5 am wakings !ARGH! UPDATE Post 8

[Hanneli]

Hi 

PU/PD has worked great for us but for early mornings. DD keeps waking up around 5 am and it takes me about 1.5 hours to get her back to sleep (no progress in 5 days of PU/PD but less fussiness). By the time she finally sleeps it's almost time to get up again. Her sleep time is around 7/7:30 pm and we get up at 7 am. DD is little over 6 months and on "4 hour" EASY. Her (2) naps usually last 1.5 hours and she has a cat nap in the early afternoon.

Do  you have any advice? Is she possibly just an early waker? Should we start the day at 5 am? I didn't want to fight it for another 1.5 hours this morning, having to get her up 30 minutes later so I put her in the swing  so she could get some more Z's before getting up. I know, I probably shouldn't have done it.

[anna*]

Could she be waking from hunger? Have you tried feeding and then putting her back in bed?

[Hanneli]

Thanks so much for your replies

It may be it is time to cut out the catnap?

Around 6 mouths my lo drop the catnap here is a link  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=85130.0

I'm really not sure because she's still tired around the cat nap time (around 4/4:30 pm). Would it be ok if her last A time would last more than 2 hours? I think I would have to fight to keep her awake.
Her first nap is usually around 9 am and lasts 1h 20 min - 1h 40 min. Her second nap is around 12:30 (depending on how long she slept in the morning) and lasts around 1h 30 min. If I would drop the cat nap, she would be awake for about 4 hours straight.
Do you have a link about when and how to drop the cat nap? I didn't find anything.

Could she be waking from hunger? Have you tried feeding and then putting her back in bed?

I don't think she's hungry. I tried feeding her at 4 am two nights ago and she just fell asleep on my breast after few minutes of suckling. Maybe I still should try when she wakes up at 5 am?

[lilac83]

Her first nap is usually around 9 am and lasts 1h 20 min - 1h 40 min. Her second nap is around 12:30 (depending on how long she slept in the morning) and lasts around 1h 30 min. If I would drop the cat nap, she would be awake for about 4 hours straight.

You would need to start lengthening her other A times so that her A time before bed wouldn't be so long. Start off with that first A time and lengthen it by about 10/15 minutes. Keep all the other A times the same. Then a day or 2 later, lengthen the second A time by 10/15 minutes. This will have added 30 minutes to her total A time so her catnap will need to be shortened so she still has enough A time until bed. My DD was having 20 minute catnaps for awhile until she was ready to drop it completely. They drop the catnap completely when their A time hits 3 hours.

[Hanneli]

Ok I will try that. Thank you mamas 

[Hanneli]

Now my fear came to life. I've been trying to extend her A time like suggested. During her first nap she wakes around 40 minutes and goes back to sleep for another 30 minutes or so. I can't get it any longer. Her second nap is worst. She wakes up 30 minutes  (OT), goes to sleep for 40 minutes and that's it. She won't go back to sleep at all. She also completely refuses a catnap. I've even tried props to get her to nap a little. In the evening she ends up OT. She keeps waking up 30 minutes after falling to sleep and whimpers in her sleep a lot. She wakes up about every hour until her DF and then about every 3 hours max during the night.

What should I try now? I don't want to go back to where I started. 

[Hanneli]

How much should I shorten it if she napped for lets say 30 min. I know it's about reading cues but when she's OT she often doesn't show them.

Her morning nap is now bad too. She woke up after 30 minutes and I couldn't get her back to sleep so I put her in the swing now trying to save the last. She slept great last night though. I put her to sleep at 6:15 (usually it 7) and she sttn.

[Hanneli]

Thanks mama

[Hanneli]

I've used PU/PD and pat/shh trying to extend her naps but they are still 30 min. What else can I use to extend them? Can I use W2S for over 6 month old and OT? I'm putting her down to sleep earlier too but she usually doesn't fall to sleep closer to 2 hours A time.

[Hanneli]

Thank you for the quick response. 

Do you mean with the 30 min naps? Or with w2s?

Last night she fell asleep around 7:10 and had a hard time settling down. I put her to bed around 6:15. She woke up for her DF at 10:45 (that's when I usually go in) and again at 3:30. She needed over an hour to fall back to sleep.

[Hanneli]

We have multiple NW again. 

[Hanneli]

She's crying mad. It takes me at least an hour to get her back to sleep and she woke up three times. I tried feeding her because I wanted to rule out hunger but the first time she really ate was the the third time she woke up after she cried for 1 1/2 hours (I was with her trying to calm her). I'm guessing it's the OT? I know I need to get the naps under control but whatever I do, it's not working.

[Hanneli]

I gave my best tracking it.

10 Feb

A&E: 7
S: (but her down around 8:20) 8:55-9:24 tired to extend the nap but it hasn't worked

A&E: 9:24/9:50
S: 11:38 (put her down around 10) tried to extend nap

A&E: 12:08
S: 2:19 (put her down around 1:30)

A&E: 3:30
S: put her down around 4:15 but she was resisting the nap all together

A: 3:30
E: 4:30 (solids and BM)/5:30
S: 7:08


11 Feb

A&E: 7:30
S: put her down around 8:45 and she fell asleep at 9:22 awake at 9:54 (tired to extend but nothing worked)

A&E: 9:54/10:22
S: put down at 11: 00 was fussy then quiet but didn't sleep. Last fuss at 11:56 and she fell asleep short after. Tried to extend nap but nothing worked.

A: 12:31
E: around 1:30
S: 2:43-4:00 woke up multiple times but I was able to extend a little

A&E: 4:30 (solids and BM) and 5:30
S: 6:15 (I put her down around 5:50) for the night.


I've been putting her down earlier since she has bad naps and feeding are also more frequent. I also do a quick feed before I put her down for the night.

Jay, thank you for sticking with me through this.

[Hanneli]

I'm sorry. I will try to change it a little so it's easier to read.

Her naps are usually 30 minutes. Two days ago she was resisting her last nap all together and yesterday I was able to extend it to 1:12 min with many wakings in between.

10 Feb

A and E: 7
S: 8:55-9:24 tired to extend the nap but it hasn't worked (but her down to bed around 8:20)

A: 9:24
E: 9:50
S: 11:38-12:08 (put her down to bed around 10) tried to extend nap

A and E: 12:08
S: 2:19-3:30 (put her down to bed around 1:30)

A: 3:30
E: around 3:30
S: NO NAP put her down around 4:15 but she was resisting the nap all together

A: 3:30
E: 4:30 (solids and BM)/5:30
S: 7:08


11 Feb

A and E: 7:30
S: 9:22-9:54  (put her down to bed around 8:45)

A: 9:54
E: 10:22
S: around 11:56-12:31  (I put her down at 11: 00)

A: 12:31
E: around 1:30
S: 2:43-4:00  (woke up multiple times but I was able to extend a little)

A and E: 4:30 (solids and BM)
E: 5:30
S: 6:15 (I put her down around 5:50) for the night


12 Feb

A and E: 7
S: Fell asleep any time between 8:15 and 8:24 and slept until 8:47

A: 8:47
S: put her in the crib at 9:40 but resisted to sleep
E: 10:20
A: 10:30
S: 10:50-12:33

A and E: 12:33




Now I'm waiting for her to fall asleep. Let me know if this is better to read.

[Hanneli]

She's been in bed for over a hour now as is soo tired but she can't settle. I've been trying to pat/shh after she started crying but nothing. It's 2.5 hours since she's been up  .

She started going to sleep on her own, on occasions with help from me. Sometimes she would cry and after I would lay down my hand on her chest she would fall asleep straight up. Now she needs more intervention and can't really fall to sleep on her own.

I'm still not sure what temperament she is because she's such a mix of everything. I'm guessing she's a spirited textbook but it's only a guess. We have a winddown routine and it consists of going upstairs, turning on white noise, changing diaper and telling her she will be taking a nap because she's tired, swaddling, kiss and "I love you", and then I put her down.

Props only on occasions very early in the mornings when she wakes up at 4 and 5 and doesn't fall asleep anymore. I usually nurse her and put her back to the swing. It's just a last resort. I wish I could use props now to get her over OT nothing works for naps.