early waking for 19 month old ds

[wardy]

Hi All,
My DS goes to sleep very well in the evenings.  We have a standard routine (dinner 5.30pm, bath, bottle, bed 7.30pm) and he is happy to be put into his cot (most nights) say goodnight, and fall asleep by himself.  Myself or DH sit with him for a couple of minutes and then say "you seem to be having a nice time lying down, so Mummy/Daddy will come back if you need me".  Most times that OK and he just makes some kind of brief noise, then goes to sleep.  He also sleeps through most nights (not counting teething or unwell etc).
On the days he goes to Child care (Mon-Thur) he does about 2 hours sleep in the day - from about 12-2 give or take 15-20 minutes.
On the days he is at home (Fri-Sun) he will often go to sleep before 11am and sleep for between 2-4 hours.

I know the days at kindy are wearing him out, and I am dropping a day of work soon (from 4 to 3) to reduce his time in care and spend more time with him.
The problem we are experiencing is early waking.
More often than not he is waking between 4am and 5am.  When we are lucky he will sleep until 6.30am to 7am, but this happens maybe once a week - twice if the Gods are smiling on us   Occasionally he wakes before 4am.

We have tried over time:
- not bringing him out of his cot, but sitting next to him and repeating gently - its still dark, everyone is asleep, you need to lie down and go to sleep etc.  This does nothing to calm him down, his yelling just increases - its tantrum-like behaviour I know, but it wakes the parent whose turn it is to sleep in, so we started:
 - getting him out of his cot and rocking him (not sustainable - he is heavy and I am small)
- getting him out and playing in his room until it gets light.  UNbearable for the parent who just feels sleepy, and DS is learning how to make the door open so it began turning into a long argument... no, stay in your room etc...
- getting him out and moving into the lounge room - bottle and DVD - this is obviously his favourite, and for the parent it is the easiest to take at this hour of the day!

I suspect he is OT.  Earlier bedtime?  Any other suggestions

Cheers

[sianie]

Hi!

Do you get EW's on days when he's at home or child care or is there no distinction? What time is he generally waking when you get an EW?

I would say a 2hr nap was spot on for a 19 mth old (unless you feel he is particularly high sleep needs?). I wonder whether the longer naps he is having when he's at home are making him UT?

Is his BT the same time through the week?

Is he teething at all as this can be one of the causes of EW?

When he wakes is he happy/playing or crying? This can be a good way to determine UT from OT.

[wardy]

Thanks Sian,
Last night was perfect of course   Asleep by 7pm, up at 6am. 
After I wrote this yesterday I had a look in his mouth, and yes he does have a new tooth on its way.  So you are spot on - teething at the moment.
Yesterday he woke at 4am, slept from 9.30am - 11.30am (fell asleep in his pram and I tranferred him to his cot when we arrived home from the shops).
We went out for a couple of hours after lunch to a play area in the city.
I gave him his dinner (and nurofen for his teeth) at 5pm, bath then bottle immediately, and it was about 6.15 by the time we were ready for bed.  I was going for an early night.  We spent about 40 minutes doing a "teething" version of pick-up put-down - where I cuddle him until he's drowsy before I put him back down, not just until he's calmed down), and he finally fell asleep by around 7pm, which was still early for him, as its usually between 7.30 and 8pm that he actually falls asleep.

Anyway, I was wondering if there was a distinction between his early wake-ups and the kindy days and stay at home days, and the only thing I can think of that stands out is that often on a Saturday he will sleep in for a bit longer - like today - sometimes its even closer to 7am.  THe day after his day at home with me - long sleep day... so I suspect its OT and will make more of an effort to get him to bed by 7pm for a while and see how that impacts.  Of coruse, taking into account that he is teething...

Thanks.  Will keep this up to date over the next few days.


 

[sianie]

You could try doing a meds dream feed in the early hours (around 1/2am)...use an oral syringe to administer. This has really helped my DS sleep a bit later when teeth have been bothering him.

Keep me posted! 

[wardy]

Had a long sleep yesterday afternoon - 12pm - 3.15pm.
We went to a friends place for a BBQ in the afternoon when he woke up, where he had a great time playing with the puppy and some other children.  He was in great form.
I gave him his dinner and a bottle before we left to come home at about 7.30pm.
Got him to sleep by 8.15pm.
Woke at 5am this morning in a very 'toddler' mood   DH gave him some nurofen but he just wants Mum when he's like that so I got up and sent DH back to bed.
Went for a walk around the neighbourhood just after 7am, and he fell asleep in the pram by about 8am.  He is still asleep now (9.10am).
Not a great weekend to start with the 7pm sharp bedtime!
Will try the meds at 1/2pm.  Thanks.

[sianie]

Hang in there! 

Definitely try the meds dream feed in the early hours to see if that helps. Hope you have a better day!