Yes....another post about early waking..but Pls help anyway...

[NicoleW]

Meg has NEVER had early wakings. she's almost 18mos. Until last month, she used to sleep til about 8 or 8:30. bed between 6:30-7. now she's going to bed at  7 and waking at 6:30-6:45am which is FAR too early for me......
this mornign i went in and the first thign she said was "baba" (bottle) so i got her a bottle laid her down and went back to my bed. i'm not feelign well so i was really tired. well, she drank it all and fell back asleep until 8am....so i'm thinking maybe she's hungry? she hasn't been eating lots of dinner or her night bottle?
any suggestions or confirmations? maybe I'll do wake to sleep if this keeps up....


any help is greatly appreciated as i have seemed to bypass the early waking problem until Now...


Nicole:)
Edit: I don't think she is hungry....something else is causing her to wake and if you read further you'll see her night sleep is getting shorter adn shorter:(

[Carmela's Mom]

It does sound like she's waking hungry if she's going back to sleep but IMO at 18 months they no longer need 13-14 hours of sleep a night.  They need 13 total for the day so if she's still waking early in the morning, then I think it's time to either make her bedtime later or accept the fact that she's growing up and doesn't need all that night time sleep anymore. 

[NicoleW]

Hi Carmela's mom,
thanks.
I knew somone would say that and perhaps you're rigth, but but i have a hard time excepting that b/c we went from 17rhs of sleep/day to 13 as soon as we went to one nap! i can't get the nap to lengthen either. it is only 1hr to 1hr 15min and she wakes up tired and cranky everytime adn is tried all afternoon. So, i think she is overtired by bedtime....but if i put her to bed earlier, it means i wake earlier....
all these sleep problems started 6wks ago when we went to one nap, so i'm really convinced they are linked! and it is drving me nuts! i was just about to come on here and post about the stupid nap b/c she just woke up AGAIN at 1hr 15min..which we all KNOW is NOT a long enough nap for a 17 1/2 mo old!sigh......i'm getting so frustrated...and dont' know what to do.
if she woke up happy, i'd think it was fine, but she is cranky evrytime, crying and whining which is not like her either.....
and about the later bedtime-i can't because she is down for her nap between 12 and 1 and up by 2 so she is already dead tired by 6:30-7pm:(

any other suggestions?

[rach]

Hi Nicole

Have you heard of Tracy's wake to sleep method?  What this involves is going in and rousing your little one from their sleep (they probably won't wake fully) an hour earlier than they are waking themselves.  Do something like change their nappy and then explain that its still early, lets go back to sleep.  Settle them back down.  They may be cranky at first, but it will get them out of the early morning wake habit.  The goal is to extend the length of sleep, giving them more energy which in turn will help them through to nap time, making that nap time sleep better quality too.  Do this for 3 nights running and see how you get on, you may have to persist for longer, but you'll see the benefits in the long run.

I hope that this helps!

Rachel xx

[NicoleW]

Hi Rachel, so she wakes at about 6:45 am which isn't even 12hrs...should i go in at 5:45am?

i was wondering if i should just move her a bit to stir her or get her up and change her diaper b/c in Tracy's book it sounds like for atoddler you change their diaper....but doesn't say if that is the for sure protocol for a toddler.....



anyone tried this???
nicole

[ava'smom]

We went through this at about the same age with Ava. Gone were my 8am start times--she was waking at 6 or 6:30. I am sooo not a morning person! But, it was really just a phase--after a few weeks she lengthened her sleep again. Not all the way back to 8am, but a more tolerable 7:30 or so. It happened around the time we were switching to one nap, so that may have had something to do with it. I know that wake-to-sleep works for a lot of people, but I was too scared to try it, and frankly too tired to get up that early.  But it very well may have worked, and is worth a shot I guess. Worst case, you have a REALLY early start one day and then don't do it again! 

It's always something, isn't it?? Now she's back to waking earlier(6;30 or 7), and I'm hoping it's another phase! (Please, God, please!!)

Let us know how it's going.

[Harrisonsmummy]

Hi, I also know what you are going through - but my lo wakes at 5.20am! This too started when we went to one nap - it all went fine for a week or so, then we hit a cold, and downhill from there!! I think they gradually get more sleep deprived over a period, so at the moment with the early wakings I am trying to get in 2 naps again, and an early bedtime if I can to see if we can get our equilibrium back, then push naps again when we are in a better start position......

Justine

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

Hmm think it must be the age, dd was an 8.00 am waker with a bedtime of 7.40pm. When we came back from a trip she started at 6.30 am as she wasnt used to the noise outside any more- we were only gone 3 days! Anyway she did this for over a week and is now back to between 7.10 and 7.30am usually. If your lo is wakening hungry what about a snack before bedtime? I give dinner around 5.30 5.45pm and then a snack of yogurt between 6.30/6.45pm. Our lunchtime nap has also gone from 2 hours to 1.5 ( we transitioned at about 13 months), so am thinking they just do need less sleep.
Fiona

[imsmum]

What time is her nap?

[Lan]

I would try wake to sleep for the nap, rather than the night time sleep. Go in around the 1 hour mark.  My son also only slept for 1hr 15 minutes when he first went to 1 nap, but after about a month he went to sleeping 2-3 hours at the nap. It just takes a while for them to get used to the new routine. I think the amount of night time sleep your daughter is getting is fine, 11-12 hours is normal, it's the nap you need to lengthen. Then once she is napping 2 hrs or more you could slowly adjust bedtime to 7.30 pm and that might help her sleep till 7 am.

My son reugalry wakes at 6 am or before so I think you're lucky even now!

[NicoleW]

HI ladies, thanks for your comments....

her nap averages at about 12:30pm...sometimes 12. but when you only sleep an hour, you're up at 1:00 or 1:30 and so she's overtired by bedtime...i've tried putting her down at 6:30 but she was up at 6:30 the next day or earlier and i'm not cut out to start the day before 7 or 7:30.....i wouldnt' mind her 11.5hr nights IF she was taking a 2hr nap....
Lan,  I have been holding onto the hope of her nap lengthening for a while now. everyone told me after 3-4wks it would get longer...but here we are at almost 2 months....and still....NOTHING:(..I agree with you though. i can't really lengthen a 11.5hr night sleep....But her nap has to get longer....i will try the wake to sleep at 1hr...but i'm afraid it will just wake her up and then she'll be up...do you think i could do it earlier...at like 30min or 45min?(this way if she does wake, she'll still be tired enough to go back to sleep?)
thanks ladies.....I'll keep praying her nap gets longer!!

Nicole

[Lan]

Another Mum (I think Meg's Mum??) used the wake to sleep successfully for naps, I think she just justly moved her daughter's blalnket so that she stirred but didn't wake properly.  Ican't remember the details but you could try a search for wake to sleep and naps on this forum. You could try going in at 45 minutes but that's the time they usually transition between phases of sleep so you might wake her up!

[NicoleW]

Okay......i'm getting annoyed and losing my sense of humour.....i'm ready today to do wake to sleep for her nap....
One problem...she wont' GO to SLEEP! its been 40min and she is still totally playing and being amonkey. she doens't even look tired when i go in. (but i know she is).....argh!

patience is a Virtue:) (its also a Word!)


Nicole

[Carmela's Mom]

We are going through the same thing for naps as are a few other Moms....

One of the ladies suggested to me to do a 10 minute cuddle before putting her in.  That helped us for awhile.  You may want to give it a shot.  Today was a bad day for us as well...but I'm hoping the cuddle is still working!

[NicoleW]

carmela's mom..you mean cuddling before hand helps her sleep longer?
i wish! lol....we have cuddled lots before--doesnt' seem to do anything for her.

SO....i tried the wake to sleep today...but do you think this is a rare exception?
she spent 45MIN!! gabbing (at the most, its usually 15min)...i could not get her to go to sleep so when she finally did, i thought....oh, she's only going to sleep an hour anyway! well, i went in at 1hr and she was already stiring...moving about etc...so i hid...lol...close one! few (haha)...
i went back in about 5min later adn just pulled her blanket out from her arm, her eyes rolled open a tiny tiny bit...and she looked so dopey...BUT she was awake withing 5-10minlater~:(..sigh....
i guess i'll try again tomorrow



Nicole