5:30 am wake-up for 6.5 month old!

[Ollie76]

Hi ladies,

I am in need of some advice here.  My LO has been waking up at 5:30 for the past 5 days.  She typically sleeps from 7:30-7:00.  We "plug" her once/night at 5:30 and then she goes back to sleep until 7:00.  But...the past few days she can't seem to fall back asleep.  Yes, she is working on her first tooth - but it has finally broken through so I'm concerned that we are getting into some kind of habit.  Here's my schedule right now (and yes, I probably should be putting her to bed earlier right now, but I'm concerned that it might reinforce more early wakings).

5:30/5:45 wake
8:30 - sleep
10:00 - wake
1:00 -r sleep
2:45 - wake
5:00-5:30 - catnap
7:30 - bed

Should I get rid of the catnap?? 

If this keeps up, I might have to do some pick-up/put-down....really trying to avoid that right now. 
Your help is so appreciated!

[mmom]

You might be in that phase where the LO is not ready for 2 naps, but the cat nap still causes problems.  Is there any way you can push out the first A and try 2 naps?

Are there any other teeth looming?  My LO got 2 in a row and that definitely effected EWs.

[Ollie76]

Thanks.  Do you mean make it longer than 3 hours?  I don't normally keep her awake 3 hours but I have been this week (with the EWs).  I could try.  I don't see/feel another tooth - but that doesn't mean that there isn't one there!  I'm hoping for a better night tonight...

[mmom]

A lot of moms put their Los down for naps at the preferred wake up time.  In other words, if your desired wake up time is 7, then sometime between 9:30/45.  This is not very BW, but some chose to do it when attempting to eliminate EWs.

I hope you had a better night.  EWs can be brutal.  We get EWs often and I always just leave my LO until it is time to wake up.  He never screams though.  He just plays in his crib.  What does your LO do when she wakes?

[Ollie76]

Interesting.  So, they would keep them up past the 3 hour mark then....hmmm....something to consider.  But, my LO  can barely handle 2.5 hours so I don't know if I could swing it  

So 5:50 was our wake up today - a little better but still not where it used to be.  I WISH she would just lie there, but, no, she usually cries at first, we go in and give her soother and then she lies there and looks like she's trying to sleep.  She cries out every 5 minutes for about 10 minutes and then eventually she ends up in full blown tears.  She has been so grumpy all day. 

I just don't know what to do now - I am wondering about that other tooth though...

So, when your LO does EWs, does he usually sort himself out after a few days?

[mmom]

You don't want to hear about my LO.   Unfortunately, I have early risers.

Have you ever tried a dream med?  It depends on how your LO sleeps.  Mine sleeps on his belly, so I haven't been able to get it.  But DS #1 sleeps on his side, so when teething was bad, I would go in to his room in the middle of the night and slowly quirt meds into his mouth.  He would just suck them back.

I do think it is important to be consistent with how you handle EWs.  If you always to in and say do PU/PD, your LO will realize it is not time to get up. But if sometimes you get her, sometimes you try feeding, sometimes AP, etc., it will be confusing.  KWIM?

[Jen114]

Have u checked what time sunrise is in your area? Just a hunch ?

[*Kara*]

I am right there with you!  But, we have been up at anywhere from 445-545 for the last 2 months!  Ugh.  I had hoped it was development/milestone related but it will not go away   I am really thinking it is just habitual and may give W2S a try - though I am scared that I will wake her!

(((((HUGS)))))))

A lot of moms put their Los down for naps at the preferred wake up time.  In other words, if your desired wake up time is 7, then sometime between 9:30/45.  This is not very BW, but some chose to do it when attempting to eliminate EWs.

Kara - I might give this a try.... I kept Alexandra up as long as I could this morning after a 445 wakeup... but she was cooked by 8am... poor monkey was ready for a nap by 7 and I felt terrible keeping her up...

[Ollie76]

Ok so my last 2 days have been like this:

day 1:  2 - 1.5-1.75 hour naps and 1 catnap - wake-up 6:00 a.m. (which is a lot better) and happy.  I kept thinking that she got enough sleep and that the catnap might need to be dropped in order for her to sleep any longer (I'm not complaining just trying to get her back to normal) so....

day 2:  I kept her up for 3 hours before each nap - she had 2 amazing naps and didn't need a catnap.  I was thrilled but, guess what?  She was up at 4:45!!!!  I gave her meds and had to do some AP (which I don't normally do) but I didn't want her to wake up her sisters.  She was miserable but eventually feel back asleep until 7:15- which doesn't happen much these days. 

mmom:  I really started thinking about giving her meds in her sleep - b/c something tells me she's not 100%.  She does have reflux too - so maybe that's acting up.  I'm going to give it a try tonight.  I'm not sure what to do about the catnap.  She always takes a few days to adjust whenever I change her schedule. 

Jen114 - I was wondering about the sunrise - so we made the room extra dark a few days ago...wish that was the answer

Kara - I can't believe you've been dealing with this for so long!  It's driving me bonkers!!  I end up waking up t 5:00 regardless if she's awake yet!!! And my 3 year old hears the baby crying and wakes up early too!!

[mmom]

Hmmm...if she has reflux, have you introduced any new foods?  Has she gained weight and maybe needs a med increase?

[Ollie76]

yes, new foods but she seems ok for naps.  But, she is a very big girl and might need a med increase.  Has been spitting up quite a bit (often 1 hr after eating).  She is on a high dose as it is but I will be seeing her pediatrician on Tuesday so I'll ask him- good point.  Thanks.

[Ollie76]

So I'm realizing that I can't do much to change these EW   5:15 today...but, I just gave her her soother and she stayed in bed until 6:45.  I am so used to waking up now that I couldn't help but watch her on the monitor.  She pretty much tossed and turned for at least an hour!!! She didn't cry - just looked like she was trying to go back to sleep but couldn't. ?  This was better than usual - where she would start crying 1/2 hour later - but why isn't she going back to sleep? 

[*Kara*]

If I knew the answer to that question, I would be a very wealthy woman

I suspect it's a biological reason for her inability to fall back to sleep... sleep hormones levels do drop off significantly after 4am... when she has a brief awakening at 5am, she doesn't have the biological motivation to fall back to sleep. 
We were up at 455am today... ugh.  DD was done by 630 and had a one hour snooze on me while I watched TV... she literally passed out while sitting on my lap and reading a book!  I couldn't bear to lug her upstairs so I just laid down with her and we both slept for a much needed hour.  Needless to say, our EASY is shot for the day.  She is now napping again in her crib (but I had to rock her - I HATE TEETHING!!!)... it's 1030am.  Gonna be a weird day around here!

Sounds like we just both have early risers... somehow we have to find a way to become early risers ourselves!

[mmom]

Ollie, it is a restless time of day for many LOs.  If there is anything off (teething, discomfort, too hot, too cold, etc.), LOs have difficulty settling.

Since you mentioned reflux, I am inclined to think that there is some form of discomfort at this time.

[Ollie76]

*kara* that is EARLY!!!  I don't know how you made it through the day.....
mmom - we are seeing our ped/gastro today but she seems pretty happy most of the day and she's on the max dose of her meds so I don't know what he'll say.  I'm starting to wonder if we have some sort of habit forming though. Do you know of anyone having success with w2s?  She woke at 5:15 again on the nose. 

She stayed in bed until 6:00 but was also starved when I came in!  We don't have a dream feed anymore (and haven't for over a month) but maybe she's hungry?  She's on a specialized formula for her MSPI and is eating solids 3x/day.

Thanks for your help...