warm enough?

2. Optimise your daytime routine: Are they getting the right amount of sleep during the day? Check little one’s wake windows to see if they are optimal for their age group. Often overtiredness is the cause of early wakings as little one is not getting enough sleep during the day. The main wake window to check is the one leading into bedtime – too long and little one will be overtired, too short and their won’t be enough sleep pressure.

3. ‘No feed zone’: Feeding little one when they wake early can kick start their metabolism. Try having a no feed zone for the one hour before the acceptable wake up time. (E.g if you are on a 7-7 routine it is acceptable for little one to wake up anytime after 6 so your no feed zone would be from 5am).

4. Rouse to sleep: this can be a very effective method but only if little one is waking at the same time every morning. To use this you would simply gently rouse your little one 30-60 minutes before they usually wake up to put them into another sleep cycle. This could be just opening their door or shushing down the monitor. All you are looking for is a small reaction from them.

5. Adjust bedtime: putting bedtime slightly earlier or later can help to stop those early wakes. If little one is overtired don’t be afraid to put them to bed earlier that day but don’t make it a habit. Pushing bedtime later could also help – add in an extra afternoon nap to push bedtime later. This in turn will push wake ups later. Once little one has established a later wake up time you can gradually move bedtime earlier back to the ideal time.

  

Fixing early wakes can be a challenge however, don’t be afraid to use trial and error. Work through the solutions and remember try not to reinforce the early wake. It takes time to fix early wakes so remain patient and consistent with your approach.

 

If you need more personalised support with early wakes or wider sleep challenges book your FREE discovery call now and we can chat about how I can help.