Author Topic: 5.30 start - how do I play it?  (Read 2756 times)

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Offline Finns mum

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5.30 start - how do I play it?
« on: May 25, 2006, 14:22:32 pm »
My 8 week old is on the 3 hour EASY. He was waking in the night around 3 or 4am and we then started the routine at 7.30am. Recently, he's started sleeping much longer through the night and usually wakes for a feed at around 5.30am if not later. A 6.30 or 7 wake is fine - I start the day's routine then, and he sleeps through until 10.30. The trouble is, I just don't know how to play it when he wakes at 5.30. I've tried everything to make it a 'night feed' - feed in the dark, minimum eye-contact, straight back to bed etc, but it doesn't work - he's awake, alert and ready to start the day. I usually end up taking him downstairs for some A time before I can put him back to bed, but I'm worried that this is reinforcing 5.30 as a good time to start the day! He also is unlikely to sleep through til the 10.30 feed either which upsets the routine for the rest of the day. I can't feed at 7.30 as this is too close to the last feed plus leaves very little S time. So, 2 questions: Should I start the day's routine at 5.30 or will this be reinforcing it and make it harder for him to sleep later? And if so, how do I put him straight back to sleep when he's clearly more awake than I am?! Secondly, how can I fit a 5.30 feed into the rest of the routine? I usually feed at 7.30 (or at least, I used to!), 10.30, 1.30, 4.30, 6.30 and DF. Any help greatly appreciated!

Offline teezee

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2006, 14:28:37 pm »
yes imo you would be reinforcing this early wake up time. there are a couple options i could see that fit..don't know if everyone will agree with them - pls correct me if i am wrong!

1. give  your lo a half feeding at 5:30 and then finish it at the normal feeding time at 7:30
2. you may need to tweak lo's routine slightly - maybe extend A time here or there by ten or 15 min..maybe even just 5 minutes to start with...this is the last thing i would try right now though.
3. if you allow lo to sleep through the am he is just making up for the lost sleep from 5:30 to 7:30 and that's probably the reason for the early waking. instead of offering or allowing the sleep in the morning as from being up that early he is obviously tired - offer a shorter nap and then opt for an earlier bedtime if needed so lo can catch up on sleep then.

good luck!
Tawnya
Mommy to Alecksandria
June 11, 2005




Offline Finns mum

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2006, 10:41:22 am »
Any suggestions on how to do a half-feed when breast-feeding? He only ever takes from one anyway, and can feed for anything from fifteen for forty-five minutes, so is very hard to know how much he's getting!
How would you do the shorter nap that you said in point 3? Do you mean put him down for a nap and then get him up again at 7.30 for the rest of the feed? I've not yet figured out how to put him down after his 5.30 feed without some A time as he is always so awake. Just to make it worse though, he's also impossible to put down if he's overtired so extending the nap times could be dangerous...!!!
Thanks for the help so far!

Offline KellyC

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2006, 12:43:46 pm »
When you say he stays awake when you put him back down after the 5.30 feed is he crying or is he happy?  If he's happy I would just leave him so he knows it's the middle of the night!  If he starts crying then you can go to him and help him to go back to sleep with shush/pat.  I would make sure with all nightfeeds that you stop the feed once the strong sucking stops so he's only feeding to satisfy his hunger and not for comfort.  Hopefully if you do this he'll take a top-up at 7.30 when you can start with your normal routine. 
Kelly x
Mummy to Zander (2005), Nathaniel (2007) and Caleb (2009)


Offline Finns mum

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2006, 14:08:39 pm »
When I leave him , he starts off happy but eventually starts crying. As yet, no amount of shush-patting has settled him at that time, so I've ended uptaking him out of the nursery after half an hour. Thanks for the feeding tip, I shall try that next time!

Offline teezee

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2006, 14:32:07 pm »
if he is up at 5:30 and you give him A time that then obviously throws off the whole routine for the day...so when you give him that A time and put him down for a nap - how long does he usually sleep? i would wake him after say half the usual sleep time so that he isn't 'making' up for lost sleep at this time. after a few days of this and he should't still be waking that early and as kelly says put him in his room after the feeding if he does wake and then try shh pat - he prob isn't settling now b/c he isn't tired as he's making up for the sleep with a long am nap.

also if you could post your lo's entire daily routine we could take a look and see if we see anything else :)
Tawnya
Mommy to Alecksandria
June 11, 2005




Offline Finns mum

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2006, 14:51:34 pm »
If I put him down at around 6.30 - 7, he'll then usually sleep til around 9/9.30 or maybe later.

In theory(!) this is the routine:
7.30: E
8.00: A
9.00: S
10.30: E
11.00: A
12.00: S
1.30: E
2.00: A
3.00: S
4.30: E
5.00: A
6.00: Bath, wind-down
6.30: S
10/11: DF

So, if I give him a half-feed (as best I can!) at 5.30, and he doesn't settle, should I give him some A time and then put him down for a short nap before getting him up again at 7.30? And should I then carry on with the routine as normal?
Thanks for the help!

Offline teezee

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2006, 15:02:49 pm »
personally that's what i would do. give him a regular amt of A time though and then continue on with the day with a short nap and then so on. it may screw things up for a few days but it will hopefully all balance itself out.
Tawnya
Mommy to Alecksandria
June 11, 2005




Offline Finns mum

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #8 on: May 26, 2006, 15:15:56 pm »
Cheers, will try it tomorrow. Though probably he'll either sleep til 7 or 4 just to confuse things even more!

Offline teezee

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #9 on: May 26, 2006, 15:18:14 pm »
:) good luck!! keep us posted!! :)
Tawnya
Mommy to Alecksandria
June 11, 2005




Offline Finns mum

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2006, 14:42:42 pm »
He woke at nearly 6 this morning! Took him off mid-feed and he didn't cry or anything, which I had been a bit worried about. Tried briefly to put him down, but didn't spend long as it was obvious he was wide awake and not ready for sleep! Took him downstairs for some A time, and he got tired pretty quickly. Took him back up for bed at about 6.45 and he went straight to sleep. Woke him up again for the rest of the feed at 7.30 - he seemed ok but I was tired!!! Have continued with the rest of the routine, and it seems okay so far. Just got to wait and see what happens tonight now!

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #11 on: May 28, 2006, 03:36:03 am »
just a thought - he 'may' have his internal clock set to earlier rather than later...instead of taking lo downstairs for some A time - keep him in his room with the lights low and little or no talking and keep it like a night waking if you aren't ready to start the day kwim? if you are ready to start the day..then make sure he has a decend A time (like the usual morning A time as far as length) and then put him down for the nap. just a couple suggestions - hopefully what you did will help and you can ignore my comments ;)

good luck hun!
Tawnya
Mommy to Alecksandria
June 11, 2005




Offline Finns mum

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #12 on: May 28, 2006, 14:43:17 pm »
Was a 5.20 wake this morning, but otherwise we just repeated yesterday's routine. Was clear he wasn't going to go down for a nap, so took him downstairs again.
Am definitely not ready to start the day at this time though! In an ideal world, would not be ready til about 10am but guess that'll have to wait another 18 years! So maybe I will try some quiet awake time in the nursery. Have been treating the feed itself like a night feed, but must admit, once it's been obvious he isn't going to go down afterwards, have given him up and taken him downstairs for some normal A time. Tomorrow, I'll try keeping the lights off and sitting with him quietly until he (hopefully!) shows signs of tiredness. Whilst it would obviously be great if he regularly slept through til 7, I can't really complain about him going through til 5.30 at 8 weeks! It would just be nice if he'd go straight back to sleep afterwards, so I could catch up a bit myself!
Thanks for the half-feed tip by the way, at least I can keep to the routine for the rest of the day!

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #13 on: May 29, 2006, 04:03:27 am »
i wouldn't make his bedtime much later but have you tried 15 min to a half hr later? i mean your lo IS doing great for his age - he really is! don't know if you have mentioned this already but are you doing a dream feed with your lo? if not, this may help you 'time' the wake ups a bit better so that feedings are more 'on track' without having that wake up..
Tawnya
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Offline Finns mum

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Re: 5.30 start - how do I play it?
« Reply #14 on: May 30, 2006, 18:18:36 pm »
Yes, we do a dream feed somewhere between 10 and 11 depending on the day. Actually, it doesn't seem to make a difference whether he gets fed at 10 or 11 as to when he wakes in the morning.
I tried to keep his activity in his room in low light yesterday morning, but he just didn't seem to get tired! Jumped as soon as I saw a yawn and tried to put him to bed with no luck. Must admit I gave up in the end and took him downstairs for a bit and he got tired really quickly and then went down easily. Still, will try again tomorrow!
Today was all over the place as we had to fit the routine around an appointment for his jabs. He's okay at the moment, but I'm prepared for him to start feeling bad and everything to fall apart for a couple of days but we'll see!
Have got a black-out blind but it still lets in light, so tonight we've tried taping it to the window to try to stop the sun coming through in the morning and waking him early. Even if he wakes from hunger, maybe it will remind him that it's still night-time. Here's hoping...!