Support and Chat thread for parents of Early Waking Toddlers #2

[anna*]

Personally, I always medicated if I had the smallest suspicion that teeth were bothering him - sleep was bad enough without having teething pain thrown in there too.

[*Liz*]

I often use homeopathic remedies in the early stages of teething when I'm 'not sure'.

Bedtime resistance is often OT here 

[Tweakster]

We had a NW too...around 1 or 3 - DH got confused about what time it was at, he has the clock on his side.  It didn't last long, but there it was.  And he was up early again, not sure exactly what time but we turned the monitor on at 5:30 and there he was already up and chirping...at least not crying, guess he found his new toys.

So...I should do Camilia and earlier bedtime while these teeth are looming??? 

[alexr]

I thought I had posted my message a few days back but think in my tired state I may not have posted it as thought!

My LO is 17 months old and is an early waker of note. He is not teething right now so I know this is not causing his 4 am wakes!

For the past few months, Luc has only had one nap a day (anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hours). He is ready for bed between 6:30 and 7 each night. It doesn't matter if I make his bedtime earlier or later, he is awake a ready to go by 5:30 at the latest. It is very rare that he sleeps a full 12 hours a night (actually, I can't remember the last time he did). 10.5 is more the average. The problem is is that he is sometimes so tired in the morning that he falls asleep. If he does, we make sure to wake him after 5 to 10 minutes. If he sleeps in the morning, we sometimes struggle to get him to sleep in the afternoon. I have tried pushing his one nap a day to 11 and sometimes that works.

When he does wake early, I try not to take him out of his cot before 6 am. I wonder if part of the problem is that he has a bottle once he comes into our room?

At this point, I would just love him to have that extra hour so that he can make it to his afternoon nap. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

[anna*]

Alexr, what happens when Luc wakes in the morning? Do you go straight in to him? Is he happy/crying? Do you feed him right away?

[alexr]

He usually whines on and off for awhile. My husband and I will go in after awhile settled him back down without saying anything. This will keep him quiet for awhile. And then he starts up again. I try not to go in before six so if he is up at five thirty, he has to content himself in his crib until then. Only if he really starts to cry (not the complaining cry) while I go in. I only feed him once he comes into our room. Any thoughts on what to do?

[anna*]

I would try to hold off on his bottle until 6.30 or even 7am - whatever you want your eventual wake up time to be. Is his room really dark, could it be the early morning light waking him? What is his routine like?

[alexr]

We have had two good mornings in a row! I don't know what we have done but he has slept into until 6:45. I think I will take your advice and hold off the bottle until then.

He has black out blinds in his room so it is quite dark. Plus here in Singapore the sun only comes up after 7 so it is dark outside when he wakes.

His routine is:

Up between 5 and 6
Followed by a bottle
Breakfast between 7 and 8 depending on the time he wakes up
Lunch between 11 and 12
Nap (depending on when he is up in the morning) starting between 11:30 and 13:00, sleeps 1.5 to 2 hours
Dinner between 5:30 6:00
Bottle at 6:45/7
Asleep between 7 and 7:30

The above is fairly consistent.

[anna*]

The other thing you could do is to try an earlier bedtime on the days when he wakes up early. If he wakes up at 5.30am, a 7pm bedtime is really too late, I would aim to have him asleep for 6.30pm latest on those days.

[alexr]

Good point. I will try that today. He woke up at 5:50 so I actually feel like he slept in! Thanks again for all your support : )

[finlays mam]

hi everyone..

I haven't been on here in a long long time although i do have a little look in when i have 5 minutes

Finlay is nearly 4 and for the last however many weeks has been waking as early as 0450 the latest being 0545.... we are on our knees by 10am... he goes to bed at 8pm is at nursery 3 days per week....... we have tried late nights, naps during the day, he has a clock to tell him it's still night time but that doesnt stop him from getting up.  He will not stay in his room and play because his tummy is 'shouting' for breakfast and he won't go back to sleep in our bed although admittedly thats because i have never encouraged it thanks to the BW ...we have tried late supper to keep him going a little longer.

ok ladies.....what do i do now?

i have tried wake to sleep....but that hasnt worked either!!! anyhow...HHHEELLLPPPPPP...anyone?

i would love to hear from anyone with any suggestions.

thanks

D
debbie

[Bensmama]

My 18 month old boy has been sleeping through the night since about 6 months and waking between 6 and 7:30.  In these past 2 weeks he has been waking in the night screaming for me at various times.  This week it has developed into waking between 4 and 5 in the morning, screaming and not going back to sleep.  My husband is the one who attends to him at night because I'm pregnant.  He leaves him for a while and listens to his cries.  He has gone in a few times to give him medicine and some water to wash it down, which has sometimes settled him down to sleep.  I think it was just because it was sweet and he got something, not because it helped with any pain.  We have tried giving him pain reliever before bed and it hasn't stopped the wake ups.  He was checked twice by the dr. and is fine.  It is pitch black in his rrom, white noise.  He has 1 nap a day, 1-3 pm, which he had before he even turned 1.  Maybe shorten the nap?  Later bedtime?  I read the post about a later nap and bedtime.  It's hard to do when they wake at 4:30 am.  I just let him have a 25 minute am nap to take the edge off.  Any ideas of what could be happening and what I should try?

[annette.xx]

so does he still go bed at 7pm?

just wondering if maybe 4 hours A time before bed is a bit too short for him and is cutting into night sleep?

have you tried getting him down for the nap at maybe 12.30 until latest 2.30 - I do 2.30 latest and my dd is 17 months - I find any later in the day really affects her night sleep - her bedtime is 7.30 and her wake time (on a good day!!) is 7am...

If he has been on one nap for 6 months already then maybe it could be that he is ready to cut down the nap length slightly - but I would try the slightly earlier nap first and go from there...

ideal A time after a pm nap would usually need to be at least 5 hours for them to be tired enough for a decent night sleep - some need even longer - my dd can do up to 6 hours after pm nap. But be careful not to stretch day out to a later bedtime cos if you make day longer than 12.5 hours then you may get into OT zone - this is why I say maybe try an earlier nap. at this age I find that dd's set naptime works a treat - I never vary the time it is always at 12.30 even if she wakes at 5.30/6! this way she just adjusts her sleep needs herself and goes back to waking at a more sensible time!! I think sometimes an extra little catch up sleep can make it very tricky to get back on track....but then thats only what I find myself!!

hope this helps a little??!! hope it hasnt confused you further!!

is he due any more teeth - does he have the canines yet? canines are a nightmare with my dd - makes her extra grouchy and tired...

Annette.xx

[Bensmama]

Thanks Annette!  That really helps.  I hadn't though of the A time needing to be longer before bed.  I will try to have him down by 12 or 12:30 and up by 2 or 2:30 pm.
I'll have to check on those canines tomorrow am.

Thanks again!
 C 

[saltyqueen]

Hi ladies,

Can someone please summarize for me the BW rules relating to correcting EWs? I realize that every child is different, but what are the suggestions repeatedly made to moms on this site? Some are obvious, like getting black out shades. But what about the timing of the nap, the length of the nap, the A time on either side of the nap, the timing of bedtime, the total number of hours between wake up time and bedtime - Are there some standard recommendations that are made with each of these issues? If someone could summarize the Correcting EWs Guidelines, I'd really appreciate it, and I bet it would help a lot of other moms, as well.

Thanks very much!!!