17m EWs getting worse and worse

[KookyK]

Sigh we are being woken so early by dS I need help!! He's 17m and always been prone to early waking.

He's always been a tricky sleeper and despite a really good daytime
And bedtime routine, weaning dummies and doing pu/PD at 7m we ended up getting advice from a sleep consultant who seemed to work well with the BW ethos. We essentially did WI/wo and night weaned from BFing. This made a massive difference and he was sleeping thru from bt until 4-6am within 3 nights.  She said the EWs would get better eventually but after 3m they have not and are maybe worse.

I try to leave him when he EWs as long as possible as he's touchy and I find the more contact I have with him the more wound up he gets. This works earlier in night if he wakes and persists with crying for no obv reason. But I think he must know it's approaching morning and is v determined and holds out. He won't lie down - even when quiet I can peek thru the door and see he's still sitting up. If I lay him down all hell breaks loose and he sits up so I don't bother.

With  night weaning I was advised obv not to feed at night and when it was morning to change my voice and cheerily announce morning and feed in the light downstairs. I wonder if he associates EW and crying with resulting in getting up and ha ing milk. I am considering changing the first thing we do - milk - to breakfast to break the association? Any ideas?

I do set naps with him as have had most success with that. He's low sleep needs. His day looks like

A anytime 4.15-5.45 (I am ok with after 5.20!)
Nap around 11.20/11.30 (as late asi can as it seems to give better chance of Longer nap) he naps anything up to 2 hours (some days will be short/shorter ESP when he's with grandparents and I'm at work it's 45m-1.5hours they can't make him do so long).
Bt any time from 6.30 (earlier and his EWs seem worse)

[cath~]

Hi there,

My DD1 was LSN and from around this age we had to start capping her nap or we got EWs and/or BT shenanigans.

I think your LO is prob just waking "early" (ie too early for you!) because he's had enough sleep, not actually too early for him iyswim.

Do you notice any difference in the morning after a shorter (how short?) nap?  What sort of range do you usually get?

Since he's LSN, I'd suggest trying capping his nap at 1hr30 and see if that lengthens your nights.  I'd also work on gradually moving it later to more like 12.30 (shift it bit by bit over say a couple of weeks).

You might also need to then move BT later.  How is he at BT atm?  Really tired or DYT he could last any later?

Does he fall asleep independently at BT?

You could also combine nap capping with introducing a gro clock/lights on a timer.  This was a saviour here in getting rid of our EWs and can be really helpful when you're trying to shift a whole routine later too.  There is an explanation and some tips on how to introduce one here:
Gro-Clock / Lights on a timer: What, Why, When and How

WDYT?

[KookyK]

Thanks Cathn.

He is an independent sleeper. He's v v tired by bedtime.  He rarely has the full 2 hrs nap usually up to 1hr 45. I will try shifting the nap forward I think that is a good plan. Am wondering if he's hungry but I don't obv want to feed him milk at 4am since I night weaned. What do you think? Do you think at 17m he'd understand a gro clock/timer lights thing? Can't harm to try tho will investigate!

[cath~]

Ppl usually say LOs can be ready for a Gro clock / lights on timer from around 18 mo, some slightly later, so maybe wait a few weeks and then give it a go. I introduced one with L at about 19 mo (iirc) and it worked v well.

No, at this age I wouldn't offer milk at 4am.  However, if you're worried he could be hungry, maybe think about what you give him for dinner.  I'm sure some foods are more sustaining (fattier foods, some carbs , or protein, but I'm not sure what exactly ..) than others.  I'm not really sure what they are though tbh but I think I have read ppl recommend some foods over others. Perhaps post on eating for toddlers for advice about which foods are good for sustaining a LO overnight.  How long has it been since he's not been feeding at night?

[KookyK]

He hasn't fed at night since 14m and he has often woken early but had been getting to 5 or later mostly at the start or gone back to sleep if awake pre 5. It's gradually got worse.

To add further complication he has also been Ill a lot since nov. I haven't really got into bad habits just comforted him at night but he's had disturbed sleep on and off (like only 2 weeks well before ear infec or throat infec or v heavy cold).