4 month old EW is getting earlier and earlier

[HPM1]

Hi there,

I think I've read just about every post on this forum, and stuck so many post-its in my books over the last 4 months and found answers to many problems that started to arise...so THANK YOU!  But we are starting to hit a few snags and I just wanted some advice to try and address them.  My LO is 4months today and we had a couple of nights a few weeks ago where we thought 'this is it, he's going to sleep through' but alas they never came.  Haha wishful thinking!

THIS IS MY PROBLEM:  His WU's have been getting earlier and earlier.  This morning he woke at 4:20am and didn't go back to sleep so I got him up at 5:30 and we started our day (should I have got up an resettled him?).  He went down at 7am and slept for 1.5 hours.  Now our day is all mucked up and I don't know when to make his bedtime if he's been up since 4am???

He use to wake at 5:30-6am and we were happy with that.  He wakes up happy from most of his sleep times and sometimes its hard to know exactly what time he woke up because he doesn't cry that much on waking.  He usually has mat time for his first couple of A-times and the first and last A-time we go for a walk in his stroller with the dog.  He's found his voice in the last fews days and talks all day and also unfortunately has started to talk up to an hour when he wakes at night. 

His daytime naps are usually 2x 2hr (If he woke up really early from his night sleep I let him sleep a bit longer for that first sleep.  The other day his first sleep of the day was 2.5hrs - too long?) + 1x45min catnap, or we try 3 x 1.5hr naps and no catnap
A-time is 2hrs sometimes 1:50 for the last one before his catnap
Takes a full feed off both breasts at each feed
Independent sleeper

His day usually looks like this:
WU: 5:30 Leave him in his bassinet until 6 -he will happily chat to himself for ages
A: 6-6:30 (out of bassinet)
E: 6:30
A: 7:00
s: 7:30 (He only needs a short 5 min wind down and puts himself to sleep in about 5 mins once he's in his bassinet-doesn't use a pacifier sucks on his fingers to soothe) Sleeps around 1.5hrs - 2hrs

A: 9:30
E: 10:00
A:10:30
S: 11:30

E: 1:30
A: 2:00
S: 3:20 Usually only sleeps one sleep cycle -I tried to keep him awake a bit longer  for a few days but I kept getting 30min sleeps

A: 4:00
E: 5:00
A: BT Routine (Bath, book)
E: 6:00top up (other side)
BT: 6:10-6:20 asleep by 6:30pm no matter what time he got up.  Usually goes down easily without a fuss.

DF: Between 9:30-10:30 (We wait for him to wake up and he gets put straight back down after the feed asleep)

NF: between 1-2am he use to go straight back to sleep but the last couple of nights he has been lying there talking to himself for up to an hour.

(Woah I just previewed this post and it looks like a novel )

[Layla]

Hi there and welcome to the BW

There is a big growth spurt around 4 months - I wonder what would happen if you feed him again at the 4-5am wake up and back to bed? The other thing is that his 1st nap of the day is really early and might be a bit too long - I probably wouldn't let him sleep past 2 hrs as this can encourage the early morning wake ups.

If feeding and back to bed doesn't do the trick, then start trying to push his morning nap until its closer to 8am - add about 5-10mins every 3/4 days until you get there as otherwise you'll continue the early nap, early to bed cycle and don't let him sleep more than 2hrs to start with as otherwise he might be making up what he should be sleeping at night.

The other thing is that although some LOs are good with 2x2hr naps plus CN, it may also be that he needs less daytime sleep (so perhaps 2x1.5hr naps and catnap) to encourage him to sleep more at night.

Is there anything developmental going on? Is he rolling over when he wakes? or getting out of the swaddle? Could that be waking him up?

[HPM1]

Thanks so much for the quick reply

Will try feeding again at 4 and then resettling.  I think I was hoping he was down to 1NF and ignoring him at the 4am meant technically this was true...lol

The reason his first nap is so early is because I time it 2hrs from his wake up??? When he was waking at 6 he did go down at 8?  Is this right? 

I must say that because of our shush/patting so much in the early days we created a side sleeping monster and it does wake him up when he rolls on to his back in the middle of the night.  I'm not sure how to stop this?  I was previously just leaving him for half an hour on his back to give him a chance to go back to sleep and then eventually ended up turning him on his side so he would go back to sleep.

I was thinking perhaps he was getting too much sleep during the day but I'm not sure how it would look if I wake him early (at 1.5hrs) at every nap if he's waking so early in the morning.  Seems to leave a huge A-time just before BT

[Layla]

The reason his first nap is so early is because I time it 2hrs from his wake up??? When he was waking at 6 he did go down at 8?  Is this right? 

Yes, this is right, the A time is 2hrs - but see if you can try and hold him off (even if its just by 5mins) so that you start to shift his day a little bit as otherwise like you said, you will end up with too long A time before bed

I must say that because of our shush/patting so much in the early days we created a side sleeping monster and it does wake him up when he rolls on to his back in the middle of the night.  I'm not sure how to stop this?  I was previously just leaving him for half an hour on his back to give him a chance to go back to sleep and then eventually ended up turning him on his side so he would go back to sleep.

Hmm, try to settle him when he's on his back. I think there may be gadgets that keep them on their side and I've heard of rolled towels but I probably wouldn't want any of that stuff in the cot in case of risk of SIDS. Like with any new thing (sleeping on back or when he learns to roll, sleeping on tummy), it might take some time for him to get used to it but he will eventually have to, if you know what I mean

How did you go last night - did you try feeding and back to sleep?

[HPM1]

I think he must of read my post  because the last 2 nights he's been awesome first night DF @9:30 NF 1 & 3 and then woke up at 6:30.  Then last night DF @10:30 and only did a NF at 3am and didn't wake up until 6:40 and was on his back asleep when I looked over for an hour.  Haha such little mysteries these little guys.  I've also started giving him less daytime sleep like you suggested the last 2 days and hoping that has helped. 

Thanks for your advice hopefully this will continue...

[Layla]

They sure do like to keep us guessing . Great update and I hope that he'll start to get more and more comfortable sleeping on his back.

Let us know how things are going