Hi there, my son is 16 months and have had very similar issues. Daylight savings screwed w/ us too. Okay, where to start.
I think it's good you don't give that early bottle; that was our first biggest issue. Kyler too would go right back to sleep until much later than he normally would (ie. 7-7:30 am) So i figured he must be hungry. But he was using that as a crutch to get back to sleep and eventually couldn't go bak to sleep w/out it so I had to ween that. Once I weened that the time changed and he too woke at 4:45 the first night. Then for a week or 2 it was 5-5:30. He would cry out, someitmes I would have to go in and sometimes not. Either way he wouldn't go back to sleep. So we had many 2 nap days. And actually still on 2 naps, because just in the last week-10days has he started waking at 6 am on the dot. Nap again around 9:30. We too have been struggling on the 2-1 transition. When he was taking one nap, it was wakeup 6 am, nap at 11-11:15 for only an hour-hour:15, and had to have super early bedtime, like b/t 5:30-6. 6:30 was way too late and just created more earlier waking; 5-5:30. So if he does take one nap, depending on how long it is, 5-6 hours is about as much awake time as they say for before bed. So keeping the 6:30 bedtime on an hour or less nap was probably too much. They do regress also. He was taking a good one nap but then regressed, that does happen, and then time changed just screwed things up. You figure his body thinks that 5:30 is really 6:30. So yes, eventually you'll have to push back routine, but when he's ot is not the time to start doing that. What we're doing now, is 6 am wakeup, 2 naps a day, and bedtime 6:30-7:30 depending on when wakes from nap 2. We've been doing this for almost 2 weeks now and wakeup is still 6 am. But his body might think its 7 am still, or b/c he's ALWAYS had the early wakings, I'm not sure. Can you stick w/ the 2 naps a day for now until he catches up, or will he only take one? What I did when he started waking at the new 5 am was just try to resettle, keep him in the crib, tell him it was time to go back to sleep etc. Of course he never went back to sleep, but w/in a few days got the picture that at least he wasn't getting up and eventually what happened is he would wake at that time, but I didn't have to go in. Then once he got past that would stir, but not really wake. This process took about 3 weeks before he started waking at 6. Really try to let him catch up on sleep. Overtiredness will just enforce him to the early wakings. I guess that's what happens. As for leaving for Cal., I woud work on it now and then just see what happens. As a mom, you can't really not deal with it, so keep teaching him what you want him to learn, and who knows, maybe he'll at least get the hint that it's not time to get up that early. Hope this helps, hang in there, God knows I have been struggling w/ this since birth. This is the first time in 16 months that I haven't had to get up in the middle of the night w/ mine, even though 6 am is still not where I want him to be, it's a continuous process.
lauren
