Baby waking at 4.30am and awake time not extending

[Harrysmum2015]

Hi everyone

I hope you can help as I'm pretty stumped. I have a lovely contented 7 month old boy and we had been following EASY until the 4 month regression hit and he suddenly started doing 40 minute naps no matter what I did. It has been hard to get things back on track since then to be honest but now he is almost 7.5 months I really feel like he needs a better routine. Our problems stem from awake time and naps I think as this is affecting his night sleep - he is waking anytime between 4.30 and 5am for the day and has been for the past month or so. When he wakes he doesn't cry, he just lies there playing with his comforter but I can see on the video monitor that he does attempt to go back to sleep but can't seem to be able to (I did think it might be a dummy issue but he doesn't cry for it in the night and he has been able to find his dummy most of the time as he often has it when I get him in the morning). Hunger isn't the problem either as he mostly doesn't take a big feed if offered and it doesn't make him go back off to sleep. I think the problem is naps and awake times but I am caught in a vicious circle as his early morning waking means I can't get enough day sleep in or get into any kind of routine. Just to give you an idea of our day at the moment (every day seems to be different and, as I said, we aren't following EASY strictly at the moment although I really want to get back into it as I know it will benefit him)

Wake - between 4.30/5am (leave in cot until 6am)
E - 6/6.30am
A
S - 7 - 8.30am
E - porridge and yoghurt
A
S - 10.30/11am (40 min nap)
E - bottle
A
E - lunch solids
S - 1/1.30pm (90 min nap usually)
A
E - 5.30 dinner solids
Bath and bottle etc 6.30pm
BT between 6.30/7pm.

He doesn't wake (as far as I know before 4.30/5pm)
I think my problem is his awake times aren't long enough and the awake time before bed is too long but he gets so tired from his early waking that it is really difficult to settle him for naps if the awake time is too long and as of a month ago he has flat out refused to nap after 3pm. He is a very alert baby - I think a cross between a sensitive and spirited baby in the sense that he gets easily tired and OS but he is very easy going generally so I definitely wouldn't describe him as a high needs baby. I would really really appreciate some advice as to how to get out of this cycle and get into a routine that gets him the sleep he needs. Also, any advice on how to settle a sensitive baby for naps would be great and how to increase awake time. Thanks so much in advance.

[lily_layne]

Has he ever done an 11/12 hour night or has he always tended towards shorter nights? He's actually getting a fairly decent amount of sleep over 24h so I think maybe he just isn't tired enough to sleep longer than 430/5. Have you ever left him longer than 6 to see if he'll go back to sleep?  If he would (even if it was closer to 7) it would get you a later start to try shifting things from.

I think before we start trying to shift things, wake to sleep may be worth a shot. Basically go in about an hour before he wakes (so I'm thinking it would be 9 hours from when he went to sleep) and stroke his cheek or back until he stirs slightly (but doesn't wake fully). This should reset the sleep cycle and help him get past 10 h. It usually takes 3 days to work.

[Harrysmum2015]

Thanks so much for your reply. He went through a period of doing 6.30pm until 6.30am before the 4 month sleep regression but that was with one night feed so I guess that was an 11 hour night rather than a 12 hour. He does seem to lean more towards a 10/10.5 hour night at the moment so maybe it's a case of pushing bedtime back but then I have the problem of him being OT before bedtime. He did actually sleep in until 5.35am this morning after going down at 6.30pm so that's a massive positive. I'm going to stay at my parents for 6 days from today so that is bound to unsettle things for a few days but I will try to wake to sleep when things have settled and keep you updated with progress. Thanks again for your help and reassurance that he's getting a decent amount of sleep over 24 hours - I do worry he isn't getting enough as he seems tired a fair amount of the time

[lily_layne]

Yay for an 11 hour night! Sometimes going someplace new and getting off routine can reset things. My fingers are crossed that it will work for you!

If your parents are willing to help, I would try pushing BT a bit later. It can be a bit easier to keep a babe up when there's other people around to entertain him and give you a break if it goes badly. You may get an OT waking earlier in the night with a later BT but hopefully it would push that WU later.