How do I stop 5am wake up?

[okinawamama]

he is 6mo 2 weeks. He goes down for naps after a story and song. He is awake and talks himself to sleep. Bed time, we do bath, massage, bottle and bed. He will fall asleep sometimes, but awakens when I burp him and walk to his crib. He lays down completely awake. He's a thumb sucker, we went cold turkey on the paci at 3mo.

I'm still on the fence about W2S. I look forward to hearing more of your story...maybe it will inspire me

 I have tried lengthening the first awake time, and it hasn't helped yet, it only makes the rest of the day off. I will try 2hr. 45 min tomorrow, and hope that it works, can't be any worse The main reason I try for 9 is because from what I've read from sleep doctors the bodies natural rhythm wants to go back to sleep around 9am and around 1pm. From all my other friends, this is the case. The kids range from 5mo-11mo (approx 6 babies) and all of their children sleep from 9-11ish and 1-3ish, and then down at night at seven. I am the only one that struggles with sleep issues, and they all look at me like I'm crazy when I talk about awake times, OT, UT and such.

[MommytoJashn]

Thanks marlow's mummy all that info really helps, she has been on rice cereals for some time now , she used lunch on them cos i was away at work.

As she does not drink milk from a bottle , and drinks only from a spoon , feeding her milk before lunch is a real issue, have been giving her a rice cereal with high milk content. however, trying to solve this issue , will try the sippy cup with milk now that she is sitting unaided.

Okinanawa mama , last night was my third night on W2S , and i think its going really great ! , the night sleep is great ! she slept from 7:30 to 7:20 this morning without waking up , only at 3:30 i had to stroke her cheek , and lightly turn her over to her side, and she slept through the night !

i would say go for it ! , it is much better to wake up at a pre-set time than be woken up suddenly by a crying baby !
and sleep with the worry , not knowing when the LO will wakeup.

about what your frds are doing and how their kids are napping , well i get to hear the same thing , my neighbour has a kid who is 2 month younger to Jashn , and apparently sleeps the for 3 hours at a stretch in the days 2 times , at night sleeps at 10 and wakes at 5 , i am the only one doing all this stuff about UT and OT and nap times and fussing about bed time , but i trust that all the effort that we are putting will definately pay off in the long term , and am sure we would have given our kids a much better stuctured life. 

I agree with Marlows mummy, your LO needs more sleep between 3:40 and 7:00 , even if it is a short , 20 min one , will cut down the NW waking at 11:30 which could be cos of being OT. However , i think it would be good if you try
to extend this nap.

[Tweakster]

Ladies...I tried to resurrect the Early Morning Awake thread but it was locked.  I think we need a new thread for this new batch of EWakers.  I am sure there are so many others out there going through the same!

Well we had 5:30 again.  We heard him once at 2:43 (what the??) and then he got himself back down.  I heard nothing until 5:29 but can't be sure that is when he actually woke.

W2S is my last resort...don't know why I am so scared of it but I am...I have no idea what time to do it either since his wakings are not completely predictable. 

About others and their fabulous sleeping, napping babies.  Hrmmph.  I am sure that a lot of those have babies that were left to cry it out at one stage or another.  It's quite unlikely that all those babies just napped at those times and went to bed and everything ran tickety boo without any hitches.  It's possible, but unlikely I would say.

Agree with Richa and others about needing a CN or an earlier bedtime there :-)

[okinawamama]

thanks for the advice ladies!

Last night went a little better. He napped (with A LOT of AP) from 4:30-5 and then went down a 7:30. Hopefully he won't require a 40 minute car ride every time he takes that CN. He did sleep through the 11:30 waking, and then since my husband had to be to work by 4:30am I thought I'd do W2S at 4 to prevent a 5ish waking. He stirred, kind of rolled over and went back to sleep. It did work kind of, rather than waking between 5-5:15 he woke at 5:30. Does it just progressively get later and later until it phases out? My husband doesn't have to be to work tomorrow that early, and truth be told, I feel kind of silly telling him about W2S, he thinks all this business is crazy. (as do all of my other friends and family For naps when should I go in. He wakes anywhere from 30min -50 min.

We'll see how naps go. He woke for the around 6:40ish, but now is silent again and may have gone back to sleep. When he does that do you think I should let him fall back asleep or wake him. He usually does it as I'm checking my e-mail and getting my first cup of coffee.

[okinawamama]

He fell asleep at exactly the 2hr 45 min mark, crossing my fingers and hoping that maybe with a decent night under our belt naps will be better today. I plan on going in around the 30min mark and trying W2S. When you say that it takes 3 days do you mean that even though it  may not work at all during the first two days, it might start working on the 3rd day? I've done W2S in the past, with 0% success rate, but only stuck with it through the last nap on the second day. Do you think  on the 3rd day things would have started to work out? Off to shower, I have the timer set for 30  minutes, I'll let you know how it goes.

[CuddleBaby]

I'm trying to figure out why some moms are complaining about babies waking early, but falling back to sleep on their own. I wish I had that problem. My DD was 1.5 short of her usual daytime naps yesterday, and she still woke at 12, 2, 4:15-5:30 repeatedly, until my DH swaddled her fully at 5:30 and she slept until 7. She only took a 5 min catnap the evening before.

I can tell you how I extended naps, but I will note here that before I extended naps my DD was waking once a night to eat and that was it. Of course I implemented a DF during the same time I extended naps, and I kind of think that was the real problem that resulted in frequent wakings. Anyway, my DD was taking 5-45 min naps a day. I just followed the book, doing PU/PD daily on the schedule I wanted until the nap time was over, usually about 45 minutes each long nap. My goal wasn't to get her to sleep as much as it was to tell her "this is how long you need to be sleeping." It was about 4 weeks of screaming baby and crying mommy, but it worked for the most part. I still have to be available after she's been asleep for 45 min, because I may have to go pat her if she doesn't sleep through, but she goes back to sleep easily and we're on a good daytime routine now.

Anyway, I'd still like to know why my baby wants to wake from 4:15 on. My nights have totally gone out the window.

[marlowsmom]

Yesterday my LO ate a nice breakfast, lunch and small dinner solids one hour after each bottle.    She had a 30 min CN and woke at 530.   
She went to bed at 7pm and slept right thru her usual 2am feed.   HMMM.   I woke at 4am and in my half asleep state decided to go ahead with the W2S.   
I moved her as I did the night before and she woke up!   AGH!    Historically, if she doesn't wake at 2am for a feed she wakes at 4am.   
She might have been already waking up when I came in and moved her.   I'm sure she was.    Took her 30 min to put herself back to sleep and she woke at 545am.   
I'll take it since she didn't eat thru the night.     I put her back down at exactly 2 hr 45 min later and she slept from 830 ish to 1030.    NICE!     
After about 1.5 hours of A time she was rubbing her eyes but I waited the 2 hr 45 min and put her down easily.   
It is rainy here so maybe that has something to do with her being sleepy.  She slept 1 hr 45 min.

All4Finn-I think we've already started the EW thread.     I wonder if aside from teething or crawling that maybe the other reason for our EW is that they are not
getting enough food during the day.   I know that Tracy had said in the book if we, or the baby, drops a night feed then they have to get that much more nourisment
during the day.   I wonder for my LO if that is the reason that she has EW.   I wasn't feeding her enough (in the way of solids) during the day.

Okinawamama- I'm curious how the nap went?   If done correctly the W2S for night should end the EW all together.   
Try going in one hour before the usual EW time for night sleep.   That is what Tracy said in the book.   I'm going to do it again tonight.   I think my LO maybe dropping a feed too so I have double trouble.    I think you can get the nights down then the naps will improve.   
 It all depends on your baby with the W2S.    Jane the mod said that W2S has to be done for at least 4 days.   
I've tried W2S with naps with 0% success rate too in the past.   My LO had to grow out of it I guess.   If her nights are wonky then her naps are wonky too.  Don't worry, my husband, friends and family don't understand one single idea of BW.   
I'm all alone with this just like you.    At least we have this thread!

Lisadallen- Post a schedule so we can see what you have going on.   I almost implemented a DF but then I read someone elses post.   She had read other posts from Moms that implemented a DF and they started having frequent NW. 

[CuddleBaby]

Hi marlowsmom.
Here's a typical day:
Wake at 5:30, PU/PD until 6:30 (she may sleep some in there)
Nap by 8:30 (bc she's exhausted) about 1.5 hrs.
Next nap at 12:30 to 2:15.
Catnap from 4:30-5
She doesn't go to bed until 7:15.
Eat at 12 midnight. Awake at 2 sometimes, 4:15-5:30 always many times.

The past two days my DH has reswaddled (something I've been trying to wean her from) at 5:30 and she's slept until 7. I've put her down at 9:15 and she'll only sleep until 9:45. Yesterday after a short morning nap and a long PM nap, she only took a 5 min cat nap and still woke erratically during the night. Today I couldn't get her to go back to sleep to extend that first nap. DH is out of town for a few days, so I'm wondering what will happen when I take his early morning shift over while he's gone. 

[okinawamama]

Naps have gone better then normal, we have had two 1hr naps today after 2hr 45min A. The first time I set my timer for 30min and of course he woke and cried out at the 28min mark, but was able to fall back asleep completely on his own. Then at the second nap, slept for an hour all on his own.  What does  a 1hr nap mean? I plan to go out for a run and put Ambrose in the stroller and hopefully he'll take a quick CN.

Hmmm.....I did go in at the hour prior mark and he seemed to "wake" up for the W2S, but it only bought us 15 minutes. It's so hard because as of right now, he really only cries out (meaning he makes a few sqwacks but not cry) and then falls back asleep. I worry about truly waking him up. He doesn't really seem awake at the 5am EW. He occasionally does the same thing at 11:30, but that one might last a little longer, but it's totally hit or miss. He totally skipped it last night. I have never had to go to him during that one, he always falls back to sleep on his own.  

I wish I had advice, I feel like everyone has great advice for me, but I can't reciprocate. Sorry! Just hugs and encouraging words I guess! It's great to have all of you ladies. Thanks a million.

[marlowsmom]

Is she teething?   My LO isn't showing signs except she keeps chewing on a everything.    Are you giving pain meds?
Have you tried W2S?    Is she eating solids?   Is she hungry in the night?

[marlowsmom]

If he is crying out but not waking up then I wouldn't be too concerned.  If he is fully waking up then I'd do W2S.   Is he waking happy or crying from a nap?   I think his CN helped him skip that 1130 wake up.    It seems to me like you've made some progress there.    At least you got two one hour naps.   That's awesome!    I hope the next 24 hours show improvements for you.

[Tweakster]

Hi there, sometimes 1 hour is just slightly UT for some LO's...for us anyway.  Finn normally does bang on 1.5 hours when he is at the correct A time.  1 hour and I know that he was tired...but probably just bored or not stimulated enough.  It seems to be a dilemma at 6 months.  They want entertaining far more than before.

It's great that he goes back on his own though...I love it when they do that.  Makes you feel like all that shush/patting was worth something :-)

[okinawamama]

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. He fell asleep on my run and slept from 4-4:30, but didn't go down for bedtime as easy as he usually does. So today our schedule looked like...
E &A 6:45-9:30
S 9:30-10:35
E & A 10:30 -1:05
S 1:05 - 2:00
E & A 2:00 - 4:00
S 4:00-4:30
E & A 4:30-6:40
windown 6:40 -7:25 normally this would be shorter bath, massage, bottle and sleep in about 25 minutes

hopefully the night goes well. I don't think he is fully awake, I don't go to him because he's not really fully crying so I don't know if he's fully awake or not. We don't have a monitor in the room so he might be squirming around, but I don't hear him. Sometimes the 11:30 one can take him a while to fall back asleep, but I never have to help him. The 5am one is maybe 3 minutes worth of noises, but once again, have never gone in to help him back to sleep, he does it on his own.

We'll see what a decent day of naps brings us tonight. Since 1 hour nap can me slightly undertired, should I extend A time by about 5-10 minutes and see what happens, or just stick with what I've got. We've had great nap days in the past, and then it all goes to pots the next day, so I'm optimistic about tomorrow but not holding my breath

Here's to no NW and no EW. Good luck ladies!

[marlowsmom]

Good luck with tonight.   So his first A time was 2 hr 45 min, second A time was 2 hr 5 min, third A time was 2 hour.    I think consistancy is key here too so tomorrow try for 2 hr 45 min for the first and second A time.   I have a bedtime of 7pm so I put my LO down after minimum 2 hr A time for her CN and she sleeps for 30 min.     Maybe you'll get 1.5 hour naps tomorrow.    Also, let him sleep and don't try to w2S on the naps.   See what happens.   Good luck.

[Vally]

Hey

As I started the post thought I should let you know how I am getting on.

Well the EW at 5am have gone over the past few days and so has been doing 7pm - 7am most days although some 6.30am starts (I won't complain at that though!).

Naps, still fighting with short naps and have tried a number of A times and still get no further. Yesterday he went down at 2.25 hour and we got a 30 min nap. I decided to go for a long walk and got another 45 mins out of him. After reading the BW book again I have decided to get him down the minute I sense he is tired and around 9am. This morning I put him in his cot at first signs and took 10 mins to go off to sleep so A time was about 2.25 again but I am hoping that as he had a good enough wind down and time in his cot this may work. He is asleep at the moment so I will let you know later how this nap went. I am due to go out at 10ish so it would be typical for him to have a long nap now (if he does I shall leave him and be late as I am keen to see if this works) if not I will hope that he can extend his nap in the car!!

Good luck all

XX