Early wake up

[Jennafrappafrubalacca]

Hi. My 5 month old has, for the past few weeks, started waking early at around 0600/06:30, often crying but generally goes back to sleep by 07:00 and then we get him up at 07:30. Nothing in his routine has changed (he's a 40 minute napper and has been for some time) so what could cause this?

We start bedtime routine at 18:45, asleep by 19:30, DF 22:45 then generally sleeps through (touch wood). Should we be putting him to bed slightly later or earlier? Is he getting "too much" sleep hence waking up earlier? 

[jessmum46]

Can you post your whole routine?

[Jennafrappafrubalacca]

General day:

(06:15 wake up - leave to self soothe unless very upset)
07:00/07:30 - Get up, dressed, feed
09:00/09:30 - nap (ranges from 1.5hrs to 40 minutes)
11:30 - Feed
12:30/13:00 - Nap (40 mins usually)
15:30 - Feed
1600/17:00 - Nap (40 mins usually)
18:45 - Feed, bath, story, bed.

Sorry it's so vague but naps are totally unpredictable and have been for several months now 

[jessmum46]

Oh hugs, don't worry that things seem all over.  I was actually about to say that looks about typical for many many babies at this age I honestly haven't found true predictability with mine (even then with variations due to illness, teeth or just an off day) until a year old at least and on one nap.  Some people get lucky early on but for most of us at this age short naps were normal! 

Ok so is his first A time about 2 hours?  With the early wake ups it may be time to push that ever so slightly and see if you can get a consistent longer first nap.  It may be some days you get an UT nap (40 mins can be UT) and then other days you get a longer catch up.  What often happens around this age is the start of the move from 3 to 2 naps.  There can be some big leaps in A time and early wakings are common. It's a case of gritting your teeth a bit to get through the next 1-2 months and working slowly towards 3h A times.

On days where first nap is short do you bring the second one a bit earlier?  It may be you need to do that as I imagine LO won't handle a really long A time after a short nap.

Have you seen this? All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months

[Jennafrappafrubalacca]

Thank you so much for your reply, it brought me comfort! I stretched him to 2.5 hours the other day for his first A time (he actually stretched himself) and he went down for his nap like a dream which is very unusual, as he almost always cries. Unfortunately it was another 40 minute one but I agree he is probably ready for a longer A time.

Sometimes I do bring the next nap in a bit earlier but he just doesn't seem to give me sleep cues so I end up winging in it a bit! I think he copes fairly well with the short naps but if I'm honest I don't think I've really adapted his routine accordingly. Thank you for the link - really useful.

Again, thank you for the reply, it is so reassuring to hear this can be quite normal. We are having a very difficult time with LO right now as he generally seems very miserable and I'm struggling to cope (not sure if there's an appropriate part of the forum to post about this?) 

[jessmum46]

Oh hugs lovely, it's a rotten age really, they are so lovely but exhausting and it can be tough to enjoy it if you want just some hugs and encouragement then post over on the couch here: The Couch or if you think it may be more than just general worries, or have any questions about whether you should speak to someone about how you are feeling then drop in to the PPD board here: Post Partum Depression Even if you don't have PPD there are some useful links to look at and lots of Mums who will very much understand where you're coming from so post away even if just to get some feelings out x

[Jennafrappafrubalacca]

Thank you, I am a bit worried I have a bit of PPD so will post there 

[jessmum46]

I'll look out for it - I look after the board