I'm not exactly sure how it all started, whether it was teething or developmental milestone or growth spurt, but we are into day 11 of the 5-530AM wakings.
It did happen about 3-4 weeks ago when his top 2 teeth came in, but after 5 days he was back to normal, sleeping 11-12 hrs a night.
My son's normal schedule is as follows: (he will be 1 year on Sat Oct 23)
Wake 630ish. Get up, bottle, breakfast, play
Morning Nap 9 or 930 for 1.5 hours
1230 Lunch, Bottle
Afternoon Nap 2 or 230 for 1.5 hours
Supper 545 or 6
630 Bath, Books, Bottle
7 Bedtime
My son has been CONSISTENTLY following this schedule since he was about 7.5 months and 99% of the time puts himself to sleep. He'll generally wake between 615 and 645, so he is getting almost 12 hours a night and still naps well during the day. Sometimes when we have a chaotic day or he doesn't have good naps, we need to help him fall asleep, but for the most part, he puts himself to sleep within 10-15 minutes of us laying him down. It's been a really good schedule.
About 1.5 weeks ago is starting waking up at 5AM. At first I thought it was teeth (like before) and I figured it would correct itself eventually. We would go in upon his waking and try to put him back to sleep. Some mornings he'd go right back to sleep and we could lay him down and he would sleep another 30-45 minutes. Other days he would be sleeping so lightly I would have to just continue to rock him and let him sleep on my chest. And finally, other days he just wanted to get up. I tried my hardest to wait until 6AM before getting up with him and would delay the bottle until 630-7. I know he's not waking because he is hungry, because even when I do give him the bottle he only drinks part of it and then wants to go and play.
We've tried shifting his bedtime earlier to 630 - doesn't work. One day it got shifted later because of a late afternoon nap, and yes, he did sleep until 630, but didn't go to sleep until 8PM, so he still only got 10 hrs, which isn't 'normal.' (if I can actually say anything is normal). We've also tried to let him cry a few mornings, which doesn't seem to work either. The other night he cried out a few times in the middle of the night (which he NEVER does) and we just left him and he fell back to sleep.
With the new 5 AM wakings, sometimes its 445 and sometimes its 530. Whatever it is, it's TOO EARLY. He has mostly maintained his schedule (see above), although nap times during the day are earlier now. He seems to be napping well, in fact longer, probably to catch up on the missed sleep from the morning. He is still consistently putting himself to sleep and consistently goes to bed at 7PM, putting himself to sleep.
So, now I think we've got a behavioural problem on my hands.
I'm very stressed and desperately need help. This was my last week at home with my son before returning to work and it's been a week of HELL. I'm completely fried and exhausted and I'm starting to worry about my mental capacity upon returning to work.
Any suggestions?
One last thing, he was very wet this morning, peeing through diaper. Perhaps this is contributing as well. We are going to make changes to his bottle and amounts throughout the day so he's not getting so much right before bed.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
A very tired mom.
