Author Topic: 7.5 month old early waking (5am)  (Read 2038 times)

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Offline Mrs Grumbley

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7.5 month old early waking (5am)
« on: April 27, 2015, 04:31:58 am »
Hello and thank you in advance for any assistance!

We've been doing EASY with my 7.5 month old son since he was 3 weeks.

Over the past few weeks, he's started waking at 5-5.30am and sleeping only very lightly, if at all, between 5 and 7. Sometimes he'll go down for a solid 45 more minutes in that time, but most of the time he's crying every 15-20 minutes. I've read the resource about early waking, and I've tried to deal with every possible cause. While I'm pretty sure he's teething, bonjela and pamol only worked thoroughly one time. I've kept doing it, but I don't feel comfortable giving it to him every morning and either he's developed a tolerance (?) or it's not the issue, because this morning it didn't seem to have any effect!

He's been on two naps for about 1.5 months and he had been going through the night with no wakeups, but lately he's been crying between bedtime and the DF, as well as squawking briefly at at least one point in the late night (between 11pm-4am) - often re-settling himself, though.

Since he started going wonky, I began being a bit more set with naps (per some advice I found when trawling through these forums). So every day, regardless of wake-up time, he goes down at 10am and 3pm for his naps. Most of the time he naps for 1hr 20. It seems to be a little OT, but not too bad, because he usually stirs at the 30 minute mark and then goes back to sleep for another 45-50.

Here is his EASY:

7am - EAT (around 200mls) & ACTIVITY - up for day (he's always waking at least once between 5 and 7, sometimes for long periods without resettling - not waking happy, so I don't think it's too MUCH sleep.)
9am - solids
10am - SLEEP
11.20am - EAT (around 150mls) & ACTIVITY
12.30/1 - solids
2.30 - EAT (around 200mls)
3pm - SLEEP
4.20pm - ACTIVITY
6.15pm - EAT (around 280-300mls)
6.45pm - BEDTIME
9.30pm - DF

He seems mostly happy during the day (except when he gets SA/teething problems at various times and he's often pretty grizzly between his second nap and BT).

He settles beautifully nowadays for all his sleeps. As soon as we start the routine, he's very relaxed and yawny and I think he's asleep within about 2 minutes of me leaving the room!

He is formula fed. He has two bottom teeth (came through at 5 months) and the top two are looming. He can crawl and sit up by himself - these are not new developments.

Can someone please help me fix these early wakings? - 5am is the most depressing time of the day!

Any help GREATLY appreciated!

Offline jessmum46

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Re: 7.5 month old early waking (5am)
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2015, 10:23:36 am »
Hugs, yes I agree 5am is horrible.....

I wonder if you are doing set nap times whether you may just have gotten into a bit of an OT cycle.  We usually don't suggest set clock times at this age (rather working with consistent A times) as if your LO wakes early, you can end up with OT by the first nap which perpetuates through the day.  The wakings between bedtime and DF are often indicative of OT, though I was just discussing with someone earlier today that for us, OT usually gives maybe one brief WU in that time, but discomfort of some kind can give multiple unsettled wakings.  The early mornings are prime time for that too.  I wonder if the teeth might be having more of an effect than you realise?  Have you ever tried dream meds?  You would sneak in around 3am and try meds then to see if that helps LO sleep better in the early hours.  I've always found ibuprofen more effective than paracetamol but also found if I give it at the time of the EW it rarely helps LO settle as they've already had a bit too much sleep by that point. 

Routine-wise could you try maybe going with A times for a bit rather than clock times and see if that helps things get back on track? 

Offline Mrs Grumbley

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Re: 7.5 month old early waking (5am)
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2015, 19:42:19 pm »
Thank you for the reply!

I don't think he's OT - he was on at least 3 hours' awake time before we started doing set nap times, and apart from the odd morning when I can't get him back to sleep at all, his A time is never more than 3.5 hours and usually more around 3-3.25. That's pretty usual for a 7.5 month old, isn't it?

The 5am wake-ups started well before the set nap times, too (in fact, they were the reason I started set naps as a possible solution someone on here suggested to somebody else!). And if he's consistently doing naps of over 1hr and occasionally up to 1.75/2hrs, from what I've read here, that's usually an indicator things are okay in terms of A time, right?

My husband reckons he has passed on his latest cold/sore throat to the baby, and after last night, I think he's right. Isaac cried every 90 minutes through the night (only briefly and didn't need my help, but he obviously was not sleeping well).

But, again, the 5am wake-ups are the real, ongoing issue, which started some weeks ago, now! Ughhhhhhh.......

Offline jessmum46

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Re: 7.5 month old early waking (5am)
« Reply #3 on: April 29, 2015, 09:31:33 am »
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.  Sorry to hear your LO might be unwell :(. I hope recovery is quick.

You are in the best position to judge about OT so if you don't think that's the case, why not try pushing BT a little later?  I see your last A is pretty short after a good nap, maybe if he's more tired at BT he may sleep more soundly through the early morning?

What did you think about dream meds?

Offline Mrs Grumbley

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Re: 7.5 month old early waking (5am)
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2015, 03:22:04 am »
Thanks again!

I will try pushing bedtime later, I think - I tried last night, but he had a crappy OT/OS afternoon sleep, so it wasn't the best indicator...

He coughed through his naps and all through the night, too, poor wee tyke - I don't think he got good rest, and we still had an early waking this morning.

I put bonjela on him before bed and then again when he woke up at 4am, so that might have helped a little. I'm reluctant to keep breaking out the Pamol, as I don't feel confident enough that it's a teething problem and not a sleep/routine issue.

His top tooth is SO CLOSE to popping through - strong white line underneath the gum and only has a little way left to go, so hopefully that makes its appearance soon and gives us at least a couple of days of respite before its next-door neighbour rears its ugly head...

I will let you know how I go with the later bedtime - 4.30-6.30 is pretty short for him, but he's so relaxed and goes down so easily, he just doesn't STAY down!

Thanks a million, once again!

Offline jessmum46

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Re: 7.5 month old early waking (5am)
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2015, 10:10:18 am »
Good luck x