EW (5:20am) throwing off whole day - How to recover?

[Baby_A_Mama]

My LO, almost 6 months, has started a vicious early morning wake up cycle and it's becoming a bit of a pattern now. It throws off the whole day and has put us in a terrible over tired, early morning state! 
Our day currently looks like this:

5:20 - awake in crib, I leave him until 5:45 or 6 until he starts getting upset. 
6am - feed
8am - nap (he used to wake at 6, so 8ish was his nap, he still does his nap here although very overtired from being up so early)
9:15am - wake & feed
11:30am - nap
1:00pm - wake & feed
3:30pm - nap
5:00pm - wake & feed
6:15pm - bedtime routine, including feeding, asleep by 6:30/:45ish.
Nurses at 10:30pm & 3am

I am wondering what is up with our routine that might be causing the early morning waking.  He is entering the nasty overtired all the time due to this.  With daylight savings clock change just around the corner, I have these visions back to my first child where she was in bed at 5:30 but our day started at 4:30.  I DO NOT want to go there again, so would love any help on how to break this. 

Reasons he is NOT waking - room is dark, room has been warm, room has been cool, and I've tried advil to eliminate teeth as a possibility. None of these things has made a difference. We've just tried to introduce solids but he acts like it's a punishment and won't eat so, although all the other signs say he's ready, we are thinking he possibly isn't ready for them quite yet.

Thanks in advance

[Kellyjs]

I'm thinking it's because that first. A is too short hun. Classic reason for EW. It's their way of trying to lengthen the A time.

Saying that technically it isn't an EW because BT is quite early and he is getting 11hrs ONS, which is about standard for his age.

It does look like you've got a typical 3 nap routine just the other way round with a CN first thing haven't you?

2 ways we can do it hun based on your current routine. 1 is to cap that first nap down to 30mins. And try to keep the other naps where they are. The other is to push that first A much longer, perhaps don't pd until 8.30am at latest. This will definitely shorten your day so I'm thinking this might not be the best option for you at this time.

We will definitely need to move the whole routine on to have a later BT and also wu, so we can use the daylight savings approach and move the whole day by 15mins every 3 days xx

[Baby_A_Mama]

I didn't realize he could be waking early because of a short A time! Thank you. 

I want to make sure I understand correctly.  If I cap the first nap, my schedule would be:

6am - wake up
8am - nap (30min)
8:30 - wakeup
10:45 - nap (1.5-2hrs)
12:45 - wakeup
3:00 - nap (1.5-2hrs)
4:45 - wakeup
7pm - bedtime

Is this what you're suggesting?  I just want to make sure I understand it so I'm working towards the right target.  That first nap I haven't been able to push later because I drop my youngest off and he regularly falls asleep on the car ride home. When he was sleeping until after 6, he could stay awake and then not nap until 8:30 or 9, I had control because he'd stay awake in the car. Now due to the EW, he can't keep himself awake...it's only a 5min drive too!!

Today he is way off schedule but I decided to just go with it because he is so sleep deprived I thought I'd try to let him catch up and then tomorrow tackle your suggestion. 

I know the BT is early. It came out of necessity to put him down and then try to get DD to sleep. He used to take a long time to settle into sleep but now I put him down and he's out so quickly. I will be trying to push both kids a bit later with the time change coming, so I hopefully 15min will help!

Thank you so much for your suggestions!  I feel so lost! 

[Kellyjs]

I've been through it too hun. EW really is the pits and you're so terrified of OT you end up putting then down for a nap and that actually ends up being worse! In your case, he's falling asleep on his own, which sucks too.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting hun, would that fit in ok with family life?

Do check for teething too, I should've mentioned it in my last post.. It's about now that comes into the mix too 

I'll find you some links, I meant to do it earlier for you. The 3-2 transition one for you is what we'll be working towards eventually (it's just yours is in reverse) and the daylight savings one. Let me know how tomorrow goes xx

How to Adjust to Daylight Savings

All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months