5:00am wakeup...

[padawan2002]

Hello.

Our 7 month DS is a great sleeper.. until 5:00am. He starts waking and babbling, mantra cry. I resist going in so I don't do something that becomes a habit.  Sometimes this goes on for 45 - 1 hr and sometimes just 15 minutes. Any suggestions on how to get past this 5:00am wakeup? I wondered about the wake to sleep or is that for younger babies?

Our routine is as follows, we try to start the day from 6:30 to 7:00am (I'd prefer 7:00am),  usually he has 2 to 3 naps a day. Morning nap is at 9:00am for 2 hours, afternoon nap at 1:00pm for 1 - 1.5 hours and sometimes a 4:00 nap if he is tired/cranky for 30 - 45 minutes. Bedtime is between 6:00 to 6:30pm. Putting him to sleep for naps and bedtime is no problem. He goes to sleep on his own. I've also tried to increase his food intake as I find when I do give him a bottle at 5:00am he does go back to sleep quicker. But I don't want him to expect the bottle at 5:00am. I've also tried to keep him up later for bedtime but that doesn't work because he starts crying and fussing and in the occasion when we did have him up until 7:15ish he still woke at 5:00am.

[james030405]

Hi,

I have been having th same problem with my lo and I tweaked my routine slightly and there has been a minor imporvement.

our routine goes as follows:

6-6:30am awake
7am bottle/breakfast
9am nap
1130am lunch/bottle
2pm:  nap
3:30pm bottle
5:30pm dinner and water
6:00pm bath
6:30pm bottle
7:00pm bed

I have made set nap times of 9am and 2pm but over the last 3 days, he has gone from waking at 5/5:30am to 6/6:30am.  I think (well I am hoping ) that it is becasue I have pushed his dinner back to 5:30pm instead of 5pm.  I have also started over the last 2 weeks giving him his bottles in the morning with his breakfast and lunch.  I never fed any earlier than 6am.  If he does wake at 5/5:30am, I give him a small amount of milk at 6am (about half of his bottle) and this ties him over till breakfast.

I don't know if this will help your lo, but this has been workig for me lately.  I hope this helps

Lisa mum to James my textbook/spirited koala

[MCGoldsmith]

Hi there...
If your intrested in wake-to-sleep, Tracey says in her 2nd book (BW Solves All Your Problems) p.283 that the method works well for both infants and toddlers. She actually uses the method for your exact same problem/scenario as an example- a 5:00am riser. Actually I am dealing w/the same problem myself with my 4 month old and have done wake to sleep the last 2 mornings with him and it has worked wonderfully,with squeaky hard wood floors none the less! I have been going in at 4:30 and waiting on him to stir before I pressed my hand firmly on his belly but when I was looking through the book about wake-to-sleep w/toddlers to write this post she says to actually go in an hour early and rub the belly, jostle him and stick a pacifier in his mouth if he takes one. (p.191). She suggested doing this for 3 days in a row.
Hope you work things out and that maybe this has been helpful.
 

[kellyhushhh]

Padawan2002 sorry didnt read your post all the way through as im on my way out but from what i read could it be that your baby is sleeping too much during the day? And really if he is sleeeping over three hours is he going to bed a little too early to expect him to sleep a further 12 hours.

Maybe try limiting his morning nap to to 1.5 hours?

Or try making his bedtime 7pm, my 6 month old was waking at 5am and i reduced his daytime naps and the last few nights he has been going to bed at 7pm ish and luckily fingerscrossed the last two mornings he has woke between 6.30am and 7am.

My ds sleeps for 1.5-2hrs in the morning, about an hour in afternoon and occasionly he will have his catnap, so he doesnt sleep more than 3hrs in the day basically.

Kelly x

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Hi Meredith! About your wake to sleep method, do you completely wake up the lo or just jostle them slightly? I was think of trying this. My lo has been waking up after 8 hours of sleep. No matter when he eats last. I think I need to adjust his internal clock.

[MCGoldsmith]

Hi.... Ok, Tracey says to "jostle him gently, rub his belly a bit, and stick a pacifier in his mouth- all of which help stir him to semi-consciousness. Then, leave." During the night time wake to sleep you actually go in an hour earlier rather than 30 minutes like the suggested wake to sleep during naps. Plus- actually this is a whole different wake to sleep any wake for a habitual waking rather than the 45 minute nap waking. Believe it or not- in my case, I was really nervous about doing this, ---and it took me several minutes to even stir my ds!!! I thought certainly that I would touch his belly and he would open eyes w/a smile ready to play.. no way! So much for dh and I tip-toeing around the house all those nights the past 4 months!  :lol:
Well, good luck to you w/little Gage. Let me know if I can help further.

[MCGoldsmith]

Oh.. btw, how old is he? For a toddler she suggests something a little different.

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

My son is 3 months old. I know, I have tried the method for 45 min naps , and I couldnt believe how knocked out he was! Did the method ever work for you? Sometimes it did for me, and sometimes it didnt. I stopped because I was going crazy setting the timer, and the anxiety almost killed me Anyway, I am going to start it again because he now stuck at 1 hour naps. Thanks for the info.