Early waking-trying wake to sleep but not sure it's working??

[Asha G]

Hi there my lo is almost 9 months now and has been quite a good sleeper until the last 4/6 weeks.. She was going down around 7-730 and not waking until atlesst  7 am...
Current easy is
Wu 5/6am, sometimes goes back to sleep
7/715am bottle
830 am so,ids
10am nap, capping to 1.5 hrs
1130a, bottle
1230/1 solids
230pm nap capped to 1.5 hrs
4pm bottle
5pm so,ids
6300! Bottle
7/730 sleep

Have started trying wake to sleep so started stirring her at 4am
Sunday- woke at 6am, awake until I went in at 7
Monday - woke at 415 and was in and out of sleep until 630ish and then awake until I went in at 7
Tuesday -woke at 608am, awake until I went in at 7..
Wednesday - woke at 6ish, awake until I went in at 7..

I had also  tried increasing her awake time in the morning but she really struggles to stay awake past 10am..(perhaps because she is often awake from 6am??). So then I decided to try the wake to sleep but so far she is only sleeping until 6am... And I haven't stopped waking her at 4 as yet so not sure if she wil. NOw continue to sleep until 6 or if she will start waking earlier again..
Should I continue stirring her for a few more days and should I now try stirring her at 5am instead of 4am?
Or does it look like wake to sleep is not working for my lo and it's the day routine that needs changing?
Please help!! I know I'm very lucky that she sleeps as long as she does but after waking at 4/5 am every day for the last few weeks I'm feeling exhausted and just want to try to get her back to her old routine knowing that she used to be able to sleep until 7am...!
Please help! Any advice is much appreciated!! Thank you!!

[Asha G]

So I stirred her again at 4am this morning and she woke up at 530am....😟 she was awake playing loudly until 630 and then she feel asleep ... I felt she was in quite deep sleep so I let her sleep until 730am today...
Please help!!! Is there anyway to get her to sleep through until 630 atleast???

[Asha G]

Is there anyone who can give me some advice please??
As of yesterday I stopped stirring her and she woke at 6am, today she woke at 5am and I struggled to get her back to sleep
For the last 2 days I have tried to extend her A time by 10-15 minutes (currently in 3 hr A time) and then let her sleep up ton2 hours for morning nap and then capped the 2nd nap as required so that age is getting no more than 3 hours in the day...
I really need some advice - please help me!! 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

[Kellyjs]

Sorry you were missed hun. Early WU's are the pits 

Yes, it does look like the first A needs extending. I would keep extending by 15mins, holding for 3 days then extending again until you get closer to 3.5 or even 4hrs. Time will tell when she'll start sleeping that bit later to when you can stop extending. Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!

I would also continue to cap that first nap at 1.5 hrs for now rather than 2 as this helps discourage the early WU's too. You may need to cap further or extend further but that too will come apparent in time as to which way she prefers it to be.

Have a read of this link as I think you're on your way there soon. 10/ 11mo sleep gone wonky? Read this first! (2-1 switch)

[Asha G]

Than you so much  for coming back to me!!
Ok will definitely keep extending the A time.. I do find it tough at times though as sometimes she just does t want to stay awake and wil practical,y fall asleep during any activities I try to use to keep her up a bit longer !
I was posting on the easy forum before about her routine and the advice I was given was not to cap both naps and so to keep to 3 hours nap time in the day but then if she sleeps longerin the morning then to cap the afternoon nap as much as needed to keep to the 3 hours...?
When you say I may need to cap further or extend her further do you mean her first nap of the day?
So for now I should just keep capping at 1.5 hrs In the morning and afternoon?

[Kellyjs]

Yes I'd cap both to 1.5hrs or else your day might get a bit long.

Sometimes it can be learned behaviour to feel tired at a certain A time, doing something low-key or a change of scenery usually helps.

You can definitely cap the afternoon nap eventually as per the link I posted before. That's the way I did it as we got BT shenanigans and the day was getting much too lomg with the extended A times. Once they hit nearer the 4hr A time it gets a bit tricky fitting it all in. However, some that are prone to EW do better with not only extending the first A, but also capping the nap too, but I think we're a little way off deciding if that's the way to go yet. You still have room in your day for now to extend the A's, keep the 2x1.5hr naps and have a reasonable BT around 13hrs day total. The link is just a good one to have a read through as I think you'll be heading there in the not to distant future xx

[Asha G]

Thank you so much! And trying to fit everything in to the day along with increasing the A times is exactly what I've been struggling with in order to make these changes!
The weekend was quite busy so wasn't able to stick to a more strict routine but am hoping I can make some progress over the next few days and finally see an end to the early wakings!

[Kellyjs]

Good luck hun, keep me posted ok? Xx

[Asha G]

Hi there I thought I would give you an update on how things are going so far!
Have managed to increase her A time to 3.5 hrs (although there are some days where she will practically fall asleep whilst playing at 3hrs 20..)
Her easy is now
6am wu
7am go in her room and has bottle
830 breakfast
1030 nap
12pm bottle
130 lunch
330pm nap
5pm bottle
6pm dinner
730pm bottle
8pm bedtime

I'm having to cap both naps at 1.5 hours as she is fast asleep after 1.5 hours so having to wake her and she is sometimes in quite deep sleep - is this ok??
Early waking wise she is now waking at 6am which is better than 4 or 5 am !!!!! But I still was hoping to get her to sleep until 630/7... But I'm not sure she will or how to help her to do that - perhaps she only needs 10 hours at night? What do you think?

[Kellyjs]

That is a good amount of sleep overall. Obviously preferably it would be nice to have both.. Long naps and long ONS. However, I'm feeling this might not be the case with yours (as was with mine). How do you feel she is after the 10hrs ONS? Is she happy enough playing around in bed for an hour before you come and get her? Mine always was too  .

Ideally we don't want to wake them from all their naps and in the morning as it doesn't give them a chance to self-regulate, but you are offering her more sleep in the morning, so I wouldn't worry about the naps too much atm. It is hard waking them all the time though isn't it? Xx

[Asha G]

So hard to wake her I feel so guilty!!!! Esp as I'm having to do it at both naps as she never seems to wake by herself..
In the Morning she does to tend to play by herself until I go in although the last couple mornings she has started crying around 630/640... Not sure if these are one offs or if this is how it will now continue...
Also as she is up at 6 should I be counting her A time from 6 ?? As I've been counting from 7 but could that be a reason she is so tired in the day?

[Kellyjs]

Technically, yes you count the A time from when they wake. However, at this age you can be a little more flexible. I too used to count get out of bed time as the start of the A time.

What you're doing atm in more the set nap and BT route, which is fine and actually I'm a fan of. I think it helps them regulate. And 4hrs A is not obscene for a 9mo. Mine was doing that too at this age.

I would try and stick with what you're doing for another 3 days or so hun. And come back to me? There is another plan we can try to lengthen the night sleep but that would mean cutting down further on the day sleep. If she's happy atm, I'd be tempted to leave it as is xx

[Asha G]

Ok thank you so much and I will post again in a few days!
At the mo she does seem happy so this maybe the routine I need to stick with for a while..!
Also forgot to mention that a couple of times she has fallen back asleep in the morning so I did have to wake her but she woke up straight away so guessing she no t in as deep sleep as when I have to wake her from naps!! It's taken me up to 10 minutes sometimes to stir awake after a nap!!

[Kellyjs]

It's good that she has fallen back to sleep in the morning, that's what I was hoping for! I think if we continue on this route and see if it stabilises, if the EW gets even earlier we may have to rethink.

Some bubbas do better with more daytime sleep and less night sleep, it's a guessing game to see what works best for her and of course family life. Their mood is a good indicator (except when teething  ) xx

[Asha G]

Hi there so it's been a few more days and she is getting better at 3.5 hr A time but stil waking at 6am... Usually she plays until I go and get her although today she did fall asleep around 630/640 and was actual,h quite difficult to wake her at 7 so she must have fallen into deep sleep ...
What do you think is the best thing to do at this stage?