How do you wake baby for wake to sleep?

[Shine]

Do you wait until their in their light sleep or do it in their deep sleep or anytime, just 1 hour before they normally wake up?

Ta

[alligirl]

Hmmmm...I'm not sure if Tracy ever mentioned what stage of sleep to do it in, but I think she just said about an 1 before.

[JWB's Mom]

Hello! I was going to try the "wake to sleep" method tonight. My 4 month old is waking at 5:30 every morning but goes back to sleep when I put my hand on his chest to calm him. I was not looking forward to setting my alarm at 4:30am but will give it a try this weekend. Please let me know how your experience goes with the wake to sleep.

Julie

[Colesmom]

did either of you try wake to sleep?  I'm considering it for tonight.  Just seeing if you were successful or not.

Thanks

Traci

[JWB's Mom]

Well, I tried it Saturday night, woke him barely awake at 4:00am, and he didn't wake up again until 7:00am. Then the next night I had my alarm set to wake him again at 4:00am but he started crying at 1:00am - I think it was gas because he wasn't awake. So I turned my alarm off (because I didn't want to get up again!) and he woke up at 5:30am again. However, last night, I was too tired to get up at 4:00am, but he slept from 7:15pm until 6:15am without a peep. I don't know if that was a fluke or not. But I want to wake him one more time at 4:00am to get him out of that habit for sure. I'll let you know what happens next! Good luck!

[Tannis]

Julie, did you try it again and did it work?

[JWB's Mom]

I didn't try it again because he started having different wake up times. Friday night he slept from 7:30pm until 6:45am without a noise. But then Saturday night and Sunday night, he woke up around 6:00am but went back to sleep 15 minutes later and slept until 7:15am. So I'm really not sure what to do. If 6:00am becomes a habit, then maybe I'll do the wake to sleep and wake him at 5:00 or 5:30am. Has anyone else had any luck?

[twoblacklabs]

I tried it last night for the first time, and I meant to do it about an hour before his usual wake up time (which has been anywhere from 12:10 - 12:20 several nights in a row!) and I accidentally fell asleep and woke up at 11:50 so I just did it then.  It worked - he slept until he next usual wake up time at about 2:20.  I am glad, but I've learned not to count on anything, especially after just one time!  We'll definitely be doing it again tonight, though.

Keep your fingers crossed...

[jswerczek]

How are you waking your little one's up? Are you picking them up or unswaddling them? My ds seems to stir and make noises between 5:30- and 6 a.m. Sometimes he goes back to sleep but usually he becomes wide awake. I feel like I can't do pu/pd because when I go in the room he stops crying and is happy to see me. So, I thought I might try this wake to sleep so he can hopefully sleep a little later. But I am afraid that when I wake him he won't go back to sleep. So how did you do it and has anyone had any more luck?

Thanks so much!

[Little Dot]

Hope it's ok to jump in here. I'm no expert but have had some success with wake to sleep. It broke the 5.30 waking for us.
My DD has always woken in the night at some time or other and when I notice a pattern over maybe 2 or 3 nights of the same waking time I do the wake to sleep an hour before and after a night or 2 it works. It's scary at first going in their room because they might be in a deep sleep and it feels awful to wake them incase they wake fully.
If I go in an hour before and she is in a light sleep I usually wait until she is in deep sleep because my DD would fully wake if I tried it then. Infact the times I did it when she was in a light sleep actually ended up setting that time as her waking time the next few nights!
I usually rock her side to side a bit or stroke her hair and when I hear a murmer I stick her dummy in but I don't think you have to do this if you don't use a dummy. It was just a suggestion I read in Tracy's book. If all goes well she will murmer a bit longer and then go back to sleep. I make sure I get some sort of sound or movement out of her before I leave the room.
Like you though, Julie, I don't do it if she wakes at a different time for a different reason because that waking has probably changed her pattern and it's hard getting up several times. Don't know if this helps but once you do it you get to know how much rocking/patting is needed for your LO.

[jswerczek]

Thanks Kate for your response. I think I may give it a try so we can get past the 5:30 wake up. How can you tell when they are in a light sleep opposed to deep sleep? I am going to try it tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m. so we'll see how it goes!

[Little Dot]

If my DD is in a light sleep her breathing is much quicker and louder. If you breathe in and out your nose deeply thats kind of what it sounds like.            She twitches a little too. When she is deeply asleep she is really quiet and still. Its very hard to see in the dark so I normally go by the breathing. Also, I occasionally use a dummy to settle her and if she is in a light sleep she will take it without opening her eyes as soon as it touches her lips but if she is deeply asleep she won't flinch! Hope that helps.
Good luck!

[jswerczek]

Kate- one more question... After you did wake to sleep to get past the 5:30 a.m waking, what were the results, when did your DD wake up? Or did you have to wake her?

Thanks again 

[Tannis]

I tried wake to sleep the other night and my DS woke fully and had a complete come apart. It took me an hour to get him back to sleep and I felt awful for waking the little soul. What did I do wrong? Should I just jostle him and not completely wake him??

[Little Dot]

It is horrible when that happens. Like I said, I'm no expert but I don't completely wake my DD. I follow Tracy's advice on wake to sleep exactly. She says to rub their tummy or stroke their head a little until they just stir and then stop and hopefully they will just murmer a little and go back to sleep. It is really hard getting it just right and I had to do pick up/put down the first couple of times I did it because I woke her too much. Eventually I got used to what was enough and now I use a dummy to settle her back if I go too far. Luckily it has always broken the early waking habit within a couple of nights. Keep trying! You will get there. Just start by touching their tummy or head and see if it has any effect then move on to a little jostle. Stop when you get a movement or murmer from them then try and leave as quietly as possible. This is just what I do that works for us. Like I said I'm no expert but I hope this gives you some ideas. Good luck x