what happen to my great sleeper?

[Meg's Mom]

Lulah's mom, if she deperately needs a morning nap i would keep it to 30min.  I have done this the past 3 days, due the unsually early wake up and it has worked for us.

Strange thing is at 5am it is pitch black here! 

At least today she woke at 5.13 - fussed for 10min and went back to sleep w/o any intervention until 6am.  A huge improvement and i am so grateful.  I will do early bed tonight and let you all know how it goes.

I tried pu/pd and leave on day 1 and 2 of these mad early wakings - she went nuts!  The thing that helped us turn the corner i think was on day 3 , i went in and sat on the floor next to her crib.  But did not get her up or out of the crib until 6am.  Near the end of the time she actually sat down on her own as if to say "okay i give.  If your not going to leave me and not get me up...i might as well relax"     

Ever since (now day 5) i haven't gone back in her room for these wake ups and today was the best so far.

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

Hi There,
Sorry for late reply, no internet connection for a few days  :cry:
Michelle hope things are back on track or getting there. We are doing ok most days a 1.5 or 2 hour nap usually 2.  Alison I think you said your little one still needs a morning nap? My dd was the same needed a nap 2 hours after being up but was cutting back on the pm so I just cut it back slowly until we reached 30 mins, that was 30 mins in bed even if she only slept for 20 or 25. Eventually she was starting to fall asleep at 10.20 and would have been up at 10.30 so on those days I just took her up and continued the day. I did this for about 4 or 5 days then just didnt put her down for her morning nap any longer. Worked well for us I have to say. She still yawns a lot at 10 am which is old nap time but I think its more a habit than anything else, also moved lunch nap foward by 40mins.
Hope everyone else is well 
Fiona

[Alison_3]

Okay ladies-  I need serious help.  This morning was 4:30 again.   My ds was cleary still tired.  He woke up screaming so I went in and he was screaming no matter what I did.  His latest thing is to point to where he wants to go and he wanted out of his room.  So we went out got a drink and a few cheerios and started the day.  He was asleep by 7:20 last night.  Should I try an earlier bedtime?  I know some of you have mentioned that, but I am afraid if he goes to bed any earlier, I'll be getting up at 3:30! :shock:

As for making his morning nap 30 minutes, do I really go wake him after 30 minutes??  Yesterday was horrible too.  He was so cranky in the morning because he got up too early and he's getting two more teeth.  We ran a few early morning errands.  He was asleep in the car immediately.  So I drove a little bit :oops: .  He woke up, we grabbed a bagel together, did a little shopping and went home.  He then stayed up until about 10:45 at which time he took a 1.5 hour nap!    Of course by 3:30 he was miserable and tired so he then slept for 30 minutes and was even more miserable when he woke up!  I just don't know what to do...

I am so tired and cranky myself!!  Dh is sick so no break for me!

[LindseysMom]

I would suggest trying an earlier bedtime.   You may want to try and re-establish 2 naps for a while longer.   In the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child the author says that sometimes when a child is put down to 1 nap too early they can become overtired and then the early wakings start.  He recommends going back to 2 naps to resolve the problem.  Or, if you don't want to go back to 2 naps then try a super early bedtime like 6 pm.   Then hopefully he will catch up on some of his sleep by the early bedtime and sleep til at least 6 am.   Then, if he still wakes up early then I would say he is waking up just to have your company so you would need to stop going to him at such an early hour.  Easier said than done though.  Especially when he is going to get mad when you don't come and protest cry.  Juat a few suggestions, hope you find something that works.

[lulah'smum]

Hi Alison, I would definitely try the earlier bedtime, it always works for us. In saying that, though, the early waking is probably because he is getting 2 new teeth simultaneously - extra painful I'm sure!! He would definitely still be tired at 4.30am though, so I would try giving him some children's paracetamol and resettling him until a more decent hour. If you start getting him up at 4.30am every day then that will be his routine!!

BTW, Tallulah does the pointing thing too. She woke at 7.45pm last night after only being asleep for 45mins. Teething woke her up so my DH went in and straight away she pointed at him then at the door and started "talking" (ie, telling him that she wanted to get up). He just put some bonjela on her dummy, lay her back down again and softly told her to go back to sleep. She screamed as he walked out of the room so we let her whinge for a bit but then she went back to sleep within 2 mins.

HTH and good luck.

[Alison_3]

I'll definitely try the earlier bedtime.  I've given my ds orajel and motrin before bedtime.  I'm guessing by the time 4:30 rolls around the medicine has worn off.  I'll try to go in and resettle him, but he is really out of control crying and can't be consoled.   I think someone on this thread mentioned sitting on the floor early in the morning...should I try that? 

My little guy can't seem to catch a break (or his extremely tired mom!)...he is finally dropping some of his reflux meds.  Then he has to get two teeth at one time! 

I can't believe I complained about my ds getting up at 5:30...right about now I would love that!    

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions.  Sometimes I feel so lonely at 4:30 a.m., but then I remember another lucky one is up at the same time! 

The really frustrating thing is that when my ds is fully rested he is so happy!

[Meg's Mom]

Alison

Sorry for the late reply, I have had a really, really bad day...not due to dd for a change  :shock: .

Yes, I agree w/ everyone...an early bedtime.  If you are afraid of 3.30am wake up call (which I would be too) then do 15mins earlier every couple days until you see a positive result or the opposite (of which I will keep every finger and toe crossed for you that it doesn't go that way).  But you need to find a way to turn the tide as your ds is in overtired mode and you need to get him back the other direction.

Yes, it was me who sat on the floor (and it worked as the next day she slept a bit later and only moaned so I didn't need to go in to her room at all)  I was desperate but refused to let her get up until 6am.  If you do try it - don't interact too much, a few "it's time to sleep darling" and a few pats but not much else.  Have I (or other mods) sent you the pm on early wakings?  I took the idea from this.  I'll send you just now in case it helps you.

My eyes are crossed at this stage so I hope I made sense...feel free to PM me if I can help in any way.  You are going to need to decide, 1 nap or 2 and then we can help w/ a plan for that too.