Why is he waking at 5 am??

[Sabine]

My 6 month old consistently wakes at 5am.  He can pacify himself (thumbsucker) and will lie in his crib and talk.  I have let him do that (unfortunately I can't get back to sleep) and have tried to feed him at 6 and let him wait and feed until he gets cranky anyways by the time I put him down for his first nap he is exhausted and will only sleep 45 min.  I have tried to feed at 5 and sometimes he will go back to sleep until 7 when I wake him top him up and start the day but this doesn't happen consistently.

I don't know what to do.  I would like the day to start at 6 if possible, 5 is too early b/c I am also working and need some sleep.  Any suggestions???

His schedule if he wakes at 5 is something like this:

5am BF and bed
7am BF top up and up for day
11am EBM 4 oz
3pm EBM 5 oz
500 solids
630pm EBM 5oz
730 bed
1100 df  6-8 oz

If he wakes at 6 this is his schedule:

6am BF and bed
10am EBM 4 oz
2pm EBM 5 oz
500 EBM 4 oz
630pm solids
730 EBM 4oz and bed
1100 df  6-8 oz



We have also just started cereal...he isn't a big fan of solids either.

Any advice please??

[thitz]

Hello,  my lo sometimes wakes early and I find keeping a consistent routine is important.  Your lo may be getting confused cause sometimes when he wakes he eats and goes to bed again right away and other times he eats and he gets to play.

So, I would suggest that tonight you put him to bed at 6:30pm latest.  Cause I'm thinking the early wakings are cause he's not getting enough sleep.  Do your usual df, as early as 10:00pm if he wakes earlier cause of the earlier bedtime.

When he wakes early in the morning try to delay your first feed as long as possible either by pu/pd or pt/sh or just a little playtime.  Then feed him,play and try to get nap time to within a half hour of your goal and don't feed again till 11:00am (he can't be too starved before then cause he's only drinking 4oz).  This is how you can reset your routine regardless of wake up time.  So that at night you'll end up with the same feed times and an earlier bedtime.

Hope that helps, Tarri

[Sabine]

what time should I get him up to feed and what would my schedule look like if I'd start at 6?  also, what happens if he only naps 45 min?? do I follow the schedule and keep him up if he won't go back down??

sabine

[thitz]

Hi Sabine,

I looked back thru my log to see what my lo was doing at 6 months and she was still having a catnap but dropped it in a couple weeks.  So assuming your lo is still catnapping...I would do something like this.

6:30-7:00am Eat
8:30-8:45 Nap 1
11:00 Eat
1:00 Nap 2
3:00 Eat
4:30 Catnap
5:30 eat
6:30-7:00 Bedtime
10:00 df

Also, I'm not sure what you mean about 'keep him up' if he has short naps.  How are his naps in general?  I'm thinking if you have a lot of short naps it's probably time to drop the catnap.  But yes, I would stick to the routine within a half hour, otherwise your lo will never learn it.

Keep asking questions, hope it helps. Tarri

[Sabine]

i started a new thread b/c i hadn't heard back so thanks for the reply  

I tried what you suggested yesterday and put him down at 630 asleep by 645 and he woke up at 5:40 am talking in his crib.  By 6am he was hungry so I BF him and he took a big feed.  How do I get him to go back  to sleep to start at 6:30??  He usually sucks his thumb to pacify himself.  I can't use a soother.

If he stays up untiil 6:30 then he'd be up one hour until fed and then put him down at 8:30 for a nap would mean he'd be up 3 hrs and thus overtired and doomed for a short 45 min nap. 

How should I proceed??

[thitz]

Hi Sabine,

I think moving wake up from 5:00am to 5:40am is a HUGE success      I would stick with the 6:30 bedtime for a week and see if he consistently wakes closer and closer to 6:00am.

I think you did great by feeding him at 6:00am when he was hungry and I wouldn't try to put him back to sleep.  Just start your day.  This way he'll learn that after he eats it's always playtime!

Did you keep him up till around 8:30am and did he have a 45min first nap?  If so, maybe put him down a little earlier, maybe 8:15 and see how the nap goes.  But try your darndest to not feed again till 11:00am and stick with the 6:30 bedtime.

Keep asking questions Good Luck today, Tarri

[Sabine]

success...last night.  followed your suggestion and bed by 645.  he did a df at 1030 and wokeup at 550am  

but he was showing tired signs by 745 so i did wind down and he only slept for 45 min :cry: but I guess I should've kept him up until 8.  My fault. He has been up for 3 hours now (11:30am) so I am going to put him down earlier for a nap (instead of 12).

i have consolidated his evening bottles into one so this is what our routine looks like now :

6am BF
715am solids
800 bed
1015 EBM ~5oz
1200 nap (1130 if up from prev nap)
215 EBM
400 catnap
515 EBM then bath etc
600 solids
630 bed
1030 df

One question...are solids at 6 too late??

Thanks again for your help.

Sabine

[thitz]

Awesome stuff!  And I think solids at 6:00pm is just perfect.

Have a good morning tomorrow Tarri

[Sabine]

Another update...put him to bed at 630pm last night.  Took 8oz at DF beautifully, dh changed his diaper but it probably wasn't put on tight enough :? .  DS woke at 4:30 am.  I went in at 5 am b/c he was crying and discovered he was soaked :oops: .

Changed and BF him and let him fall back asleep until 7am and started our day then...just a little glitch....hope it won't revert back to the 430 am wakings.

I'll keep you posted.

Sabine