To settle or not?

[Eva's Mummy]

My 8 month old has STTN since 6 weeks old, recently (well the past 2 weeks) she has been waking around 5:10 occassionally 3:30 or 4:15 this started happening when we came back from being away for 2 days where she didn't get much sleep. However i think that she has caught up on her sleep as she had great naps the other day but the EW are still happening.

When she wakesi leave her for a few mins to see if she will go back to sleep if not i go in and try to settle, it seems when i try to settle her it only makes her more grumpy so i end up giving her a bottle and she goes back to sleep.

I'm worried that it is becoming a habit to wake early. Do you think it is? Also should i not be going in at all to try to settle, today i left her for 20 mins before going in. She wasn't crying just chatting then moaning. I worry that if i leave her too long she might wake herself up too much that she won't go back to sleep or am i making it worse by going in when she is not actually crying?

[Erin M]

What does her daytime routine look like at the moment?  It could be that she is in need of some more A time.  It could also be teeth -- could that be a possibility?  Early wakings and teeth often went hand in hand around here. 

[Eva's Mummy]

We have 2 teeth through, 1 half way through and 1 just coming through.

Our last few days have looked like this:

EW   5:10 - 6:00   (4oz)
Wake   7:00
E   7:30   (3oz)
A   2hrs 58mins
S   9:58 - 10:20   22 mins in car
E   11:30   (6oz)
A   2hrs 34mins
S   12:54 - 13:53   1hr
A   1hr 57mins
S   15:50 - 16:15   25mins
E   16:30   (5oz)
A   2hrs 15mins
S   Bedtime bottle and asleep for 18:30 (5oz)

EW   3:05 - 3:45   (4oz)
Wake   6:45
E   7:15   (3oz)
A   3hrs 20mins
S   10:05 - 11:20   1hr 15mins
E   11:45   (6oz)
A   3hrs 10mins
S   14:30 - woke at 15:00 resettled at 15:10 woke 15:50 resettled woke 16:30   2hrs
E   16:40   (6oz)
A   2hrs 50mins
S   Bedtime bottle and asleep for 19:20 (6oz)

EW   5:10 - 6:00   (4oz)
W   7:25
E   9:00   (5oz)
E   10:00   Breakfast
A   3hrs 22mins
S   10:47 - 12:50   2hrs 3mins
E   13:00   (4oz)
E   14:10   Lunch
A   3hrs 19mins
S   16:09 - 16:46   37mins
E   17:00   (5oz)
A   1hrs 54mins
S   Bedtime bottle and asleep for 18:40 (3oz)

EW   2:55 - 3:20   (4oz)
Wake   6:05 chilled in cot until 6:40

Do you think she might actually be hungry as i only made a wee 4oz bottle for her and she drained it in seconds. Or you think maybe something else?

[scruffymax]

I personally would tend to leave her if she's not actually upset - DD went through a stage of waking early but would eventually usually go back to sleep.  I even worked out the "rule", that if she woke before 6am she'd go back to sleep, and if she woke after 6am she was awake for the day (my observation not what I enforced!)  It's really good for them to be comfortable lying in their cot, and not necessarily a bad thing to be in there awake.  Even now my DD will sometimes wake nearly an hour before "wake up" time and is happy to chat to herself without me needing to go in.

I have not at all answered you on the EASY/teeth/hunger questions I know sorry, because I don't have the answers; just wanted to reassure you it's not bad to leave her in the cot if she's not upset.

[Eva's Mummy]

I think we are a bit the same if she wakes around 5ish or before she will go back to sleep but the closer it gets to 6 the less chance there is of it.

I counted her A time from 6 this morning (when she woke) but i got a UT nap so i think if i leave her to lie in her cot i'll need to count it from when we get her up or some have suggested counting it as half time.

Just want to get to grips with these EW don't want it becoming a habit and that i feed her to settle her back to sleep.

[Erin M]

I agree with the PP about not going in if she's not crying.  Personally, I'd probably try to avoid the night feed if you can -- if she's not needed it for all these months, she probably doesn't need it now.  Your routine looks pretty good -- I'd try to avoid late afternoon naps if at all possible, but I'm guessing that one was just a one off and not part of your normal routine (as we all do have to leave the house at some point!).  I might try bumping that first A time just a touch (and count from when you get her up and add about 15 minutes and see where that gets you), but not much at all.  I'd probably blame teeth -- have you tried any meds to see if it makes a difference?