9 month old will not sleep past 5:30 am

[larabgood]

Hi!  My almost 9 month old has been sleeping through the night since 4 months in his own crib in his own room.  Other than travel and teething he is pretty consistent.  His naps are finally at a pretty good place as well (Tw0 1 hour + naps a day - 8:30 am and 1:30 pm).  He is eating all solid foods (everything) three times a day and still breastfeeding as well.  He goes to bed by 7pm every night because he can't keep his eyes open but simply will not sleep past 5:30 am and that is on a good day.  The last few nights it has been 4:30 am!! I am exhausted.  Does anyone have suggestions?  He is active and though he doesn't crawl yet he is a mover and shaker and wants to be standing non stop (with support) and is out and about going to activities and the park and such.  I am just confused as so many friends kids wake up at 7am and I dream about that day!  Thanks for any advice.  Lara

[peanutmom]

Hey! Just wanted to say you are not alone Dealing with the same issue for months now - tried everything, earlier BT, later BT, shorter morning naps, bigger meals, etc.... nothing seems to help... My LO is teething right now and plus daycare is messing with her naps, so the only thing that helps is going with a flow. If i see she is OT - I just put her down earlier, if she naps 3 hours at the day care - I try to hold her till 7pm. Is your LO trying to walk yet? This is something mine is crazy about and as soon as she is up 4am or 5am she stands up in her crib and is trying to walk Then she cant find her pacifier or want us to start the day - and its a nonstop crying till 6am when we just cant take it anymore and go get her.

[Lindsay27]

What I might try hun is pushing that first nap out to 9am.  Sometimes if LOs nap too early they treat is as an extension of night sleep.  That might also get you a longer nap (1.5hrs) because overall he may be OT with 2 x 1hr naps and a nearly 14 hour day.

[larabgood]

Thanks so much!

I try to keep him up later for his morning nap but for example this morning, he woke up at 5am.  i didn't go down until 5:30 and I nursed him until he fell asleep on me and put him back down at which point he woke up and started crying hard but i let him cry it out for 20 or so minutes until my husband got him up.  But by 8 am he is EXHAUSTED and basically begging to take a nap.  I would really like to have a consistent 8:30 am nap time everyday but as you said PEANUTMOM, i guess i have to go with the flow and just take each day as it comes for now.  Thanks for your words as well - yes, my son is obsessed with standing and trying to walk and has no interest in crawling!

Thanks all!!

[peanutmom]

When it comes to morning naps, if she wakes up at 5-6am we go very easy on her. She is still sleepy and tired and to hold her till 9-9.30am nap was a torture. So we just let her nap around 8.30-9 for one hour and then go with our day as usual - wake up and instead of formula right away, we play till 11am and then its the same schedule - formula,play, lunch, play, nap. Still trying to figure it all out as she still waking up very early, 4.45am today, smh... 

[jessmum46]

I know it's hard when they're up early but to break the EW cycle you need to keep them awake until a sensible time for a first nap.  If you think an average awake time for a nine month old is 3.5-4h, if you consistently condition him to expect a nap at 8.30am it's totally reasonable for him to wake at 5am.  If you want a later wake the nap needs to be later

Also just to say BW does not support any form of cry it out - I know it's super frustrating when they are up early but we would always say to go to a LO who is crying hard and needing you, for whatever reason.