Why do I keep waking up at 3am and how can I stop? A doctor of sleep medicine answers

A woman with dark hair lays in bed in a dark bedroom while scrolling on her phone .

It’s a familiar scene: You’ve nailed your wind-down nighttime routine, fallen asleep fast… only to then be wide awake at 3am. But why? Waking up briefly in the night is normal, but periods of wakefulness lasting around thirty minutes or more can be a sign of a larger sleep issue. 

While there’s plenty we can do to help ourselves go to sleep — such as getting our bedroom temperature right, blocking out ambient noise and ensuring we’re sleeping on the best mattress for our sleep needs — for many of us actually staying asleep can be the sticking point to our overall sleep quality.