Early Morning Awakenings
Early morning awakenings can occur for a variety of reasons. Hunger, external stimuli (bright light, noise, etc.), and discomfort are a few examples (sick, wet, cold etc). Overtiredness can also cause early morning awakenings. If your baby is not getting enough sleep and is being put to bed too late, this could be the cause of their waking up too early. Parents believe that putting their babies to bed late will cause them to wake up late. In fact, the inverse is true. Overtiredness in your baby will actually cause more sleep disruptions.
Habitual waking is one of the less obvious causes of a chronic early riser. Sleep is lightest in the early morning hours (between 4am-6am). Babies (and adults) go through more light stages. Sleep during the second half of the night in preparation for waking up in the morning. As a result, it is especially difficult for a baby to sleep again in the early hours. It's even more difficult for a baby who doesn't know how to do it on their own, and it's very easy for a habit to form. This habit could include nursing/bottle feeding your baby to sleep, taking your baby to bed with you, or even waking your baby up for the day because they are excited about your presence. Getting them up at the same time every day is enough to train their internal clock to wake up at the same time every morning, even if they haven't gotten enough sleep. Having said that, it is critical to allow the baby to know that this is not wake up time and he will gradually learn to sleep back again.
Any waking in the early morning is treated the same way as waking in the middle of the night. That is, you go through the stages described in your sleep plan for teaching individual sleep to see if your baby will fall asleep again. The steps accomplish two things: They first aid in the breakup of a habit, but they also aid in the delay of gratification. Trying to delay giving your baby what they are waking up for can be effective in stopping the early waking. If your baby has been fussing for more than 10 minutes, it may be helpful to go in and simply remind them that it is not time to wake up. Using a key phrase such as "its sleep time" can be helpful.
If you've followed the instructions and your baby still won't sleep (which may happen the first few times), wake them up for the day. Especially if you've reached the point where the baby should be waking up. Pick up the baby and make a big deal about it being morning and time to wake up. That way, the child understands you didn't just come in because they were crying. Carry on with your normal morning routine but try not to let the baby fall asleep again in less than 2 hours. Babies occasionally wake up because their nighttime sleep is disrupted. They get up early and would like to take their first nap after about an hour.
Another less obvious reason for an early morning waking, and probably the most common, is that your baby enjoys whatever they are doing at that time. As previously stated, sleep is at its lightest during that time, so any slight waking will create difficulties for your baby to fall back asleep. Couple that with the fact that they genuinely enjoy whatever you are doing with them at that time. Whether it's cuddling in bed, an immediate feeding, rocking back to sleep, or something else. You now have a situation in which your baby is having a great time.
The goal of stopping this early morning waking will be to make it less pleasurable. Simply begin with a task that your baby will not enjoy doing. For example, diaper changing or taking off jammies to undress and get dressed for the day. If you suspect your baby enjoys whatever you do with them when they wake up, you can repeat the process. Stand in line before going in, try to get baby back to sleep, and if that fails, get them up for the day, starting with an activity they won't be too excited about. It may take a few days of consistent effort to see improvement in the early morning waking. However, if you stick with it, it is very successful. This does not preclude you from hugging and kissing or snuggling your baby in the morning. It basically means that during this time frame of "early riser training," avoid making that first thing you do with them.
