11 week old waking at 5:30 every morning...need advice.

[carlicost]

For the last two weeks or so my 11 week old has begun waking at pretty much exactly 5:30 every morning.  At first I thought he was waking due to gas as his previous feed was at 4 and he doesn't burp very well.  He will fuss and then start screaming and crying.  After never being able to get him to burp and by better learning his cues, I've decided he is just habitually waking.

For the last two nights I have set my alarm for around 4:45 and tried to gently rouse him.  Both times he rouses but doesn't really fall back to sleep and then wakes at 5:30.  When he does wake I usually pick him up and sshh/pat him.  He quits crying but doesn't fall back to sleep.  The only problem is that he is ready to eat again around 6:30-7 so he doesn't settle before it is time for him to eat again.  I'm worried that by feeding him then that I may be reinforcing his behaviour, although he still has to wait at least an hour to eat.  Not sure what to do!?!?

A little background...he is on a 2:30 hour EASY routine as I have been trying to stretch it to 3 hours but our daytime schedule makes it difficult as he only sleeps for 30 minutes and wakes an hour before he is scheduled to eat so I have a hard time holding him off.  He is happy and content after his catnap but it is tough to try to maintain a routine when he is short napping.  That is a whole other issue however that I need to figure out through the naps board.....

I can provide any other schedule info that is required....if anyone has any ideas!
Thanks!

[anna*]

Oh those early mornings are hard (((hugs)))

Couple of thoughts. Perhaps you are rousing him too much? Could you just gently stroke his cheek, just enough that he sighs and moves, but not open his eyes?

If you can, I would definitely keep shh-patting until 6.30, then starting the day. If he is calm, the room is dark he may doze off and will start getting into the habit of sleeping later. When 6.30 comes around, turn on the lights, unswaddle to signify 'now it is the morning', then feed.

HTH

anna
x

[Vicku]

Agree fully with anna. When doing W2S for some babies it is enough to just walk into the room to disrupt their sleep cycle enough for it to work. It can be very individual from babe to babe. what to look out for is a change in breathing, or movement, but not actually waking them. Good luck!

[carlicost]

Thanks for the advice...I will continue to try that.  Was planning on it this morning, but he woke at 1:30 instead!  Just so happened that a feeding was at 5:30 so I'm not sure if he would have woken then again or not.  We had better day naps yesterday and I saw an improvement in the night sleep as a result.  He was waking evey 3 1/2 hours instead of 3.  I'll take the small victory!

[Vicku]

better naps often result in better night sleep too. hope it comtinues for you!