7.5 month old wants to play at 3 am...why??

[amom526]

I have gotten some good advice here in the past, so here goes-

MY DS has always been a fairly good sleeper, but he has always had 1 wakeup in the middle of the night. From about 4 months-7 months of age, that wakeup would happen at about 4 or 430 am and he would go right back to sleep with a paci. He never woke up crying, usually just chatting and eventually complaining. He would not go back to sleep unless I would go in to re-settle.

Recently, he has been waking up at 2,3, or 4 instead of at 4 or 430. he is still waking up chattering, but it is getting tougher and tougher to get him back to sleep. he just wants to play! He is an early waker by nature, but this just seems too early. We have been slowly pushing A time from 2.5 to 3 hours over the last couple months, but he has been responding really well to that during teh day.

His EASY for the past 2 days was:
TUESDAY

WU 615
bottle 7
solids 845
nap: 910-1040
bottle 11
solids 1
nap 120-3
bottle 315
solids 415
bottle 6
BT around 615

woke up around 3 am chattering, went in to re-settle, heard him chattering again at 340-went in to re-settle, slept till 615

WED
WU 615
bottle 7
solids 845
nap 915-1050
bottle 11
solids 1
nap 2-305
bottle 330
solids 415
bottle 6
BT 620-only fell asleep at 645

he woke up chattering at 4, needed to be resettled 2-3 times and started crying before falling back to sleep.

I don't think the issue is too much daytime sleep, but could it be? I also think we may be putting him down for the night too early, but even when he falls asleep a little later it doesn't seem to help. Is this just a stage? I really need to get some sleep!!

[Ima shel Alon]

In my experience when LOs have NW and wanting to play is UT. It's great that you are pushing his A time and that he is responding well to it, I'd keep pushing it a little bit more.

How much solids is he taking in each meal?

[amom526]

He eats a yogurt for breakfast, a jar with chicken or something else for lunch, and a jar for dinner. He is still on stage 2 baby food which is 4 oz jars, so he may be ready for stage 3

[Ima shel Alon]

My LO is the same age and he is also on stage 2 (and sometimes still one) and I think it's fine as long as you are both happy with it. I was wondering about the amount and that seems to be ok.
How has the last couple of days been? Have you tried to increase A time a bit more?

[clairebear79]

Agree with Ima - sounds like he may be a little UT & hopefully a little A time increase will do the trick & stop those NW's.

One other thought - if he is waking & chattering, do you go straight in to try to settle him?  If he is just chattering & not crying, then I would honestly just leave him to it for a while & see if he will self-settle.  You might find he'll actually go back to sleep more quickly if you don't intervene.  Obviously not if he's full on crying though!

HTH.x

[amom526]

I usually go in to him a couple minutes after I hear him talking on the monitor. I have tried leaving him a little longer, but eventually he usually just starts crying after enough time passes.

The last couple days have been better. We have been trying to keep him up a drop later, and he is back to waking once a night around 430 or 5, which I think is just a natural waking time for him.

[clairebear79]

That's good that a little extra A time has done the trick!   

[Ima shel Alon]

I usually go in to him a couple minutes after I hear him talking on the monitor. I have tried leaving him a little longer, but eventually he usually just starts crying after enough time passes.

this is one of the most difficult things to do, but I suggest you stop yourself. I remember myself running to DS room whenever I heard him and turned out that it just stimulated him and he found it harder to fall asleep independently if I was there. I really would try and leave him until he is crying even if it takes a while, he might surprise you after a couple of nights.

Great news about the night!

[amom526]

I will try and work on leaving him, but it is hard because I want him to go back to sleep as soon as possible, but I know it is probably better in the long run for me not to go in. Thanks for all the advice