Baby is waking up at 4am

Help! My baby is waking up at 4am. My 3 month old is waking up at 5am. My 4 month old is waking up with the sun.

citation- NEw parents

We hear this all the time. In fact, it’s one of our most hard to fix sleep problems. Early morning wake ups and Short naps tend to be very difficult for parents to manage, especially if they feel like they’re doing everything else right.

Why do babies wake up early?

Well, it depends on how early!

For babies that wake up around 4am and can’t go back to sleep:

If your baby is waking up at 3am or 4am and is ready to party, it’s biologically normal. [sorry] Their sleep pressure from the beginning of the night is lessening and there isn’t enough “drive” to go back to sleep. They’ve already had a full night of rest, their melatonin levels have dropped, and they are in a lighter stage of sleep.

For babies that wake up with the sun and can’t go back to sleep:

Again, biology and evolution at play here. Sun=day=awake!

When is it too early for a baby to wake up?

Any time before 6am. Ideally most parents would want their baby to sleep until 7am or later, but as babies get older and their circadian rhythm sets up this just isn’t always possible. 6am is a natural wake time for some babies. If it’s earlier, then we consider it a night waking and treat it as such!

How do I fix early morning wakeup?

1.Eliminate the LIGHT

If you don’t want your baby to wake up with the sun, then there can be no sun! The going to sleep environment should be the same as the early morning environment.

Blackout the room. And I mean BLACK out, not just hanging curtains. I advise going in there at 6am and closing your eyes for a minute, then open your eyes. Can you see anything? Light from under the doorframe? A change of color in the curtains? Or can you still clearly see the changing table and the art on the walls?

If you can see anything besides total darkness, your baby can sense that light change through their closed eyelids enough to send out their little wakeup alarm. I usually recommend grabbing some cheap black paper Redi-Shades. Adhere them to the windows top to bottom and side to side for a few nights. If it fixes the problem- awesome! If it doesn’t- you’re only out $20 max and you don’t have to bother investing in longer term solutions. [Pro-tip: Use an industrial stapler and fold carefully the red-shades will last for years!]

Another tip you can try is a slumberpod. It goes over a crib or bassinet to make it DARK DARK. Be aware that it is intended for babies 4 months old and older though. Air flow is extremely important for newborns.

2. Set your wakeup time

Many parents give in when their baby wakes up early and just call it a day, literally. Find a time where you will start their day. Let’s say 7am. Anything that happens before that time, you consider a night waking. Meaning that you keep the room dark, you don’t engage or play, and you continuously try to get the baby back to sleep. Eventually their little bodies will reset to the new normal wakeup time.

3. Set your bedtime

If your bedtime is too LATE, babies will tend to wake early. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. We see it time and time again. Newborns start out typically going to bed for the night around 9/10pm, and over time their bedtime shifts earlier and earlier until it lands at around 7pm. A 7pm-7am schedule is the ideal schedule for most babies and toddlers, but some babies need a 6-6! It sounds early and isn’t sustainable for all families, but infant sleep is so crucial to their development.

Get some nice exposure to sunlight before you start the bedtime routine to help establish that internal rhythm. Aim for bedtime around 11.5 hours before the wakeup time we made up.

4. Tweak the day

This is individualized based on your baby. If your baby is getting older they may need more time between naps. If your baby is taking terrible naps they may be so overtired that they can’t get quality rest at night.

If your baby is getting too much sleep during the day or not enough sleep during the day it will carry over to nights.

Check out our recommended nap schedules for every age to see what is appropriate for your baby’s age.

5. Teach your baby how to sleep

The way that a baby falls asleep is how they need to fall back to sleep. Let’s play through a scenario.

A baby falls asleep nursing on mom and is transferred into the bassinet, they wake up at 12am to nurse and they wake up at 3am to nurse. Both times they are so sleepy that they stay swaddled and go right back to sleep. They then wake at 4am. Baby has a low sleep drive so comes to full arousal and cries because they aren’t being held and they don’t know where their caregiver went. Mom tries to rock the baby but the baby is already wide awake and crying. Mom then tries to nurse even though it’s not a feeding time but the baby is so worked up that they can’t settle back to sleep.

The baby that needs caregiver support for sleep will be more likely to fully awaken at times they are less tired. Their body is on high-alert thinking “wait, where is my warm soft body and my sweet nighttime drink?” But it works in the opposite way too.

A second baby drinks his last bottle with dad but doesn’t fully fall asleep. Dad lays the baby down in the crib swaddled and cozy in a dark room with sound and leaves while the baby falls asleep independently. Baby wakes up at midnight and 3am to feed and go back to sleep, but when the baby wakes at 4am in between light sleep cycles they move around a bit, maybe open their eyes for a moment, but realize that it is still nighttime and nothing has changed in their environment and back to sleep they go!

6: Is something else going on?

Make sure there aren’t other factors at play:: Is your baby eating enough calories during the day to not be waking up hungry? Are you limiting screens and loud/busy toys in the hours before bedtime? Is there a lingering dream feed that you need to cut out? Is your baby getting an appropriate amount of stimulation and movement during waking hours?