Is your little one starting the day at 4:30 or 5:00 AM ready to party and start their day? You’re not alone. Early morning wakings are one of the most common and frustrating sleep struggles I see as a baby and toddler sleep consultant. They are usually solvable but can be also notoriously difficult to crack. This is due to the fact that complete opposite factors can cause them, making it hard to pin point which one it is.
As a certified sleep consultant in Vancouver, I work with families both locally and virtually to help babies and toddlers sleep better—and wake at more reasonable times. Let’s dive into the most common causes of early morning wakings, and how focusing on everything that is leading up to that moment could be playing a role.
What Counts as an Early Morning Waking?
Most babies and toddlers are biologically ready to wake for the day between 6:00 and 7:00 AM. Anything earlier than that is considered an early waking—especially if your child is waking up grumpy, tired, or clearly still needing more rest. That last sleep cycle of the night is a deep and restorative one. However, sleep pressure becomes incredibly low around 4:00 or 5:00 a.m, which is why it can be so hard for babies and toddlers to enter that last sleep cycle.
If your baby or toddler is regularly starting the day before 6:00 AM or before 10.5 to 11 hours of sleep (usually 11), it’s a sign that something in their sleep schedule, habits, environment, or routine may need to shift.
Why Is My Baby or Toddler Waking So Early?
Here are the most common reasons for persistent early morning wakings:
1. Too-Late Bedtime
This might seem counterintuitive but a bedtime that’s too late can actually cause earlier wake ups, not later ones. When your child goes to bed overtired, their body produces more cortisol (the stress hormone), which can disrupt overnight sleep and trigger early rising. I know that when I go to be over exhausted and stimulated, I actually am more restless during the night.
Most babies and toddlers do best with a bedtime between 7:00–8:00 PM, depending on age and nap schedule. If bedtime is too late, it cuts into valuable and restorative night sleep as in most cases, later bedtime will not lead to a later wake up due to babies and toddlers having a powerful circadian rhythm that signals them to wake up between 6 and 7:00 usually.
2. Wake Windows and Number/Length of Naps
If your baby is napping too much—or not enough—during the day or too often with not long enough wake windows, it can lead to early morning wake ups. In order to build up the sleep pressure to bridge that early morning, babies and toddlers need an optimal dispersement of wake time and nap. This can be different for each individual baby based on their sleep needs. Early wakings can be a huge sign that something about that day has not built up this necessary sleep pressure. Most of the time, I find early morning wakings are actually due to too many naps, not long enough wake windows and too much daytime sleep. A baby only needs so much sleep in a 24 hour period and if they are getting too much of this during the day, it will come off of the last part of the night.
For example:
- A baby who takes long, late-afternoon naps might not build enough sleep pressure for bedtime. Sleep later in the day will have a much larger effect of the early morning. This is why ideally, later day naps should be shorter, particularly if a baby is still taking 3 or 4 naps a day. That last one should be just a cat nap.
- A toddler who is starting to fight their nap might need some gentle schedule tweaking to avoid becoming overtired by evening.
This is where working with a toddler sleep consultant can be incredibly helpful—we’ll fine-tune your schedule based on your child’s unique sleep needs.
3. Sleep Environment
The early morning hours are when sleep pressure is lowest, which means any small disruption—light, noise, temperature—can cause your child to fully wake.
Here’s what to check:
- Is the room pitch black? Even a hint of early sunlight trigger a wake up as light tells a baby’s brain it’s time to be awake. They have a very strong circadian rhythm! Use blackout shades and cover up lights from monitors or devices.
- Are there outside noises (like birds, siblings, or traffic) around 5:00 AM? A white noise machine can help cover up any sounds.
- Is the room cool and comfortable? Ideal temperature for a baby’s room is is 19–21°C
4. Reinforcing the Wake-Up
This one is one of the hardest parts of sleep training and being consistent around it, especially when you’re exhausted—but if your baby or toddler is consistently getting fed, brought into your bed, or turned on the TV at 5:00 AM, their body starts to expect it and they are much more likely to fully wake.
Babies and toddlers are amazing at picking up on expected responses to their behaviour. If they know that early waking results in something really awesome, cozy or yummy, they’re likely to keep doing it. One of the key components of sleep training is teaching your child that the day doesn’t begin until a consistent wake-up time. This is usually around 6-7 a.m. and is dictated by their circadian rhythm,
5. Lack of Independent Sleep Skills
Early wakings are often the last piece of the sleep puzzle to resolve when a child hasn’t fully learned to fall asleep and resettle independently.
If your baby needs rocking, feeding, or parental help to fall asleep at bedtime or after a night waking, they’re more likely to need that same support or even more at 4:30 or 5:00 AM—when sleep is naturally lighter. Often parents also tell me that the usual thing that works to get their baby or toddler back to sleep even stops working in this early period. This is where many parents have to hold their baby to sleep until a decent wake up time. Sleep training can help your child develop the confidence and ability to go back to sleep on their own and bridge that tricky last sleep cycle.
How a Baby or Toddler Sleep Consultant Can Help
As a certified baby and toddler sleep consultant, I take a holistic look at all the factors influencing your child’s sleep—not just the method you’re using, but their daily rhythm, environment, temperament, and developmental stage.
For families in Vancouver and beyond, I offer one-on-one support to:
- Troubleshoot the root cause of early wakings
- Create a customized nap and bedtime schedule
- Implement sleep training methods tailored to your child
- Set healthy boundaries around morning routines by setting a wake up time appropriate to your child and rhythm.
Whether you’re dealing with a 6-month-old or a strong-willed 2-year-old, early rising is not something you just have to accept. With the right approach, your child can sleep past the crack of dawn which can lead to feeling significantly more rested. It takes some trial and error but usually, there is always a solution.
Need help solving early wakings?
👉 Click here to contact me and book your free discovery call today. Let’s get your little one (and you) sleeping soundly again.