In the first few sleep-deprived months of your baby’s life, you were probably pretty fixated on getting your baby to sleep through the night so that the whole house wasn’t awake at 2 a.m. (or worse, every hour on the hour).

Once she starts to sleep for longer stretches, however, you may find yourself dealing with fewer middle of the night wakeups and more wakings at the crack of dawn and wondering if this actually counts as progress. 

Babies are naturally early risers, and there’s not all that much we can do to change their biological rhythms. But once your baby is around 6 months old, there are a few tricks you can use to push back your wake-up call by an hour or two. Here's how to help your early bird wake up a little bit later. 

How do you know if your baby is waking up too early?

If your baby is getting up at 5 a.m. every morning and won't go back down either by self-soothing or after a feed and diaper change, that generally means your baby is waking up too early. But it depends on when she goes to bed, her age and stage, and other factors. If she's cranky during the day, that's a good indication that she needs to sleep in a little later.

It's normal, however, for babies to wake up between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., though it can vary widely. Things like teething, sickness, sleep regressions and other outside influences can also come into play, especially if your baby suddenly starts waking up earlier than usual.

What causes a baby to wake up early?

If your baby is waking up too early, she may be getting too much sleep (so she’s not tired) or too little (which means she’s overtired). And you can't afford to let her lose too much sleep. A 6-month-old, for example, needs about 12 to 15 hours of sleep over 24 hours, or about 10 to 12 hours at night and three to five hours during the day split into two or three naps. 

When she sleeps can affect how early she wakes up. She could be going to bed too late, taking naps too late or doing it all too early. Getting her to sleep later in the morning may be a matter of adjusting her whole sleep schedule.  

What do I do if my baby wakes up too early?

The first thing to do if your baby is waking up too early is examine her sleep schedule to make sure she’s getting enough sleep overall. It sounds counterintuitive, but a baby who is too tired won’t be able to sleep well.

Try putting your baby down earlier — around 7 or 7:30 p.m. — by gradually moving up her bedtime by 10 minutes each night if she's going to bed later than that, and see if that helps her stay asleep longer. Don’t expect results immediately, though! Give it a solid week or two before you decide whether the experiment was successful.

If too much sleep is the culprit, you may have to try the opposite tactic. Move her bedtime later by about 10 minutes each night until she’s hitting the hay about an hour later (or you reached your goal of her sleeping later). This works best if you move her eating schedule later as well, so hunger doesn’t wake her up too soon.

You might also have to work on your baby’s nap schedule. Babies who get too much or too little sleep during the day will have a harder time sleeping at night.

And the timing of naps also matters. Some babies who nap early in the day go to sleep earlier at night and — you guessed it — wake up earlier in the morning. And some babies have trouble going to sleep if their last nap ends too close to bedtime.

Try adjusting the nap schedule earlier or later by moving it by 10-minute increments each day until you’re in a good rhythm.  

Be sure to talk to your pediatrician, too, to get more tips for adjusting your baby's sleep schedule and make sure that nothing else is causing the early wakings.

One note of caution, however. Whenever you juggle sleep schedules you run the risk that your baby will just not get enough sleep (say you start cutting down her naptime but she still wakes up early). If your baby seems tired or has trouble falling asleep at night, talk to your pediatrician, which you should do anyway before adjusting your baby's schedule. It may be that this is just a passing stage. 

Tips for training your baby to wake up later

Adjusting your baby’s sleep schedule is likely the best way for you to get your little alarm clock to go off just a little later. But there are a few other tricks that you can try as well.

Don’t let the sun come in

Your baby may be very sensitive to light, causing her to literally wake up at the crack of dawn. Try investing in room-darkening shades or lined drapes to keep the sun from rousing your mini rooster. 

Keep it quiet

As the world wakes up, cars start driving down the roads, dogs start barking and the garbage truck begins to make its rounds. Light sleepers may wake up to all these sounds of the neighborhood. 

At the very least, keep her windows closed, and if that doesn’t help, hang some heavy drapes or blankets in front of them. You might also want to try putting a fan or a white-noise machine in her room to mask the outside noise.

Give it a minute

Don’t rush to greet your baby at the first sounds from the crib. Wait at least five or 10 minutes unless your baby is really wailing.[1] 

If you’re lucky, she'll soothe herself enough to go back to sleep, or at least amuse herself while you catch a few more moments of rest.

Hold off on breakfast

If she’s used to eating at 5:30 in the morning, hunger will continue to be her (and your) early wake-up call. Gradually postpone the first feed by a few minutes each day so that she’s less likely to wake up early for it. 

Be sure to talk to your pediatrician, though, about any adjustments you're making to your baby's feeding schedule.

Give your baby a pacifier

Babies who use pacifiers to fall asleep at bed- and naptime might just need the binky popped back in to fall back to sleep early in the morning. Wait a few minutes before going in, and then quietly, with minimal talking, put your little one's paci back in her mouth, give her a gentle pat or stroke on the head and leave the room.

Offer something to do 

Until your baby is 12 months or so, her crib should be pretty much empty for safety reasons. But after 12 months, there are some toys that strap onto the crib — like a crib soother, crib mirror or crib keyboard — that can help your little one wake up slowly and play on her own before you even get out of bed.

Someday in the not-so-distant future, your baby will be able to get up and make breakfast for herself. In the meantime, try to take care of yourself as you navigate this stage in your baby's sleep schedule. Go to bed earlier if you can, nap when the baby is napping whenever possible, and see if your partner or a visiting grandparent or friend can take the early shift every once in a while.