Waking up early in am?

[Lilasmom]

DD is almost 6.5months old.  She's on a 4 hour EASY (more like a EASA- but it works for us).  She usually wakes at 6:45 and goes to bed at 7.  Her total naps range from 2.5-3.25 hours.  I had posted a message about a week ago about her waking twice a night and not settling unless BF.  Anyhow, that has gotten better.  I really cut back on solids (which were makng her extremely gassy), and now she's only waking once to eat.  I think she's truly hungry, as she takes a full feed and is waking at different times.  However, now for a few mornings she's been waking up a hour earlier (at 5:45am).  I know it's not hunger as she's been fed a few hours before.  She just wakes up and babbles and talks to herself.  This usually goes on until I go get her at 6:45 (her normal waking time).  However, our routine gets totally messed up when she does this.  A few days ago she had a bad day with naps (only napped for a total of 2 hours), and that night she slept great.  Woke up at 1am to eat, then she didn't wake again until 6:45.  Now the last two days she's napped 3 hours total, and she wakes early??  She genuinely seems tired during the day and goes to sleep easily.  Any suggestions??

[teezee]

if she is just waking and not crying - could you just leave her? maybe she will just get back into the groove of things with time. there are so many things going on right now with your lo - developmentally...it could totally have to do with that..could it be a growth spurt or has she had it yet?? if you could post your routine we could take a look as maybe her routine needs to be tweaked...ex longer A times so she is tired enough to sleep..

[Lilasmom]

No, she doesn't cry, just babbles to herself.  I don't go to her unless she's crying or we've reached 6:45am (her normal waking time).  I don't think it's a growth spurt, because she doesn't seem all that more hungry, just waking earlier and wanting to play 

E- 6:45 wake. Feed at 7am (breastfeed) (8:30am 1 tsp cereal)
A
S 9:15am
A 10:30-11
E 11am (breastfeed)
A
S 1pm
A 2:00-3pm
E 3:00pm (breastfeed)
A
S 4:15pm
E 5:00pm (1 tsp fruit)
A
E 6:30pm (breastfeed)
A
S 7:00pm

[teezee]

well lo's generally start dropping the catnap between 6-8 months of age. one of the first signs of lo's needing this is night and / or early wakings. perhaps you want to try stretching that A time just a bit maybe 15 min in the am and maybe to a total of half hr in the pm that way it will push your day forward and lo hopefully won't get to the pt of overtiredness by bedtime. i would def extend A time only by a bit (15 min or so at a time) so lo doesn't get overtired in the process. on those days where she doesn't seem like she is going to make it to a desired time - you can either put lo down for a catnap or (imo this is the best choice) put lo to bed earlier - if needed make it 6 o'clock.

[Lilasmom]

Well, now DD isn't just waking up early, she's waking 4-5 times a night!!!  A few days ago she went through her 6 month growth spurt, but that seems to be done.  Now she's waking sooooo much.  One time out of these wakings I usually feed her.  The rest of them she talks and rolls over in her bed, then gets her arm stuck between the mattress and crib.  Then she'll fling her soother across the floor.  If we don't go in and just let her ramble, it'll go on for hours and hours.  We stopped swaddling her a week and a half ago because she was able to flip on her stomach and then couldn't get back.  She'd be faceplanted into the mattress.  We had a few hard days initially, but she seemed to be doing so much better.  I"m not sure what the problem is.  She's not gassy anymore, or hungry.  SHe's napping great during the day.  We've extended her A time to 2 1/4-2 1/2 hours.  I'm so confused and so tired.  Please help!!

[teezee]

have you dropped the catnap?

some of these wakings could totally be developmental and may just have to be ridden out..but the catnap may have some of the responsibility at this point..could you post the routine for yesterday? how long was A time before bed? what time was bed?

[Lilasmom]

No, we haven't dropped the catnap.  DD doesn't seem to be able to make it through to bed time without the nap.  Here was what yesterday looked like:

A 5:45am Woke (would not go back to sleep)
E 7:00am BF (8:00am 1 tsp cereal)
A
S 8:15am
A10:00
E11:00am (12:00pm 1 tsp fruit)
A
S 12:30pm
A 2:00pm
E 3:00
A
S 4:30pm catnap until 5:30pm (had to wake her up)
A
E 7:00pm
A
S DH attepted to put her down at 7:45pm, but DD didn't fall asleep until 8:45pm.  This bedtime is later than normal, but she slept so much, she wasn't tired at 7 (her normal bedtime).  Now last night she maybe slept 6 houes total (broken up) and today is following yesterday's pattern.

[teezee]

imo 8:15 is too early for the first nap. i understand you are kind stuck between a rock and a hard place as lo is waking so early and i think we have all felt that frusteration at one point of another.

it seems as your lo is overtired and not able to catch up and that is probably due to early wakings as well. i would still try dropping the catnap and possibly putting lo to bed at 5:30 or 6pm for a few days..it may be worth a shot. i think you can slowly start extending A time esp  in the pm as this will also really help push your day forward some and help lo get to the early bedtime...just def keep that extra (and extra) A time very very veyr low key.

6 hrs is def not a good night's sleep for anyone - poor lo! i really hope things start to improve lately. but that early nap in the am is not going to help with the early wakings either..like i said keep trying to extend that A time a bit...keep us posted.

[Lilasmom]

My only worry about dropping the catnap is that she usually wakes around 2 from her afternoon nap.  If she doesn't go to bed until 5:30 or 6pm that's 3 1/2-4hours awake time???  It's a battle to keep her up 2 1/2 hours???  And if I try to keep her up longer than that, it's a 1-2 hour battle getting her down the sleep. ??  See my dilemma??

[teezee]

ok i see - then start extending A time for the next week or so before all the naps. this way lo won't get to the point of being overtired when you do drop that catnap. will be a slower process but easier transition for you and lo right now. does that sound ok to do?