Author Topic: Need new ideas for 5 am waking - slightly long  (Read 1407 times)

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Offline claytonsmum

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Need new ideas for 5 am waking - slightly long
« on: October 08, 2005, 11:03:39 am »
HELP!

My son is 21 months old and was always a bad sleeper early on due to reflux, but really for the past year it hasn't been too bad with the exception of teething and illness time.  This time, I cannot figure it out, and I am at my wit's end.  I have spent hours reading this board in hopes of not duplicating something, but so far, no luck. 

About 1 1/2 months ago, he started waking at 5 am when he used to wake at 6:30 am (6 am at the earliest).  The change that could have been the culprit initially was a move to the toddler room at daycare, when his nap was moved from 12 or 12:30 pm to 1 pm.  However, he's been doing this 5 am thing for so long, now I think his clock is all off!

Here is his weekday schedule now:

5 am wakes - BOO!
5-6 am try and get him back to sleep UNSUCCESSFULLY
6 am Prevacid dose
6:30 am breakfast
7 or 7:30 am arrive daycare
9:30 am snack
12 pm lunch
12:15 pm Prevacid dose
12:45 down for nap
1-3 pm nap
3:30 pm snack
5-5:30 pm dinner
6:15 pm bath
6:30 pm Prevacid dose
6:50 pm rice milk and fig newton or animal crackers
7 pm in bed
7:15 - 8 pm falls asleep, on his own
12:15 am Prevacid dose (in his sleep)

We have good luck in that the night wakings he used to have were eliminated when we adjusted his Prevacid dose.  As you can see, on the weekdays he is at daycare, and he cannot do a later or earlier nap.  So that is out. 

We've tried to put him back to sleep at 5 am as if it were 1 am, but he just cries until 6 am when we need to start getting ready for work and school for our daughter.  He usually has a big poo in his diaper by 6 or 6:15 am anyway, and then it's all over.

I think I only have a couple of options - deal with it (NO!), earlier bedtime, later bedtime, wake to sleep (Don't know how to do this or what it entails specifically - willing to try) and messing with length of nap.

Since I cannot mess with the nap time, does anyone think an earlier bedtime might help?  A later bedtime does not work, since he still gets up at 5 am and then he is really over tired.

What about wake to sleep?

Shorten nap?  The daycare person and I had a chat, and both she and the other lead teacher in the room have tried to wake him early and he just goes back to sleep.  On days when he has had a 1.5 hour nap, he sometimes sleeps better at night and sometimes not.

Any thoughts are appreciated... we are desperate. :(

Offline elfin

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Need new ideas for 5 am waking - slightly long
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2005, 15:50:03 pm »
Hello,

I feel for you as we have dealt with the early wakings on and off for awhile now!  More often than not with my ds it is coinciding with teeth.  Has he gotten his eyeteeth yet?  Have you tried any pain meds before bed?

I will also email Jane (Matthew's mommy) and have her send you a great article on early wakings which helped us out alot.
Carrie

Myles 12/06/03

elfin@thebabywhisperer.com

Offline Maximum

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Need new ideas for 5 am waking - slightly long
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2005, 15:52:45 pm »
Hi there,

I do sympathize with you and these 5:00am wakeup calls. No fun for everyone involved.

I also had a chronic 5:30am early bird who just seemed to wake up at that time on the dot EVERY morning. After letting him fuss it out until 6:00am for weeks which never ended in him going back to sleep, I changed tactics. I would go into his room when he woke, tell him it was NOT time to get up, and then lie in his room on a little mattress (he is still in a crib) and "pretend" to go back to sleep myself. At first he would start wailing and whinging for me but  I would pop my head up every 5 minutes or so and tell him to please be quiet because mumma was trying to sleep. After a few days, he started playing quietly, and then lo and behold, after a few weeks, he started going back to sleep!!!! I think him seeing me "sleeping" in his room showed him that yes, the rest of the world was actually still in bed and no matter what he did, he was not getting out of his crib until it was time to start the day.

And teeth were a pretty big culprit for the early morning wake-ups too...once he got all his teeth, they stopped for the most part.

Anyways, I do not think his nap is too long, and yes, an earlier bedtime may help make up for some lost zzzzzzz's....

HTH. GOOD LUCK!
Kate and Max (2-8-03)

Offline claytonsmum

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Need new ideas for 5 am waking - slightly long
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2005, 16:30:53 pm »
Thanks elfin and maximum - I appreciate just that you even wrote back.  This at times seems so lonely...   :cry:  He's been so high-needs his whole life that I don't yet feel like a normal human yet again... *sigh* What are friends and time alone or a date with hubby - I have forgotten what those mean I think...

At any rate - yes he has the dreaded eye teeth and I suspect, due to swollen gums and hands constantly in mouth, he is getting his molars a bit early, but he got all the teeth early.  Are the molars worse than the eyeteeth?!?  My daughter seemed to never have much of an issue with teething other than runny nose, slight fever, diaper rash and a little cranky.  But Clayton - oh my...

 :roll:

Eyeteeth - AGH - those were hell for over a month and caused an illness so bad when we were at Jr. Olympics for my daughter who ran there this summer in New Orleans (3 weeks before hurricane) that he ended up in the ER in N'awlins!!!  The same hospital you saw on the news under water!

 (sidebar - first in NOLA, we went to the gunshot ER by accident!  :shock:  :shock:  :shock: and the officer said in a BIG southern drawl, 'Honay, yaw een tha wrooong plaaace' - when I looked around and saw more police than patients, and all the patients in handcuffs, I almost passed out!  We were then directed to the peds ER thank the Lord!) :roll:

Proactive Motrin might be a really good idea for the duration now.  Perhaps that will help immensely.  It helped with the eyeteeth.

Thanks!  I will keep my luck posted - we are also going to try a 6:30 pm bedtime to see if that helps lengthen the morning sleep by throwing the cycles off a little bit.

Offline Adryath

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Need new ideas for 5 am waking - slightly long
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2005, 21:50:20 pm »
Hi,

My daughter is a really bad sleeper and she would wake at 5 every morning too ( I think there must be something about 5am..!) 

What I have been doing the last few night and it seems to work, is going in to her at about 4.30 and moving her, tucking her in, turning her over or something, just enough to bring her out of a deep sleep but not enough to wake her.  She has then slept till about 6.00, which is a far more reasonable time. 

Give it a go, good luck xx

Offline claytonsmum

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Need new ideas for 5 am waking - slightly long
« Reply #5 on: October 09, 2005, 01:10:05 am »
Went to the ped this morning since he just wasn't seeming right, and voila! Ear infection!  (that does not explain the month and a half of waking early, but it does explain some things...).  So - we did Motrin at bedtime, early to bed at 630 pm - asleep by about 6:55 pm and he put himself to sleep!  :) 

We'll do some more in the middle of the night with his Prevacid.  Also, we may try the rouse at 430 am if need be, but keeping fingers crossed that the early bedtime will move the cycles to help us.

THANKS!!! :D  :D   Will let you know!

Offline Matthew's Mommy

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Need new ideas for 5 am waking - slightly long
« Reply #6 on: October 09, 2005, 19:01:02 pm »
Hi, I got Elfin's email, and will send you the info on early wakenings.
Jane
Whispering since 2001
Matthew July 27th, 2001
Brendan October 21st, 2004