early wakings & deep sleep

[shimmer]

My 5 month old has a terrible night waking problem.  We keep trying to put her to bed earlier, but she spends an hour trying to pass painful gas as she lays there and so the earlier bedtime never occurs.  She also has an early waking problem that is driving me insane, because pat/sh is not working!  It works for naps, and for the beginning of the night, but after 4 AM she is ridiculously restless!  She canNOT get into a deep sleep.  I feed her at 4, so she can't be hungry.  And she isn't trying to play - her eyes are closed and she is trying to sleep, but she canNOT get into a deep sleep!  I spent this morning by her crib for 3 hours trying to get her SOME sleep,even if it wasn't deep.  She did end up with a wet diaper, but that wasn't until later.  Would that keep her from falling asleep? 

How do I fix this?  Is it biological?  Or is there some way she can get that rest?

[andibig]

what time is she going to bed and how long are her naps? you say she has gas at bedtime do you feed her just before shes put down? do you think she might have gas when you feed her at 4. also is it getting light in her room at 4?

[leahbeth]

We are having the exact same problem!!!! I was just about to post before I read your's!

After 4:30 I cannot get my LO  back into deep sleep either. She is not awake for the day, very tired and still wants to sleep! (She isn't a very good night sleeper either and gas has also been the story of her short, sweet life!  )

I'm wondering about the blackout blinds or maybe w2s, I've read other moms trying this for a constant 5:30 wakeup. My Lo's early wakeups aren't habitual, I don't think. Just constant wakings from 4:30 on!!! I'll be following this thread!

Thanks for posting and hang in there!!

[debo620]

Hi, I was having the early wake -up problem at 4:22am exactly everymorning. I have been doing w2sleep at 3:22am. I did It one night and it worked but then the next two nights were off b/c d/s woke at 2am. I thought it may have fixed itself but then again Sat night awake at 4:22am. Last night went to go do w2sleep at 3:22am and when opening the door--ds seemed to already be stirring so I left---anyway didn't wake up at 4:22. I am going to continue with w2sleep for the next 2 or 3nights.
My son is also waking for the day at 5:30am. Once I tackle the 4:22am waking, I may try w2sleep for the 5:30am wake-up.
I would much prefer a 6:30am or so start to the day!
Good luck,
Deboarh

[x95stocchier]

Anyone have updates here?  I am having the same problem and looking for a solution.  The AM wakes are not consistant in timing, so not sure w2s would work for us, but anytime from 4 or so on, he starts waking...often settles but only for 20-30 min, and so on.  Once or twice I'll go in and reposition him, but again, just gives him another 20 min or so.     DS is 5 mo. How about all of you?  Developmental thing maybe?  If any of you have tried something that works, I'd be interested to hear.
Thanks!

PS I read in the 10 reasons why babies wake at night thread:

* Early Wakeups
> First nap too early in the day, so is robbing from night-time sleep

Fix by delaying the time of the first nap

It's hard to delay morning nap..he's so tired from being up off and on since 4 AM!

[andibig]

Anyone have updates here?  I am having the same problem and looking for a solution.  The AM wakes are not consistant in timing,

i'm just guessing here but is he having a growth spurt? if night wakings are inconsistent it can indicate a growth spurt. if its the same time every night its a habit

[debo620]

No updates or progress at our house. My son is still waking at 5:30am and is not hungry. He is usually back in bed for his first nap by 7:15am!. I tried one night to do w2sleep for the 5:30am wake-up and failed miserably. he woke up fully and I had to do pu/pd for over 1hour to finally get him back to sleep from 5:45-6:30am. Last night my son was awake from 4am-5:30am talking and what not but not crying. must have fallen back to sleep and then woke up for the day at 6:30am Needless to say he was tired this am and went back to bed for first nap at 7:45am. It seems as though after 4am just not a deep sleep.
It is so frustrating b/c it really messes with the EASY, especially since he is not hungry when he initially wakes up.
I can't seem to to find any solutions.
Deborah

[Mom to M&M]

My DD has been doing this too - last two days she has woken at 4 but not cried out at all for us - we hear her talking and rolling and this morning laughing (!) on the monitor. She finally fell back into a restless sleep from 4:50-5:20 and then a deeper sleep from 5:45-6:30. In her case, we are guessing it's developmental - she's started standing well supported and starting to pull up. So we are just rolling with it for now - of course I'm exhausted though - even though she doesn't cry out for us I am a light sleeper and hear her and have trouble going back to sleep!

[macsmum]

just a thought but if your lo is waking up early but happy and doesn't need u have u tried turning the monitor off, would you still hear if she cried etc/ my monitor has lights on it but when they reach red it beeps so i wake up if haven't already
just an idea it may help u get a bit more of the precious sleep

[debo620]

I wish I could turn the monitor off!---we don't have one. lo's room is right next to our's---small 1950's bungalow---988 sq ft.
Deborah

[macsmum]

theres always ear plugs, sorry other than these cant think of anything else

[debo620]

yes, I have taken to sleeping with the pillow over my head to drain out the sound of my son aswell as those darn birds.
Deborah

[macsmum]

my problem is the A55 across the road those wagons drive me mad not too bad at night but if mac has a bad night i cant catch up next day for the traffic

[leahbeth]

Sorry to hear that many of you are still having the early wakings. 

We've seen some progress as of late.  I've darkened the room completely so that no morning sun can come in. It is pitch dark! Last night I also decided to give my Lo a bottle instead of bf, which I was only doing at night for the past 1 1/2 weeks. She drank it all at 4:30 and went back into deep sleep until 6:50, her usual wake-up. Normally, she would be up numerous times after the feed. We've also just started cereal two days ago, in the morning, and she has just turned 6 months so this all could be developmental!
Good luck to all!

[x95stocchier]

Although it's annoying to me to be awakened, the bigger problem is HIM not sleeping, and thus throwing off the EASY all day (every day!)