5 month old Early Wake

[Jodes112]

Hi,

I had a thread in easy forum helping me with EASY and we seem to be in a good routine right now.

The only problem we have is an EW. And its been going on since LG started sleeping through at around 3 months.

Our general day looks like this -

Wake for day 6am

E - 6.45
A - 2hrs 40
S - 8.40 - 10 (ranges from 1hr 15 to 1 hr 30)
E - 11
A - 2hrs 40
S - 12.40 - 2.15 (this one is usually a little longer 1hr30 - 2hrs)
E - 3
A - 2hrs 40
S - 4.50 - 5.15 (usually 20-30 mins)

Bedtime routine is half bottle 6.15, bath 6.30, rest of bottle 6.50 an in bed around 7.15 usually asleep with no issues by 7.30.

So over the last week, she has woke at 4am chatted for no more than 30 mins then back to sleep on own until 6am when is is ready to get up for the day. This has been the same for about the last week. Prior to this she was waking at 5am chatting for 30 mons then back to sleep until 7. And this jappens every morning.

So my first question is -  why does she wake at 4am (was 5 for a long time) and babble for 20 mins then go back to sleep?

And why the sudden shift back an hour? I mich prefferd her waking for the day at 7am!!

Any help would be great x

[PaulsMom]

Hugs Hun.  I'd say that she's ready for the 3-2 nap transition.  Here's some info on the 3-2.  All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months.  Since her a is already long, I would drop the CN and do an earlier bt. 

[Jodes112]

Really, right i will see how we go! Its hard to start it with a 6am wake up as it leaves a big stretch at tge end of the day. Like today has gone like this so far

Wu 6am

S - 8.40 - 10.10

S - 12.50 - and still asleep. So if she goes 2 hrs nap now its still only gonna be 3 ish when she wakes that leaves a 3 1/2 awake til bedtime if i put her to bed at 6.30 Do you think thats too long? Il see how she feels later and take it from there.

But if she wakes up at 7 at some point over the nxt few days i will deffo start it then

Thanks x

[PaulsMom]

Yes, it's a bit of a vicious cycle when they ew.  3.5 hrs is long but some bubs can handle a long A until bt as long as its very routine and relatively low key.  What temperament is your Lo? My dd is textbook and has handled longer As until bt without becoming overly OT.

[PaulsMom]

The other option (maybe) is to give her a feed when she wakes early and then put down down immediately.  So treat the ew like a nw and see if she sleeps longer.  If she does then do the early bt and no CN.  Would that work for you?

[Jodes112]

Cant start today, she only had an hour and 10 nap this aft so was up at 2. 2-6 is a bit too long for her i think.

First opertunity i get (where she wakes up in the morning later) i will give it a go xx

[PaulsMom]

Fx for a good night and proper wu time.  Keep us posted. X

[Jodes112]

Woke for the day today... 6am! I cant really moan as its not too bad. Would just like it to be 7! And for some reason she didnt wake at all before this (at 4) mabee thats just a fluke. We'll see xx

[PaulsMom]

6 am is not bad.  For my dd, I considered anything after 6 am the start of the day and anything before a nw.  Lets see how naps go today.

[Jodes112]

I agree it really isnt bad! But, i hve a 2 year old and as soon ad he hears her he wakes up, when he needs to sleep to 7 otherwise he is super grumpy with lack of sleep. So i can deal with it but would be great if she went a little longer xx

[Jodes112]

Good morning.

This morn we had a 5.30am wake up. I left her to see if she would re settle but she eventually got louder she was def not going back to sleep. So we got up at 6.15.

5.30 is too early. My poor son has obviously been awake since then too so he is going to be super grumpy today.

Do you think if i put her to bed later say 8, dhe would wake up later? Im not sure, as the other night she we to bed at 6.45 and wake at 6am, last night was 7.30 and woke at 5.30 this morn. Id love to start and try dropping the cat nap but i need to start on a day where she is up at 6.30 at the earliest.

Any ideas?

[Jodes112]

Grr today would have been perfect if she didnt have that early wake!

She has gone about 2hr 50 A and first nap was 1hr 15 mins second 1hr 45 mins! Obviously will have to do cat nap as its too long to go til bedtime but as soon as she stops that ew she is definatley ready to drop cat nap. Its like a vicious circle i cant drop the cat nap because of the early wake but i need to drop the cat nap to stop the early wake.... I just hope we get a decent wake up in the morning!!

[PaulsMom]

Have you considered giving her a feed at 5:30 and then putting her down?  She might sleep in a bit more for you.  Yay for the better naps but I agree that a CN would be needed.

Wrt a later bt, if she has a CN, then I would put her down a bit later but the sleep theory is that an early bt will allow them to catch up on sleep whereas this won't really happen if you do the CN and the late bt.  Some moms will do a really early bt when they drop the CN (so bt would be around 5:30 or so).

[Jodes112]

Im not sure if the feed woul work as she is so wide awake. And tends to mess with her AM bottle too. So not sure it would work. But i see your theory.

If i put her to bed at 5.30 i would worry that she still only sleep 10 hours and wake at 3.30 for the day. Would this happen or generally not?

And then how would we get rid of the ew and early bd? And something more like 7-7?

Thanks for advice

[PaulsMom]

The super early bt would be a strategy used to help alleviate the OT so not a long term strategy.  Generally speaking, we wake in the morning due to external stimulus (light and sound) in combination with hormones.  So these things wouldnt normally occur in the middle of the night.  hence she wouldmbe less likely to wake at 3:30. 

The other strategy for ew is to push the am nap a bit so if she wakes at 5:30 but you don't get her up until 6:30, then count the time in the crib as 30 min and not 60 min toward her A time.  So instead of napping around 8 am, her am nap is 30 min later.  The risk here is that she becomes OT and just short naps. 

You could try a later am nap (ie time in crib is counted as half A) and if needed do a CN to get her to a proper bt and see how she does.  You may need to do the same routine for several days to see how she adjusts to it.  If her wu times start to improve, then drop the CN but do an earlier bt.  How does that sound?