How do I stop 5am wake up?

[Vally]

My LO is  6 months and for the last week has been waking at 5am. He doesn't seemed distressed, just kind of moaning and sometimes babbling, he generally goes back to sleep after 20 mins.

He used to sleep to 6.30am/7am so not sure what is happening. Can anyone advice?

Routine this week

5am wake but back to sleep
6.30am wake and play in cot
E 7am
A
S 9.30 45-1.5 hours (usually 45 mins)

E 11am
A
S This can vary depending on last nap, usually around 1pm for 45 min

E 3pm
A
S cat nap usually at around 4/4.30ish

bath at 6.30pm, bottle then
bed at 7pm

Is this EW at 5am to do with his last cat nap?

[marlowsmom]

I am have the same exact issue.   My DD is the same age and has the same schedule that you have.    Take a look at my thread I have going with Jane.   6.5 month n/w     She suggested to me that I need to start dropping the catnap.   We have only just begun on my issue.   She also suggested that I go 2.45 hrs btwn naps.   

[Vally]

Marlows Mum

I have just seen your thread and yes I can see that we are in exactly the same position with similar schedules. I think that I will def try extending his A time to see if I can drop the cat nap to stop this 5am business.

All4finn - I agree - 6 months certainly seems to be full of trials!!!

We are all in the same boat so let's hope we all find some success. I can't help but thinking I will be posting on here trying to work what to do when he is 16 years lol!!!!

You must let me know what works for you both.

Vally - aka Emma

[MommytoJashn]

Make it the four of us .  Have the exact same issue!!!
She was waking at four I tried w2s butnow we are waking at five  now I have run out of ideas!
Struggling with 45 min naps ! The worst thing us even the first nap of the day is down to 45 mins which is a first in all these months !

[Vally]

MommytoJashn

I expect there are many of us out there. Yes, 45 minute naps on my list. In fact, I am going to list all my current issues and I bet you have probably experienced these too:

 - 45 minute naps resulting in being quite OT all day
 - unsure about whether to drop cat nap at end of day or not
 - waking at 5am
 - stinking cold
 - teething
 - suddenly hates being undressed, dressed or generally lying down right now
 - sometimes refusing solid food
 - unable to self settle for naps after previoulsy being able to self sooth really well
 - being generally really needy in the day when previously quite content

I am sure there is probably more!!!

XXX

[marlowsmom]

I started looking for an answer on this thread ... 6.5 month consistant n/w - need help     
I read all 6 pages.   That mom was told to increase her A time to  2.45 hours.     She was able to use W2S to wittle down two of the three NW though.   
According to Jane is takes at least 4 nights of W2S before it may start to take effect.     
Jane had the mom go in one hour before the usual wake time but I seem to remember Tracy saying to go in about 30 min before the usual wake time.  Tracy says
the human sleep cycle is 20min light sleep (starting from the moment the eyes are closed) then 20 min deep sleep and then 20 min of light sleep and so on.
I thought that since the baby is waking then she is in a light sleep stage so therefore we need to go in during the deep sleep cycle which would be about 30 min before.
I am no expert so I suggest looking it up in the book.   

Jane also said the EW is the result of needing more A time during the day.    She also suggest reading   Is my baby ready for more A time  (below link)
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64158.msg476652#msg476652
If all of our babies are 6.5 months old then Jane (shes a mod by the way) suggests that we will have to start cutting out the catnap.   She also had the mom give her baby 3 hrs of A time by 7months.     I hope that helps.
Vally- My LO had a stuffy/runny nose so I give her saline nasal spray about 15 min before bedtime.  I let it sit about 1-2 min then suck out whatever I can with the bulb.

[CuddleBaby]

I'm still trying to figure out what to do when baby wakes at 5:30 and poops. She can't sleep like that, but changing the diaper is so stimulating it's almost impossible to get her back to sleep! BTW, same problem at 5 mths, along with many other sleep issues...

[marlowsmom]

Lisadallen,
I've had that one.   Just have to wait it out.   Is you LO eating yet?   Bananas will cause constipation if too many are eaten.   Maybe if you give your LO some bananas once a day for a day or two it might change the poop schedule.   Just a thought.

[Vally]

All4Finn

I am exactly the same with inconsistent A times. The morning nap for us is also usually the best so it is always frustrating when this one is short.

Today I went with the usual 2.5 hours A time and he did 1.5 hour nap which was great. The other 2 naps were 45min but that was ok. Yesterday though I put him down after 2.5 hours and only got 30 mins???

I am going to stick to 2.5 for a week and see what happens.

[marlowsmom]

I'm with you on the inconsistent A times.  I have to get my 3 yr old to preschool by 9am so when my LO has varying wake up times in the morning it makes it difficult to get in a good nap.    When she was waking at 630am it was perfect; I'd get her home by 915am and she was in bed asleep til 11am.    Now she wakes anywhere between 5 and 6 am.  Lately, its been between 530 and 6am and she always wakes up quietly so if I'm asleep I don't hear her.    I woke at 550am because my 3yr old was crying.   I saw my LO on the video monitor that she was wide awake, but quiet, so I have no idea when she woke up.   Which means I have no idea when to put her down.   I guessed she woke between 530 and 545 so the best time to put her down would have been 815 to 830 but I have to leave to be at the preschool by 9.    She is OT when I get home and only slept 45 min.     ARRRGH!    
She should've taken at nap at 1230pm but refused to go to sleep so I popped her in the car.  I went to get my 3 yr old early in an attempt to get my LO home by 1pm so she could take a nap within the 2 hr 45 min window.  She pooped while in the car which was the reason she wouldn't take a nap.    I got her down but she only slept 30 minutes.   WHY!!!!???    Now she is on a blanket on the floor with toys around her and she is just plain grumpy.   I've got my last shot at getting her to take a long nap coming up here.  I may have to try to hold her thru the transition period during her  nap.   She doesn't lightly wake up; its always BOOM her eyes open up and she's awake.    I just wanted to vent.



    

[Vally]

Well my morning is going not great either although thought it was going to start of well.

After waking at 5.30am he went back to sleep after 20 mins of babbling and then woke again at 7.30am. Great I thought and he seemed in a really good mood. So I thought I would aim for 2.5 A time and therefore got him down to nap at 10am. Well he woke after 30 mins, I tried to resettle but he was wide awake and seemed very happy. Well with 20 mins he was so grumpy I couldn't do anything with him ( could be his teeth, not sure?) so gave him some pain meds. He still was just so unhappy and rubbing his eyes so I decided to cradle him and his eyes started to shut so by 11.15am I put him back down for a nap.

What was this about? Do you think he was UT when I put him down at 10am or OT? He did yawn twice at 9.30am but thought should wait until 10am. Do you think I should have put him down at 9.30am when he started yawning although it was only 2 hour A time?

I am finding him really demanding right now as he just won't seem to play for long on his own and just seem to constantly have to hold him. He is not usually like this.

[MommytoJashn]

We are having an unusually good day , but the A time is really wonky , wondering whats happening , This morning she was sleepy at 2 hour mark and was fast asleep by 2 hrs 10 mins . slept for 1.5 hours , then again played for 2 hrs 20 mins and slept for 1.5 hours ,when she was doing 2.30 mins to 2.45 mins usually all these days
she is  now playing , and its just about time for the evening nap.
last night was also slightly better, was able to re-settle with only Shh pat , and didnt have to AP her to sleep.

Wondering what the night will bring ! i feel so out of control !

Richa

[okinawamama]

how encouraging (yet semi discouraging) to hear we are all in the same boat.

My son too wakes early and then falls back asleep. He too takes a cat nap (can we still call it a cat nap if that's the length of ALL their naps) around 3-4. Since it's not that late, do you still think that's what is causing the early waking? And if so, how do you get rid of a cat nap when they're naps are so short? It seems like we need at least 3 naps a day. Also, do you vary their awake time based of the previous nap? IF he has a short nap I only keep him up for about 2 hours, which throws our whole schedule off. Also, if I'm putting him in bed and it's taking him 10-15 minutes to fall asleep, is he UT? Is everyone shooting for around 2.5 hours A time, I just don't know what to do

[marlowsmom]

I've had a bad morning.   She woke at 5am and I fed her and put her back down at 745am.   Which is exactly 245 of A time.  She still woke after 30 min.  UGH.   We got up, took the 3 yr old to school, came back and she was tired.   Went upstairs and she had some more BF since she didn't eat that much at breakfast.   She finished and by that point she had been up for 2 hours.   It took me 20 min to get her to sleep.   I put her in the crib sleepy but awake and the crying started.   She wants to be held.   I waited and watched her on the video monitor.   She rolled around and tried to get up on all fours.   Her cries got panicky so I picked her up but she didn't want that either.   She calmed enough to put her back in the crib where she rolled and fusses some more.   She didn't want to be held, patted, or anything so I stood there just out of eyesight and waited.   After 5 min she got still.   She fussed on and off for the next 10 min.   I'm going to go back up there and wait for the fist sign of movement and see if I can extend her nap.   

[marlowsmom]

Okinawamana,
What is his bedtime?   What if you made his bedtime a bit earlier?