Early Waking 5 months old

[lilasmum]

Hi everyone

Thanks in advance for your help.

My baby is 5 months old and has been sleeping through the night consistently for around 2.5 months.  She generally goes down between 6-7pm and we don't usually hear from her until around 6am.  Until about 6 weeks ago.  Now she wakes anytime between 4.30-5.30am and cannot be resettled.  It was always around 5.30 which was almost doable, but it is getting earlier and has been 4.50 for the last week.  I try not to feed her as when I do, she doesn't seem very hungry.  She is on solids - one larger meal a day and two smaller ones.  I am at a loss as to what to do now.  I am so tired as the days are so long.  We have blacked out her room so light isn't the issue and we have a heater set to come on early in the morning so it's not cold.  She is teething majorly - she has two bottom teeth and has FOUR that have almost cut through on top.  I can't imagine that the early wakings are related though as they have been happening long before any sign of the teeth. 

Here is her EASY taking into account her early wakings.  I've been told that at this age she should be following the 'two up, two down' rule in regards to awake time and napping. 


Wake 5am - attempt to resettle until 6 or 6.30
6.30 - Milk feed
7.00 Solids
8.00 Nap (I've tried to drag this out but after she wakes at 5, that's three hours awake time!) - usually have to resettle after first sleep cycle and her total sleep is 90 mins - 2 hours
10 am - Milk feed
11.30pm - Solids
12.00 Nap (same as above)
2.00 - Milk feed
3.30 or 4pm - Nap.  I don't usually bother resettling this nap and it goes from 45 mins to 1.5 hours.  I wake her up by 5pm
5.15 pm - Solids
6.15 - Milk feed and bed - asleep by 6.30 or 6.45

Is she having too much day sleep?  My child health nurse advised perhaps not resettling her after her first sleep but she gets so tired and cranky. 

[lilasmum]

Sorry I just reread my post and it should say 1130 am solids.  And she is bottle fed.  Takes a dummy to go to bed only but usually spits it out before she goes to sleep.  I also find that if she ever wakes before 4.30am, she settles much easier than anytime after that.

[lilasmum]

And another clarification - we have tried earlier and later bedtime - from times between 5.45 - 7 and nothing seems to make much difference. 

[becj86]

I think your day routine looks fine, except I'd drop that last nap down to catnap status (so wake her at 45min if she doesn't wake then) and aim for a 6:30 bedtime.

Has she dropped her milk intake? She really needs the milk at this age as it is much higher in calories than solids and she may just be hungry if she's dropped her milk. She's having a lot of solids for 5 months.

[lilasmum]

Has she dropped her milk intake? She really needs the milk at this age as it is much higher in calories than solids and she may just be hungry if she's dropped her milk. She's having a lot of solids for 5 months.

Thanks for your reply! She doesn't eat a huge amount of solids - our child health nurse is big on babies being offered solids 3 times a day. She has been on 4 x 200 ml bottles a day ever since she dropped her night feed by herself. I also make up any solids with some milk to try to get more into her. She is on the 75th percentile for weight.

[becj86]

Ok, just that it can contribute to wakings - good to rule it out.

our child health nurse is big on babies being offered solids 3 times a day

This is unusual re: a 5 month old, though...

[lilasmum]

Ok, just that it can contribute to wakings - good to rule it out.

our child health nurse is big on babies being offered solids 3 times a day

This is unusual re: a 5 month old, though...

Would the solids be perhaps contributing to her early wakeup?  My newest tactic is not getting up to her unless she cries - I just let her chat away and get her up for the day at 6am.

[becj86]

It could be, but mainly if they're replacing milk - she's not uncomfortable when she wakes, is she? Most babies aren't onto 3 meals until they've been on solids for a while, like at 7-8 months of age unless you're doing baby led weaning when you do offer 3 meals straight away because they're not likely to actually take much in initially and it gives them more exposure to food.

I think the early waking is related to undertiredness.

[lilasmum]

It could be, but mainly if they're replacing milk - she's not uncomfortable when she wakes, is she? Most babies aren't onto 3 meals until they've been on solids for a while, like at 7-8 months of age unless you're doing baby led weaning when you do offer 3 meals straight away because they're not likely to actually take much in initially and it gives them more exposure to food.

I think the early waking is related to undertiredness.

She doesn't seem uncomfortable.  Our nurse suggested perhaps not extending her first nap of the day?  But I have no idea then how to continue on with EASY as it would mean her AT along the line somewhere is 3 hours.

[becj86]

Our nurse suggested perhaps not extending her first nap of the day?

This would have a similar effect to cutting the last nap of the day down to a catnap. I tend to get the good naps in as early as possible in the day so there's good sleep under my belt and I'm dealing with an OT baby for less time

I think having to resettle after the first sleep cycle is likely developmental (as it is for a lot of babies) and she will learn to sleep through the transition around 6 months.

She may be ready for more A time than 2hr, keep in mind that you're moving towards 3hr A times by around 6-7 months.

[lilasmum]

Our nurse suggested perhaps not extending her first nap of the day?

This would have a similar effect to cutting the last nap of the day down to a catnap. I tend to get the good naps in as early as possible in the day so there's good sleep under my belt and I'm dealing with an OT baby for less time

I think having to resettle after the first sleep cycle is likely developmental (as it is for a lot of babies) and she will learn to sleep through the transition around 6 months.

She may be ready for more A time than 2hr, keep in mind that you're moving towards 3hr A times by around 6-7 months.

Thank you thank you thank you!  That is a great idea about the catnap at the end of the day.  I can't believe that she will be able to stay up for 3 hours soon.  It was such a miracle for her to get to two hours AT!