Why is my baby suddenly waking so early in the morning?
The final stretch of the night is the lightest sleep your baby gets, so it takes the least to end it. Early waking is usually the last hour of sleep being fragile rather than your baby being finished.
The last stretch is the lightest
Sleep gets progressively lighter across the night. By early morning your baby is surfacing more easily, so small things wake them that wouldn't have hours earlier.
The room changed before your baby did
Seasons shift, light arrives earlier, and households start moving. A room that was dark and quiet at that hour a month ago may not be now.
The day before shows up in the morning
Both too little and too much daytime sleep can surface as early waking. It's often the previous day being read back to you.
What tends to help
- Making the room darker and checking what sound arrives around that time.
- Looking at the whole previous day rather than the night, since that's usually where the answer sits.
- Changing one thing at a time and giving it several days, because early waking is noisy from night to night.
- Treating a stretch of early mornings as information rather than a habit that's forming.
If early waking arrives with distress that's new, feeding changes, or anything that simply feels off to you, check in with your doctor or healthcare provider.
This is one where I'd resist changing three things at once, tempting as it is. Early waking varies so much night to night that you'll lose track of what actually helped.
I can tell you what usually drives it. I can't tell you which one it is for your baby, and I'd be wary of anyone who says they can without seeing your days.