Early wake for 8-month old

[Newbiemommy001]

My son just turned 8-months. He is an independent sleeper, STTN usually 11 hours, 2 naps of usually 1-1.5 hrs each. Just this week, he's started waking up between 5-5:30 rather than 6:30am. Our EASY the past few days is below:

5:30 wake (calm, sucking thumb)
E 6-6:30 bottle
A breakfast 8-8:30
S 9-10:30 (usually wakes up between 1-1.5 hours. If not, I cap nap at 1.5 hours)
E 10:30-11 bottle
A lunch 12-12:30
S 2-3:30 (usually takes 1-1.25 hr nap, rarely needs to be capped, will sometimes take 45 min nap)
E 3:30-4 bottle
A dinner 5-5:30
S bath at 6:30, bottle and bedtime usually between 7:15-7:30

So far, I've played around with his A time. He can last anywhere from 3.25-3.75 hours of A time. How do I get him back to his previous wake time of 6:30 am? Should I try to go for a later BT?

Thanks so much!

[*Ali*]

I would push his first nap later and cap the second nap at 45 mins if you get a 1.5hr nap in the AM.
You could also try wake to sleep at 4.30am.

[Newbiemommy001]

Hi. Thanks so much for your reply. Our EASY yesterday went like this:

5:40 am wake up
E
A
S 9:45-11:45 (forgot to cap nap at 1.5 hours so I capped it at 2 hours)
E
A
S 3:45-4:30 (capped at 45 mins)
E
A
S in crib by 7:30, fell asleep at around 7:45, LO was whining while trying to fall asleep so I suspect he was OT

Woke up at 5:30 am again this morning. Sigh. I'll cap the first nap at 1.5 hours and the second nap at 45 mins. He was fussy when I woke him up after the second nap until bedtime. Did I give him too much A time between the first and second nap?

[*Ali*]

I think a longer nap in the morning is ok. The advantage of having a shorter last nap is the last A time should be shorter. I think his middle and last A times are probably too long because his day is so long due to the EW. Have you ever tried an earlier bedtime?

[Newbiemommy001]

Our EASY today:

5:15-5:30 awake (very quiet and so not sure exactly what time he woke up)
E
A
S 9:20(tried to push this further but LO was really fussy)
Nap 1 9:20-11 (capped nap, LO could have probably slept longer)
E
A
S 2:15-3:20 (capped nap)
E
A
S asleep by 7:30 with minimal fuss
*we plan to wake to sleep at 4:30am

You're absolutely right it is such a long day for him. How early of a bedtime should I do? I'm afraid that he will wake up earlier than 5:30am if I gave him an earlier BT.

[*Ali*]

Maybe try 7 to start?

[Newbiemommy001]

Sigh! Wake to sleep did not work. LO still woke up early. I only got to check around 5:40am so I'm not sure how early he woke up. We will try an earlier BT today. Is the reason behind the earlier BT to prevent OT so I can extend his first A time? Do I still cap the 1st nap at 1.5 hrs or can I extend it to 2? Also, do I still cap the 2nd nap to 45 mins or can I cap at 1hr in order to reach BT of 7pm? Sorry for all the questions! Thanks so much!

[*Ali*]

I would let him sleep the 2hrs in the am if he will as long as you are pushing that nap later. I'd try to get it closer to 10 if you can but maybe do it slowly so he doesn't get too OT. The idea behind that is that he may be using that early first nap to catch up on lost night sleep and allowing that can encourage the early waking. I had to do similar with my DS2 around this age (maybe 9mo) and it really helped.

If you get a 1.5-2hr nap in the AM I would cap the PM nap to 45 mins. Mine would have wanted a full A time after a 1hr nap but after a 45 min one they would have done 3hrs rather than 3hr30-45.

The idea behind the earlier BT is to avoid him going down OT yes but also because if you get a longer night, even if he still wakes at 5.30, he will be more rested and better able to make that first nap later. While some LOs struggle to sleep later in the morning they will tack in at the beginning of the night with an earlier. BT. If you can get a longer night he may sleep less in the day and then you can start to push the whole day later 5-10 mins at a time to get a later wake up. I hope that makes sense.

[Newbiemommy001]

That makes a lot of sense. I will certainly try an earlier BT for a few days and try to extend his first A time. I remember having to do it before when LO dropped his catnap. Thanks so much!!!

[dache]

Fallowing a long.

 My 7 1/2m old has UW, also at 5.30.
But in the past few days she also has at 12.00 and at 3.00. Plus most of the times she wakes up for the df.
Most of the time she is taking full feed (7oz) so Im giving more solids during and I was thinking maybe it was time to try for one nap or change around her naps, so Im going to try this.
We are already doing early BT 6.30-7 depending of how much time she slept during the day.
Ill push her morning nap as much as possible, cap it at 1.5h and cap the second one at 1 for now. If it doesnt work Ill try 45minutes.

[*Ali*]

Check out this link on making the 2:1 transition to see what you have to look forward to. From 2 to 1 nap transition (10-12m and older)
It can take months to transition so they are probably a good while off one nap but some LOs with low sleep needs do make the move a little early. I think we capped the second nap around 9mo with ds2 but he stayed on those same naps (1.5hrs and 45 mins) until 15mo. He was alway low sleep needs.

[dache]

Nope, long way form 2-1 transition.
Ill look at the day backwards. So if bt is 7 she needs to get up from her last nap no later then 3.30-4, and am nap 3h after I pick her up from the crib, no matter when did she woke up.
She is teething also. I know that I should not be making big changes when something like teething happens but Im sure its also a routine issue.

[Newbiemommy001]

I guess LO does have low sleep needs. He dropped the catnap at about 6 months. So far today, I was able to push the first nap to 9:30 am instead of 9:15. He was pretty fussy and whined while trying to fall asleep. I'm capping this nap at 2 hours and the second nap at 45 mins. We plan to have a BT of 6:45-7pm. Hopefully tomorrow, I'll be able to push his first nap to 9:45-10am.

[*Ali*]

Sounds like a plan

[dache]

Very bad nap day. 2 40minutes naps so by 4 she was v tiered. I put her down again, and caped the nap at 40 minutes. But she was so tiered she cried the rest of the time. A quick bath, bottle and in bed by 6. With a little fussing she fell a sleep 10mins letter.
I can imagine what kind of night is ahead of us. And EU is sure.


Newbie, my lo also dropped the catnap early, although I dont think she I can see that she needs her naps but I just cant figure them out. Im also trying to make the nap 9:45-10:00.
Fingers crossed for good nap day and no nw and uws