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12-week old early wake-up

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sleepymom80:
My 12-week old has consistently been waking up around 5am. He would start stirring around 4:30am but would start to fuss around 5am.

EASY looks like this:

6am- wake time (I would prefer 6:30am but I dont know how I would do this.)
6am-6:15 Eat
6:15-7:15 Activity
7:15-9:15 Nap 1

9:15 Eat
9:30-10:30 A
10:30-12:30 Nap 2

12:30 E
12:45-1:45 A
1:45-3:45 Nap 3

3:45 E
4-5 A
5-5:45 catnap

5:45 E
Bedtime around 7:15pm

We normally do a dream feed at 11pm and he would normally wake up at 4:30am for another feed. However, he has a hard time settling down after the 4:30am feed. Sometimes he also would refuse his morning bottle if he takes in a big feed at 4:30am.

He is an independent sleeper at night. However, I wear him in a carrier for naps. I would like to start nap training very soon as soon as my hubby can take some time off so I have some support.

Should I do another dream feed at around 3am instead of waiting for him to wake up around 4:30-5am?

Would wake to sleep work in this case?

I am trying to lengthen his A time but I find it difficult with his early wake ups. How do I do it?

Should I be capping his naps?

Please help!

sleepymom80:
This is what I did yesterday. i made his A time 1.5 and I capped his naps to 1.5 hrs and his catnap I made into 1 hr as to avoid being OT. But still the same thing, started stirring at 4:30am and I'm pretty sure he will be fussy very soon. I don't think it's hunger because when I fed him the other morning at 5am, he only drank 2oz. He also drank a good amount (5oz) during dream feed at around 11:30pm last night. Help, pls! Do I try wake to sleep? Does it work???

ginger428:
Hi sleepymom,
How long has he been waking at 5am? When was he waking before?

A few things might be going on...
1. He's going through a developmental phase. There's a big growth spurt at 3mo that can disrupt sleeping and/or eating as well. Usually it lasts 1-2 weeks and they return to their usual routine.
2. He is getting enough sleep... he was sleeping 6.75 hrs during the day, 8 at night, ~15 total which is avg.
3. He needs an increase in A time. At 3mo, avg A time is 1h20/30mins.

I realize you tried a longer A time and you capped nap yesterday, but it usually takes about 3 days to see an effect in most cases.
It helps to change only one aspect of his sleep at a time, so since he's still young, I would try the increase in A time right now wo capping his naps.  In this case, your catnap should be 30-45 min max to have him sleepy enough for bedtime. 

Dream feeds are between 10-11pm and for the purpose of getting long stretches of sleep in the middle of the night. Feeding DS at 3 would be a night wake, and I wouldn't try this yet.  The 4-6am hours is the light sleep phase, so any one of the above reasons could be waking DS and keeping him up.

Another tip is that no matter when he wakes, keep him in a darkened room with low sound and movement until the recommended 6:00am hour. This is the minimum time most people set for their kids to be up, but it's completely up to you. You're already doing this it seems, by feeding at 6, so that's great!

Wake to sleep is definitely worth a try! Since he is stirring at 4:30, you will go in about an hr before, so 3:30am.  Here's the description for wake to sleep in the middle of the night...
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=223809.0

sleepymom80:
Hi there. I honestly cannot pinpoint when he started waking up at 4:30-5am. Before, he would normally wake up to feed at 4:30am and would not have any problems settling after the feed. Then he would wake up again around 6:30-7am which was glorious. This was when he was around 2-2.5 months old. Then he started getting fussier after the 4:30am feed and would not re-settle.

Anyway, I have increased his A time and capped his naps. I wasnt able to read your reply before I did this. So far, we are day 5 on this new schedule. I have also been waking to sleep and so far the past 2 days, his wake-ups have been at 5:20-5:30-ish. So i guess and improvement from 4:30am. I do see the he starts to stir at around 4:30-5am but he is able to settle down until around the 5:30am mark. I have also adjusted the dream feed to 1am which seems to help. I just dont know how to respond when he wakes up at 5:30am...not sure if he is hungry or not. The reason for my confusion is that he used to have 2 night feeds (11pm dream feed and 4:30am). But since he's no longer waking up at 4:30am, i am not sure how to respond to the wake-up of 5:30. So what I have been doing is feeding him when he wakes up at 5:30am in his room, dark setting, etc. He normally stops crying and would be content until I get him up at 6am. Is this a mistake? He of course would not eat anymore at 6am so My next feed is at 9am. So my Easy for now is:

5:30-6am, wake up, feed
A:6-7:30, fussy if he woke up at 5:30am
S: 7:30-9 nap 1

E-9
A-9-10:30
S-10:30-12

E-12
A-12-1:30
S- 1:30-3

E-3
A-3-4:30
S-4:30-5:30 1 hr cat nap

BT around 6:45-7

Df: 1am

I am hoping this is a phase. I guess I should give it a few more days and see before tweaking it again?

ginger428:
Yes, a few more days... I think it has been that.. how is everything?

I think what you're doing at 5:30 is good, but may want to 1) reduce the amount (bottle, right?) 2) wait 5-10 mins each day, until you can feed him at 6:00. 3) If he's awake but content, leave him be until 6:00, or as close to 6:00 as you can get.

I hope it's a phase, too! They have so many of those.  :P

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