DS ready for daylight savings? or EW?

[aMei]

Hi! I'm seeking help in figuring out if my DS has just changed his wake up time or it's EW? He is 8 months old. He used to wake up 7-7:30am, but now he wakes up around 6am. Bed time is still the same at 7-7:30pm. For example, last night he went to bed at 7:30pm, fell asleep around 7:45pm. He refused his df and stayed awake for about an hour. (This was the first time he has ever refused the df.) Then he woke up at 6am. So, he only got about 9 hours of sleep for the night.

Here is his typical EASY (give or take 30 min):

wake up 7-7:30am
E-7:45am
A
S-10am

E-noon
A
S-3pm (1.5-2hrs)

E-5pm
A
S-7pm
df at 10:30pm

I've continued the df, because he refuses to nurse again before going to sleep.

He has been waking up around 6am for almost 2 weeks now. When he first started, he would fall back asleep and not wake until closer to 8am, but he has not fallen back asleep this week. I've tried putting him to bed 30min earlier and later, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Developmentally, he recently started pulling himself up into standing and just started cross-crawling. He has no teeth and with the refusal of last night's df, I'm wondering if he's teething?

Or, is he just ready for daylight savings?

Either way, should I be putting him to bed earlier around 6pm, since he's waking up early now? What else should I do?

[~Sara~]

How are his naps?  Does he need to be resettled at all for them, or does he do 1.5h-2h naps without waking?

Does he in fact take 2x2h naps each day?  I ask because he might be getting too much daytime sleep, or he might need an A time increase.

Before the EWs started happening, did he always sleep 12h at night?

[aMei]

He almost always naps for 1.5-2h without waking. He'll jolt, but will settle back by himself. Once in a long while, he will wake after 45 min or so and cry really hard for about 30 min. With sh/pat, he will resettle for another 45 min. Most of his naps are 1.5h.

He is always whining to go to bed by the end of his A times, so I'm not sure if he'll be able to go for a longer A.

At night, he sometimes will wake for a little before/after df, but usually will settle back to sleep within 30 min. Lately, he seems to be waking more before/after df and stays awake for about an hour. So, he was getting about 11 hours at night. Now, he seems to be getting less than 10 hours.

[~Sara~]

He is always whining to go to bed by the end of his A times, so I'm not sure if he'll be able to go for a longer A.

Hmm, I think it might be time to try it, though...how about at bedtime?  That's a really short A time in between when his 2nd nap ends and bedtime.  He might be waking for so long because he's undertired...which can also cause EWs.  What if you just started there, getting him to bed at 7:30 or 8pm?

My DS was/is an 11h night sleeper so we just naturally ended up with longer days/shorter nights.  We got up to 13h days/11h nights, and that's fine.  Many babies aren't 12h night sleepers, so the routine has to be adjusted accordingly.  As a starting point, I always like to adjust the daytime routine/nap lengths to optimize night sleep.  Night sleep always wins

If the longer A time before bed doesn't work, then I think the next step will be to increase his A times across the board and making sure his naps aren't longer than 1.5h each (so that his naps aren't robbing his night sleep).

How does that all sound?

[aMei]

I've been thinking that his last A time of the day was a bit on the short side. Before he started waking around 6am, he would wake up around 7am whether we put him to bed at 7pm or 8pm, so we tried to get him to bed closer to 7pm, so he could get as much sleep as he needed. But now that he wakes around 6am, I will definitely try to extend his last A and see if that helps. Thanks!

My other question is that DS is generally content when he wakes up, in that he doesn't make much noise. He just moves around a little playing with his lovey. I think sometimes I don't hear him until at least 30min later, so that I don't really know when he wakes up. I don't like going in to check on him, because the checking is what actually wakes him at times. Not sure if there's any way around this though. Is there?

[aMei]

Another question: As we push his bed time later, should I delay his df also or keep it at 10:30pm.

[~Sara~]

Hi there...I'm sorry I didn't get back to you.  I would say to keep the DF at 10:30.

How have the past couple of days been?

[aMei]

It's hard to say....he's been teething. He got his first tooth! But, he also has a cold. So, his sleep has been wonky. He went to bed at 8pm and woke up at 6:20am this morning. Also, he's having trouble with naps again. He hasn't had trouble with his naps for a while now, but has been waking up after 30-45min during his naps. We're hoping it's just teething or difficulty breathing because he's congested. :/ Or, do babies around 8 months have trouble with naps again?

[~Sara~]

I always found that when my DS had a cold or was teething (before he was 1yo), he would take 45ish minute naps.  He wasn't in a ton of pain or discomfort, but just enough to not let him settle back to sleep.  I tried pushing A times, but that only led to a very, very UNhappy OT short nap...so...that could be what's happening with your little guy.  Maybe give it a couple of days and see if it gets any better.

If he's just really hard to settle for his naps or doesn't take long ones--and you don't think it's due to teething or his cold--you could try giving him more A time.  He could be ready for an increase if it's been a few weeks since the last one.

[aMei]

After daylight savings, ds has been waking up at 7:30am whether he sleeps at 7pm or 8pm. In the last few days, he's also not had a short nap, so I'm hoping everything is getting better. Thank you for all your help!

[~Sara~]

Fabulous!  Long may it continue!