Why Your Baby Is Waking Up Early and How You Can Help

Waking up before the rooster crows is not for everyone. In my experience, most parents who have been waking up with a baby throughout the night don’t want to hang out with their bright-eyed baby at 5:30 a.m. I mean, even if your baby is sleeping through the night, waking up before 6:00 a.m. can feel too darn early.

Early rising is one of the most common sleep disruptions parents report in my business. “I would love for my baby to sleep until 7:00 a.m.” “Is waking up at 5:00 a.m. even healthy?” “Can I die from exhaustion because my baby wakes up at 5:30 a.m. every day?” There is no doubt that waking up before the sun is hard when you are already exhausted.

What Is Considered Early Rising for a Baby?

In my work with families, I generally consider waking before 6:00 a.m. to be early rising. But the clock alone doesn’t tell us whether your baby is getting enough rest. Their age, bedtime, naps, and total sleep all matter.

Babies usually begin developing more regular sleep cycles around 4 months, although their sleep needs vary.² The schedule suggestions below are intended for babies around 4 months and older. Newborns sleep and wake throughout the day and night and need frequent feeds.³

Related: The 5 Most Common Reasons Babies Wake Up

What To Check When Your Baby Wakes Before 6 a.m.

Many factors play into when your baby sleeps and how restorative that sleep period is. You always want to look at sleep from a 24-hour perspective rather than thinking there is only one issue, such as short naps or an early morning waking. All the sleep periods in a full day impact each other, and looking at the bigger picture is always a good idea.

Before changing the schedule, check whether your baby needs a feed or seems uncomfortable. Hunger, teething discomfort, and being too hot or cold can disturb sleep.³

Possible Causes of Early Waking and What To Try

1. Morning Light Is Entering the Room

If daylight reaches your baby’s room before you want the day to begin, it may be one cue encouraging them to wake. Remember, your baby can’t tell time.

What to Do:

Keep the room dark during sleep and use only as much light as you need for nighttime care. Light can affect melatonin, a hormone involved in sleep timing.¹ Keeping lights low during feeds and changes can also help distinguish nighttime from daytime.³

2. The First Nap May Be Too Early

This is one of the most important things to consider if you have an early riser. When babies wake up before 6:00 a.m., they will be ready for their first nap earlier. That makes sense, but an early first nap may also be part of a schedule that has shifted earlier. Here is an example:

Your 6-month-old wakes up at 5:30 a.m. You aim to use a 2-hour awake window before their first nap so they don’t get overtired. This brings you to a 7:30 a.m. first nap. If this pattern continues, it is worth reviewing the whole day’s schedule before deciding whether the first nap needs to move.

What to Do:

If the whole schedule has shifted early, review the first nap alongside bedtime and the other naps. Any adjustment should be gradual and guided by your baby’s sleepy cues. Avoid keeping them awake just to reach a particular clock time.⁵

Here are the times I would consider as starting points, depending on your baby’s current schedule and how they handle the adjustment:

• Three-nap schedule: First nap around 8:15–8:30 a.m.
• Two-nap schedule: First nap around 9:15–9:30 a.m.
• One-nap schedule: Nap around 11:30 a.m.

Related: The Pros and Cons of a Scheduled Nap Time

3. Daytime Sleep May Be Affecting Nights

Sleep is all about balance. We need healthy sleep and healthy amounts of time awake to build up sleep drive. Long naps may be one part of an early-rising pattern, but an early wake-up alone does not show that your baby is sleeping too much during the day. Look at naps alongside overnight sleep and how your baby seems when awake.

Review individual nap lengths

Look at whether a long or late nap is making it harder for your baby to fall asleep at bedtime.⁶ When considering shorter naps as part of an early-rising plan, my suggested upper limits are two hours per nap on a two- or three-nap schedule, or three hours on a one-nap schedule. These are starting points for an individual plan, not instructions to wake every baby at those times.

Review total daytime sleep

Add up your baby’s naps and overnight sleep before deciding whether daytime sleep needs adjusting. Recommended totals are 12–16 hours per 24 hours at 4–12 months and 11–14 hours at 1–2 years, including naps.⁴ These recommendations do not specify how many hours must happen during the day. Consider your baby’s nap pattern, overnight sleep, and how rested they seem.

For an early-rising plan, the following are my suggested upper limits for daytime sleep. They are not amounts every child needs to reach, and they need to be considered alongside overnight sleep and your child’s response.

4. Awake Times May Need Adjusting

If your baby is not sleepy when a nap or bedtime arrives, the timing may need adjusting. But early waking does not automatically mean they need more time awake. Their naps, overnight sleep, and sleepy cues all belong in the picture.⁵

What to Do:

An awake window is the time your baby spends awake between periods of sleep.

The examples below are my suggested starting points, rather than a schedule your baby must follow. Each duration represents an awake period, beginning with morning waking; the final one ends at bedtime. Adjust for your baby’s cues and how well they have slept.⁵

Awake windows generally lengthen as babies grow, but they vary between babies and even from one nap to the next. Watch for your baby’s usual signs of sleepiness, such as yawning, rubbing their eyes, or becoming less active, and use those patterns to guide nap timing.⁵

Change Takes Time

Give a small schedule change about 7–10 days to see whether it helps, as long as your baby is coping well. You are shifting a whole schedule! If they become increasingly tired or sleep worsens, reassess rather than pushing ahead.

Once the day has started, open the curtains and make time to play with your baby.³ If your baby is showing sleepy cues, offer sleep rather than using light or activity to keep them awake until a target time.⁵

If you are concerned about your baby’s sleep or the changes are not helping, speak with their pediatrician for advice that takes their feeding, health, and development into account.⁵

You got this!