Early wakings....need help!!!!

[Lalou2000]

hello everyone,

Was wondering if some of you very wise ladies could help me with my beautiful daughters night time sleep! She is a lovely 7 month old who is very content, loves interacting and doesn't generally seem over tired BUT we are having real problems when 3 am hits. She has just finished a round of antibiotics for a chest infection poor thing, and that definitely effected her routine understandably, but she was more or less having these issues before she got sick. I have managed to used crying it out (with me always in the room talking to her) to get her to fall asleep on her own when placed in the cot, and she is a great napped generally and can take herself from one sleep cycle to the next, unless it's 3 or 5am! She is going down between 7:30-8, and waking up at either 3am tossing and turning and not falling back to sleep, or waking up for the day at 5:15 which is completely exhausting for me as I am a single mum (not really lol but husband is away and has been for months) so I am really very tired and would love her to start her day between 6 or 7.
I never got to her room before 6, but I'm awake looking at the monitor as soon as she is from 3 or 5am.
Our routine at the moment goes like this:
5:15 am awake in cot
6:00 am go to her her and say good morning
6:15 breast feed
7:15 breakfast of rice porridge with fruits, and then water
8:00 nap for the morning
9:30 awake
10-11 park time in pram
11/11:30 lunch (veggies and protein) followed by a bottle of expressed breast milk of she wants and she usually takes around 4 ounces
12:00 nap
1:30 awake
3:00 6oz bottle
We then go out for the day and sometimes she will take a small half hour nap, depending on when she woke up in the afternoon.
5:30 dinner time
6:30 bath time
7:00 7 oz bottle of milk followed by story and kiss
730-8 usually asleep and sleeps well until 3am or 5am wake up

I don't feed her as I don't believe she needs it, and she's hasn't had a night feed in a long time. She used to wake up at 3 crying and wailing but since I have taught her to self settle she doesn't cry as much anymore, but she also doesn't get back to sleep! She also wakes if her lovey is t next to her so at time I have to go and put it in her hands.
I am suspecting that she's probably going to bed too late, and also the lack of black out blind probably doesn't help.
I welcome ANY advice!!! Thank you


Lara

[ginger428]

Hi and welcome to BW! Poor thing, I hope she's recovering well and will be back to her usual self soon!

Thanks for posting your routine. Before she was waking at 5, when was her first morning nap and on avg how long did she sleep at night? I think the early wake ups is due to her routine.

Most 7mo start pushing toward 3hrs before a nap, and are on their way to or are already at 2 naps. Here are some schedules for your reference, but remember that we first have to help DD's (dear daughter's)  NW (night wakes) and WU (wake up time) first. chronological EASY samples, 7-9 months

Here is also the general info regarding an EASY routine and "A" activity times.
What are A times and how do they fit into the EASY plan?

I would suggest first pushing the first nap to 8:30, pm nap to 1, bedtime at 7:00 (eyes closed). Keep this routine for at least 3-4 days to see a difference. I would move the nap fast instead of small increments to get her body clock to adjust quickly so that she can get a full night's rest.  Currently, she's averaging a lot less, even for a low sleep needs baby.

So for about 2 days:
5:15 WU
8:30-10:00 Nap 1
1:00-2:30 Nap 2
6:00 Bedtime

Then the next 2 days:
9:00-10:30 Nap 1
1:30-3:00 Nap 2
6:30 Bedtime

Even if she woke at 3 or 5, she would be getting much more sleep than she is now.
I would finally suggest pushing to 9:30 for nap 1, then 2:00 for nap 2, 7:30 bedtime, until you get your desired WU of 6:00 or 6:30.

Take a look at the sample schedules and let me know what you think. =)

[FPT23]

H there!

Welcome to BWF! Happy to have you here and hopefully we can help out those EWs a bit!

Looking at your routine I do have some suggestions

First off, at her 5am wake, have you tried to resettle her? Or how is she at 5am? If she's a bit fussy, I always suggest teething around this age too. Keep that in mind ..if she's just awake and content, maybe consider some resettling if you haven't tried that already ?

Now onto the routine! I know this may sound tough to do but it might help quite a bit once you get there ......yes, her last nap all the way to bedtime is a suuuuper long stretch. A lot of awake time between 1:30-7:30/8. I suggest you need to shift her whole day. I would attempt to get those naps later in the day. First nap get it closer to 9am and the second nap to 1pm.. More or less. (Eventually the morning nap will move up to 9:30, 10 etc.. As you get closer to 1 nap a day between 12-18mths it can happen. Every baby differs)  This may also help extend her naps a bit more too. I know it may seem like a very long stretch from 5am wake to 9am nap and she may seem very exhausted at first, but this can help dramatically push out that EW. Hopefully! ...you may want to begin by increasing her mornings by 15 min increments throughout the course of a few days. If you find its too much, try 5 mins at a time. Whatever works for you and your LO. I would most definitely push out that morning A time... Get that first nap closer to 9am range.

After trying this for a few days/weeks- it hopefully makes an impact on that EW. Ideally, doing so, her stretch to BT will be less. Instead of a 6 hr A time to bedtime, it may drop to around 3 hrs more or less. I also suggest moving up BT while you adjust her as she may be OT. I suggest BT around 6:30-7pm eyes closed! Early BT can be scary with EWs but it can have the opposite effect and have them sleep longer or more and are better rested. Your already getting EWs anyway so just to help her catch up on some possible needed sleep as you adjust her routine!

Hope these little tips help

[ginger428]

Haha, jinx! We're both here and happy to help Lalou! Glad we see the same thing, FPT! and nice points regarding the 5am wake... she may just need a resettle. =D

[Lalou2000]

thank you so much for your suggestions!
It is so wonderful to have this type of help and support on these forums 

so after reading where I needed improvements, for the past 2 days I have kept her in bed until 6/6:30 regardless of her waking at 5, and made her morning nap at around 8:30, which hasn't been too difficult.
She now takes her afternoon nap at 12:45, asleep by 1, and wakes at 2:30.
bath time is 6, and eyes closed by 7.
She no longer has her afternoon cat nap which actually makes my life a lot easier!
Unfortunately, the night wakings are continuing! She is wide awake at 4am, not crying, but completely wide awake and usually doesnt fall asleep until 5, and even then is awake awake at 5:45..its just too early!!!!

I will remain consistent with the later morning nap and afternoon nap, and hope that it will catch up with her and she starts sleeping through.
 last night she actually woke crying at 2am, so i shushed and patted her for around 20 minutes and she fell back asleep until 5.
I know people encourage loveys but I am finding it quite tiring to constantly go and find it for her in the crib as she doesn't like waking up and not having the comforter within reach. I'm sure once she is older she will be able to find it herself.
I will post the routine for the past 2 night:

4 or 5am awake: stays in crib, trying to sleep, rolling around
6:00 awake for the day
6:15 breastfeed
7:30 breakfast
8:30/9 morning nap
10:30 awake playtime
11:30 lunch
12:00   2 or 3oz bottle
1:00 afternoon nap
2:30 awake playtime
3:00 6oz bottle
3-5 out and about
5:30 dinner time
6:00 bathtime
6:30 6/7oz bottle
7:00 asleep eyes closed


Im starting to suspect teething as being one of the reasons she is waking, although when she's awake at 4am she doesn't seem in any discomfort or pain. I gave her some teetha granules tonight before bed as she was grinding her gums so hopefully that will help!
thank you again for the suggestions and am willing to take more if any are needed for my new routine!

[FPT23]

Well I think your going through the 3-2 nap transition....

I did suggest teething earlier and I'm glad your aware- many times we forget about that

IRT your routine... I still would keep pushing till you reach 9am. Also, her awake time from her last nap to bedtime is far too long. I know you don't want to do the CN but sometimes trying to fit one in once in awhile during this transition is needed. Any reason why her bedtime isn't around 6 instead on days she's up before 3 from her nap?

If her nap is over before 3, I would attempt a CN... Whatever you can to avoid OT at BT which also can cause NWs...

Another thing looking at the routine actually... You want to reach 3hr awake time, so maybe try napping at 1:30? See if it can push you to 3pm and EBT 6?

I know EWs at the age is common as they transition! Let me know how it works!