1 year old, Early waking??

[nickinoodles]

My daughter used to sleep till 7:30ish every morning.  Now she is getting up once between 4-6 am and seems pretty wide awake.  (usually it's 5:45).  I can usually get her back to sleep but she will then wake up at 6:30/6:45 no matter what (whether it was 4am that she was awake or 6 am).  Remind me what could be causing this?  Is this a sign of too much day time sleep?  I've already cut her naps to 1.5 hours for the first and 1 hour and 10 minutes for the second.  Her schedule looks like this:

6:45 wake
7:00 BF
8:30 solids
9:45-11:15 S
11:25 Bottle
1:00 Eat solids
2:15/2:30ish S-3:25/3:40ish
6:45 Bottle
7:00/7:15 Bed for the night.

Since I cut her naps she hasn't been having trouble falling asleep for bedtime anymore which is good, but now the early morning waking.  I sort of start WI/WO but I am so weak at that hour all I want is sleep!  If I feed her she falls right back to sleep till the 6:30/6:45 mark.  But now of course I'm getting her back in the habit of nursing to sleep.  WI/WO seems to make her more upset, the longest I've gone is 25 minutes in and out.  I'd do gentle removal but if I am in the room she is content to just sit there and play, for HOURS.  So that doesn't work...help?

[lyndsy_p]

Busted...I too was doing this. BFeeding her to sleep when she woke "once in a while" at 530 or 6am. Guess what? It turned into a habit. It was EVERY NIGHT for 2 weeks before I finally clued in that it was counterproductive.

The NW themselves are not likely due to hunger at 1yo. Now though, you've taught her to be hungry at that hour. I don't need to eat at 530am, but you can bet that I would indulge myself if there was a big juicy cheeseburger on my night table when I woke at that hour. Heck I would start waking myself up at 530am after a while just to see if it was there. You need to break the cycle of eating at that hour, and its not going to be easy. Can your DH help? Your LO will likely cry quite a bit on the first night because she wants her "routine" back. If your DH can attend to the NW, she will get the picture eventually that there is no food! He needs to do wi/wo for as long as it takes (proabably more like 40mins). Be consistant. Don't give in.

If you feel that she takes a HUGE feed at that time of the night, you can try to wean the amount of time she spends at the breast....but that route didn't work for me.

As to what is actually causing the NW...could be developmental, could be the 2-1 nap switch, could be teething. At her age I imagine that she can go longer than 3hrs30 before bed. Have you thought of switching her bedtime to 730 or 745? Or alternatively cutting that 2nd nap to a catnap if you like that bedtime the way it is?

Hang in there.
Lyndsy

[nickinoodles]

Hey it's me again, I posted this a while ago and forgot about it.  Well, now I have really done it!  Right after I wrote this she got VERY sick, high fever stuffed up so much she couldnt breathe, coughing, it was awful.  She was waking up every hour because she was so stuffy.  We caved and let her sleep with us for a few nights because we needed sleep and couldnt keep getting up that many times.  Well, of course I felt terrible that she was so sick so I nursed her on occasion when she woke because that was the only thing that would soothe her.  Well the good part is that after she got over being sick she went right back to only getting up once at night (and was thankfully back in her crib).  She also went right back to putting herself to sleep for bedtime and naps with no problem.  But when she wakes up that one time she wants to be nursed now.  Last night I refused to nurse her the first time she woke at 12:00, I had to pick her up becuase she was freaking out but after she calmed a little I put her back in the crib and she cried on and off while I whispered her to sleep.  But when she got up again an hour and a half later I caved and nursed her.  If my husband goes in she totally has a melt down, she wants MOMMY!  (She has been like this during the day too, I wonder if it's the start of separation anxiety?  she only wants me).  I have stopped asking DH to go in because 1. she just screams like she is dying forever (I've only ever let it go for 20 minutes but it doesn't matter if she is in the crib or he is holding her).  and 2.  it never works and I end up having to go in anyway.  If I hold her she cries and tugs at my shirt, If I nurse her for 5 minutes I can put her back in the crib wide awake and she will roll over and go back to sleep.  So I know its not a problem of her not knowing how to get herself back to sleep.  Anyway I am not sure what I should do, I mean I know I need to stop nursing her but do I do PU/PD? or do I do WI/WO?  How do I know which is the better option??

[lyndsy_p]

I would try WI/WO. PU/PD only wound my LO up more. Really, there are going to be quite a few tears. She is used to being nursed, and doesn't want to change that. With either option you are letting her know that you are there for her, but nursing is not an option. Can your husband do WI/WO? In my experience a LO will get the picture faster. I know it means more tears at first, but it is a quicker solution.