waking up at 5 am

My 3 month old baby usually sleeps at around 11 pm then wakes up between 7 - 9 am. However for the past week, she has been getting up at 5 am for a quick feed then she will fall straight back to sleep. She is exclusively breastfed. Can anyone tell me why this is happening and how I can put her back on her old schedule? Thanks!

Growths spurts happen at three months and can be tiring for a couple of weeks while she stocks up.


Consider feeding on a schedule of three hourly during the day again and put to bed by 8pm wake before you go to bed and give one last feed then she should sleep through till morning.

Sometimes demand feeding can cause baby to only take in enough to fill her tummy a little bit but not enough to sustain her for a decent amount of time. Mine slept through at 8 weeks, 7pm thru to 6am. I pretty much followed a three hourly feeding schedule during day and left baby at night after his last feed to sleep through. He woke up for a while at 5 am and we gave him a dummy as he was comfort sucking rather than needing more food.

HK smurf -


STB is quite right. You can't ask of that your baby yet. But you sound like you want your baby to have a more regimented schedule or routine. If that is the case, I will highly recommend you take a look at Gina Ford's Contented Baby Book as it has schedules and routines. In her book, your 3 week old would be in his cot in his room/your room at 7:00 PM and this would start earlier in his life than later. There are many parents who have had varying degress of success with Gina (some love some HATE) but I've had wonderful experience with her.


You shouldn't expect too much of your baby sleeping through the night -some take longer than others. I do think Gina helps make it happen faster just because she provides a structure for it to happen. Mine slept through the night -one at 10 weeks, the other at 12. Some don't manage it until later.

HK Smurf,

I try to follow a 3 hourly feeding schedule during the day. After her last feed between 10 and 11 pm, I will put her to bed and she will sleep until she wakes up naturally. Putting her to bed means no more waketime activity and definitely out of the living room! She started sleeping through the night at around 10 weeks. It is unrealistic for your bub to sleep through the night at this stage and he will need that extra feeding. Every baby is different and I just learnt to be mindful of growth spurts and bub required those extra feedings at night! Thanks everyone!