Early wakings(( please help!

[Pumka]

Early wakings again on our side(( 12mo, for 1,5 months 1 nap per day with accidental sexond short nap in the evening.

Standard routine:
7:30 wake up very sleepy, if I take her to my bed -- she'll fall asleep again pretty easily, will sleep till 8:30-9:00
9:00 breakfast
13:00 lunch
13:30-14:00 day sleep
16:30 wu
17:00 second lunch
20:30-21:00 dinner
21:30-22:00 going to bed

She starts waking up around 5am, and falls back asleep herself or if I give her pacifier.
She can wake up every 30 mins starts crying with her eyes closed((( and then she completely wakes up at 7:30, which is too early for us((

For sure if I don't take her to my bed at 7:30 (which I know is no good), it will be hard for her not to sleep till nap time (2pm), and we put her to bed earlier, which means that we give her another short nap in the evening. If I put her for NS later, she wakes up at the same time anyway...although I tried that accidentally and not more than a couple of times(

Probably I should put her to bed earlier or later or try to put her back to sleep in her cot (but will it help her not to wake up that early next days?

Please advise what I can try doing to make her night sleep longer and  more stable in the morning. Thanks a lot in advance!

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Hi there...sorry your post did get missed. Just for clarification what is the ideal wake up and bedtime you are trying for? I woulf have to say 7:30 is a pretty natural wake time for a toddler so if you want to sleep.later it may not suit her body clock.

[Katet]

Am I correct that she has a 2.5-3 hour nap in the day & often has a late in the day cat nap. That would be cutting from her night sleep & so her late morning sleep (lots of toddlers do wake for the day at 5am - despite all efforts from the parents & most parents I know would love 7.30am wake up, so it's hard to give advice there) is restless because she isn't quite tired enough to be in a deep sleep.

What time does the sun rise where you are because the natural body clock of humans is strongly linked to sunlight & so if it's starting to get light around 5am that will be a factor - one that it is hard for a parent to change.

Is she walking, because that can actually help them be more physically tired & not wake quite so much in the light sleep cycle which is why they have the regular wake up times.

If you do want her on 1 nap a day & a 9am wake up at 12mo I think the 2pm nap is probably where you want to be, but the late in the day cat nap quite possibly robs from the deeper sleep in the early hours of the morning & you kind of just have to ride through the (for us & many ) very difficult transition time of going to 1 nap/day. I found for us (with a child who started the day at sunrise - no matter what we tried - still does at 11yo) it was about making changes to our lives to make it work ie I got up at 5ish in summer & took him for walks & got exercise & just had to go to bed earlier myself to cope. As he got older he read in bed until the rest of the family got up... that's not to say you can't improve on your DD's sleep, but sometimes (like my Low sleep need DS) their body clock is stronger than parental attempts to get better sleep.

[Pumka]

Hi! Thank you for your replies!

Am I correct that she has a 2.5-3 hour nap in the day & often has a late in the day cat nap. That would be cutting from her night sleep & so her late morning sleep (lots of toddlers do wake for the day at 5am - despite all efforts from the parents & most parents I know would love 7.30am wake up, so it's hard to give advice there) is restless because she isn't quite tired enough to be in a deep sleep.

She takes a catnap, if her after-lunch nap is shorter than 2 hours. Now it happens less often, so normally we manage it with only one 2-3 hour nap in a day that starts around 1-2pm.

Hi there...sorry your post did get missed. Just for clarification what is the ideal wake up and bedtime you are trying for? I woulf have to say 7:30 is a pretty natural wake time for a toddler so if you want to sleep.later it may not suit her body clock.

Now that she goes to bed at 9pm, I believe it would be best for her to sleep at least till 8am, well 7.30 would be OK too (if she goes to bed at 10pm though (as it was before), I think it should be at least till 8.30, right?)

Last week I started putting her to bed earlier w/o a cat nap in the evening, I wouldn't say it helps( now she goes to bed at 9pm and today she woke up at 6am -- well rested and happy. I gave her a bottle of water and resettled her, it took me an hour or so -- after that she slept for another 1,5-2 hours. I think that the main problem is that I'm sure, she wants more sleep, and 9 hour ns is definitely not enough for her, so putting her to bed earlier in the evening I was attempting to let her sleep longer even if she wakes at 7-7.30, and it even worked for a couple of days, but no more. When I resettle her, she happily sleeps 1,5-2 hours which is a lot, right? Why does she wake up then?((

Is she walking, because that can actually help them be more physically tired & not wake quite so much in the light sleep cycle which is why they have the regular wake up times.

She doesn't walk yet, so she might be not that tired, you are right( probably, she overcomes it as soon as she learn walking. Don't know...

The sun rises around 4am now, so I don't see connection with it tbh. Also, it's absolutely dark in her room...

If you do want her on 1 nap a day & a 9am wake up at 12mo I think the 2pm nap is probably where you want to be

but if she wakes up at 7, it's pretty much impossible to keep her awake till 2pm -- that's way too long. Does it make sense to make a short nap around 11am and then put her for a long nap after 2pm?

So summarizing it all:
It looks like she might have these early wakings because she isn't tired enough during the day, as she doesn't walk.
Can it really be so that 9 hours sleep is enough for her?
Do you think I should keep the bed time earlier now (9pm) even if she wakes up at 6am? Can it be a temporary effect after changing the bedtime?
Do you think it makes sense to give her a short nap around 11 am and then put for a long nap after 2pm?
Anything else we can do to it?

Thank you so much for your help anyways!

[Katet]

When I resettle her, she happily sleeps 1,5-2 hours which is a lot, right? Why does she wake up then?((

One of those things with children/toddlers they just don't seem to be able to get back to sleep at certain times & even in a totally dark room there still seems to be something about there being a daylight around that makes them more naturally fall to a dark/light sleep cycle.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

If her day sleep is upwards of 2.5-3 hours then add 9 hour nights - 11.5 -12 in 24 is what my DD3 maxed out at at this age (very low sleep needs kid that one!). I think with shifting bedtime you need to give it a couple of weeks of consistency with one nap and earlier bedtimes. Also if wake up is 7 am the nap needs to be backed up a bit...so if 9 am wake gave a 2 pm nap then maybe shoot for 12/12:30. Once you are settled into a good one nap routine it may be possible to shift it later to get a later morning wake (but not necessarily!).

[Pumka]

All right, so today she went to bed around 9.20pm and woke up at 3am I haven't seen such things since she was 2mo!
It took me 1,5 hours to resettle her, and I finally took her to my bed, as I had no more energy to be near her cot.
She was lying quietly looking at me and at the ceiling, fully awake, but should I stand up and go away from her room -- she started crying out loud immediately -- that was just terrible. When I was back near her, she was quiet again...just looking at me and around.

She woke up at 6:20, then fell asleep fast, and completely woke up at 7:40. I don't remember such terrible nights ever(((
When she was lying in the bed with me -- I felt that every time she was falling asleep, she was moving her legs as like she was jumping -- probably that's because she's learning to walk now? And just training while sleeping too?

Do you think I should try to keep her more active during the day so that she becomes more tired in the evening?

Also if wake up is 7 am the nap needs to be backed up a bit...so if 9 am wake gave a 2 pm nap then maybe shoot for 12/12:30.

At what time should I put her for night sleep then? today she slept from 1pm to 3pm, and I want to put her to bed at 9pm -- do you think it will be OK? just afraid that she will be overtired by then(

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

9 pm would be quite late for a day like that. My kids were able to handle 4.5/5 hours awake at that age so 7:30/8  would have been bedtime after a nap like that.

 

I haven't seen such things since she was 2mo!

If sleep has been reasonably good for that long then be assured that it won't be so hard to get through these development blips and back to a good routine (well until something else comes up - like teething or illness!). The restlessness does make me think it is tied partly to the new walking skills but also the routine needs to be looked at and perhaps thought to a compromise between what you would like to see and what she is doing currently.