I'm father to a 7-year-old boy, who wakes up every morning at a range of times that goes from 5AM (most often) to 6:30AM (not that often). We believe it's way too early for him to wake up, and we notice that his behavior gets worse when he wakes up very early.
Normally he goes to sleep around 9PM, we tried to put him to sleep earlier and later, nothing really changed. We tried chamomile and I read to him every night before bed. He avoids screens for an hour beforehand and takes a shower. We're not sure why he wakes up so early.
My wife wants to discipline our child for waking up early, but I don't agree because I don't think he does it on purpose. Apparently, when he sleeps with his gran, he stays in bed, which could be true but still is highly unscientific (and IMHO unfair). Disciplining the boy didn't change a thing, he's just more stressed and upset.
At the end of the day, he sleeps 8 hours a night, which is slightly less than what is considered healthy (9/12 hours per night).
Does anybody have this problem, and how to solve it? Is it really a problem, or we're overreacting?