5 month old waking for day at 4am..help!

[evelyn]

hi there, what is a mum to do when her dd wakes up bright eyed and bushytailed at 4 am? 
This has happened the last 3 nights.  she only started on EASY and PUPDs one week ago and this was going well until today, when she was way overtired,teething and has a blocked nose.

Before starting with EASY she only napped sporadically and managed to remain content during the day.  She is bf and usually wakes for 2-3 feeds per night and goes straight back to sleep until 6.30\7am. She is a spirited baby.
 I just ignored her best i could last night as she wasnt crying just shrieking and playing,  but i couldnt possibly sleep with her awake.  She dozed for 30 mins or so only.

is she getting too much sleep on EASY? she has been having 2 45 minute naps and 1 1hr 30 mins nap in the day, retiring to bed at 8pm.

advise please!

[teezee]

could u post her routine for us to take a look?

[evelyn]

i'll do my best!  there wasnt a routine until last week!

7am...wake and feed

8am breakfast

8.30  sleep for 45mins

9.30-10.00 feed

10.30 bath(baths excite her, so she has a morning one)

11am  sleep for 1.30-2hrs

1pm feed

2pm lunch

3pm- 3.30 sleep for 45 mins

4pm feed
may have catnap here


6pm feed

daddy time

7pm pjs and feed
 7.30 wind down and bed.

dreamfeed at 10.30...only started this to introduce botle, takes 2 1/2-3oz

i didnt put in activity time, but you can insert it between feeds and naps.

she actually did well last night! she went to bed at 8pm, had dream feed and feeds at 1.30 and at 5 and slept til 7.30....she was awful tired after her extra long day yesterday!

[teezee]

i think if you extended the A time by 15 min or 1/2 hr that would solve her eating every four hrs and maybe her short morning nap..at that age my lo had A time for about 2 hrs or at least 1.75 hrs.  she is having 4 naps a day and at that age i think that is too much. how is her first feeding in the morning?? is it more or less than the night feedings?? i think you would do better with a schedule something like this (give or take 15 min either way).
7am wake and feed
8am breakfast
9am sleep
*if she wakes up early have a little A time before feeding to stretch it closer to 4 hrs...if she's ok with that and not crying out of hunger in the meantime - otherwise slowly stretch it out over a period of time.*
11am feed
noon lunch
1pm-1:30 sleep
**
3pm feed
4:30-5pm catnap 1/2 hr 45 min
wake and some low key A time
7pm pjs and feed
7:30 wind down and bed

i do know that at 5 months my lo woke up for a feeding at night..but the dreamfeed 'should' be enough.  if there are still night wakings after changing routine for a week or so, it may be something else - as i asked earlier how well does she feed first thing in the morning?? at that age my dd slept about 4 1/2 to 5 hrs for naptime total.

[evelyn]

Hi, thanks for your help!  her morning feed isnt as long as her night time feed, but she still would feed for 15 mins minimum,  she really looks  forward to her porridge and gets all excited when we go into thekitchen and sees me making it up!

Before commencing EASY last week she was a real snacker, so i thought the 3 hrs was great, should i be aiming for 4 hours now?

Her naps never total over 3 1/2 hrs a day, usually just 3 hrs.

How should i handle the situation if she wakes way too early for the day?

Should she not be having night feeds? She always takes a full feed and the wakings are at different times.  I dont mind doing them, but will be returning to work next month(yawn!)

Should i continue with the dreamfeed although it is so small?

thanks for your time!

[teezee]

i definately think that u should be aiming for 4 - tracy says 4 hr easy at 4 months...but do it slowly as she is most definately used to eating closer together!

the df - i might try to stop it and see what happens if i were you - it caused a lot of night wakings with my lo although i didn't realize it til much later than you...she also woke sporadically for feedings...but i don't think they were for feedings now kwim??! try that and see how the next few weeks go - if she is still waking there are other night weaning options you can look at.

[htoews]

Teezee,
What do you mean that the df caused the night wakings with your lo?  How were you able to realize this? My 5mth old son has a df between 10:30 - 11:00 pm then is waking at 2 am (which I don't give him a feed, just usually the paci and I'm working on s2w to elimate this) and at 4 am.  Do you think the df could be causing the 2 am waking?
Heidi

[teezee]

at 5 months my lo would wake at least once a night sometimes two and due to her reflux and me just feeling bad my dd was in pain i fed her.  then i started weaning her off of night feeds at about 6 months - i figured she was on meds for months now with no set backs it was time for us to all start getting some sleep!  the night weaning worked pretty well but i still had wakings and she was fairly easy to settle.  just out of pure frusteration b/c i couldn't think of anything else that it could possibly be - i just stopped the df one day - it was a night of desperation as the wakings were getting worse and worse - and it worked.  haven't had any wakings (except for teething... i can live with that once in awhile! ) i did it cold turkey maybe you don't want to - my lo was over 7 months at the time and i wish i would have thought of it sooner! you could wean ounce by ounce every few nights or by minutes if bfing...or you could try a bolder move like cold turkey depending on your lo's temperment!  anyway, in the beginning df's are supposed to hold of lo's a few hrs longer to help get more sleep for them and parents - tracy suggests that after about 7 months (just an estimation some need weaning sooner - some later) that it may start to create more wakings b/c it disturbs lo's sleep and they are able to hold their own for longer periods and just simply don't need it anymore.