10 Month old alarm clock - 4am!!

[luppa]

Hi All,

I have posted this in 'getting back on track' too......

We have recently travelled from Australia to the UK (10 days ago) and my 10 month old baby is now waking every night at 4am on the dot. It has gone beyond jet-lag into a habit I think, and I have no idea how to break it. It didn't help that when we arrived he got a tummy bug and was off his food for nearly a week! He's all better now and eating normally but these early morning wakings are a nightmare and I do not know how to get him back to sleep. He doesn't respond to me or DH being in with him as he just gets all excited and tries to interact. This morning he has been awake since 4am and after trying to get him back to sleep by going in periodically and reassuring him, he decides it's time to do a poo, after this his tummy was grumbling so I gave him a bottle (really not happy about doing this as I feel it will only add to the habit and he didn't need feeding before we came to the UK). He took the feed but he is STILL awake semi-crying and not being able to get himself back to sleep and it's 5.30am. Another half an hour and my 3 year old DD will be awake - oh joy!

I am at a complete loss. Am I being impatient expecting him to be ok after only 10 days in the country? We are due to go back to Oz in another couple of weeks and I already know that we're going to have all of this again when we get back.

He has never been a great self-soother but he can normally get there on his own eventually. If he is only semi-crying we tend to leave him to it a bit as when we have tried to intervene in the past we have been up with him for 4 hours at a time! He has a lovey in his cot which helps a bit but clearly not enough!!!

Any thoughts or suggestions would be gratefully received 

Danielle

ps - he has finally gone to sleep after 1.5 hrs awake.......this can't go on.     

 

[Brodster'sMommy]

Hi Danielle, have you tried wake-to-sleep? I suggest this right away because I am currently using it on my LO for a habitual wake up as well. Your early wake could very well be a routine issue of some sort or even something else but my first thought would be to try wake-to-sleep. I've been playing around with it for the past few nights with my LO and have found that when I stir him 45 mins before his usual waking time, he will sleep straight through it. The timing may be different with your LO. You might have to try 30, 45, or even 60 mins. 

Also, could you post your routine in EAS format? There are some wonderfully wise women on this board who will probably be able to spot something right away. You've come to the right place for fabulous help.