EARLY WIDE AWAKE CLUB!! WANT SUPPORT? JOIN US!

[texasmom]

Well I thought it appropriate that I join here.  I have an early morning riser - any time b/w 4 and 6.  ARGH.  I am working on extending. 

Anyway, Rina, YAY for you!! 

[Shdef]

I think I found the key to Scotty's early waking. Keep him in the dark and unfed as long as possible. Extend that time every morning as well as tucking him in half an hour later than usual. And consistency. And having his own room with blackout blinds. He now wakes at 7.30 am that is holidays for me!

[rinajack]

We are back to a pretty consistant 5:30 am now, but she sleeps longer if we bring her to bed (which we do ).  Soon though, we will be getting up at 5:30 ourselves, so I just need to get her to sleep until 6am so I can fit in my exercise before she wakes...until then, we are sleeping in as much as we can!!!

[Katet]

I think I found the key to Scotty's early waking. Keep him in the dark and unfed as long as possible. Extend that time every morning as well as tucking him in half an hour later than usual. And consistency. And having his own room with blackout blinds. He now wakes at 7.30 am that is holidays for me!

Absolutely the same as happened for me... although we only shifted the bedtime when he was stalling at bedtime & sleeping longer am & nap... otherwise they get too overtired.

[rinajack]

Did either of you Katet or Scott's Maw find that effective with a younger baby, or just now that they are a little bit older?  I have seen a few posts with babies above 10mo who have found that worked, but none who found it worked on the younger ones...

I never feed my lo until it is time to get up (and she still doesn't want her breakfast, seperate issue), and she stays in the dark until we get up (usually around 7ish) and there has been no change in her wake up time at all.  Used to leave her in her room, but unless I am there with her she gets cranky...so I bring her to bed and she sleeps...

So, does anyone know if that actually works with a younger baby?

[Shdef]

That is a good point. Our technique only started working when he was around 8 mo old. It worked for naps and early wake ups. But there were so many things that threw him off the routine that we had to start again from scratch quite a few times. Bronchiolitis, early monring flights, granny getting him up before time etc

[rinajack]

OK, cool.  I think I will wait a little longer before I get up and do that with her...thanks.

[Katet]

For us too it was about 8mo (dropping cat nap time) & then 13mo when we moved to 1 nap that we did it... neither of the early wake ups lasted long with ds#2... with ds#1 well I was stuck as a catnap in the car on the way to childcare messed it up for us, so no hope.

under 6mo it would be a bit of a matter of playing around with the day naps keeping them shorter etc, esp if she doesn't want a feed any earlier. What time is your first nap?... try delaying that by 10-15mins (doing the extra time as quiet activity in her room.

[rinajack]

naps are terrible already, only 3 x 45 min naps per day.    We have absolutely no sign of EASY in this house at the moment, and illness and teething make it almost impossible to get back.. We are feeling pretty lost.

[lucmom]

How do you delay morning milk or food with older babies?  Ours is 15 months and pretty much screams for milk once I go in at 6:00.

Anyone fearing the time change?  Our LO has been doing early wake ups (pre-6am) for about 6 weeks.  We think it's due to a cold, transitioning to one nap, and maybe some developmental stuff too.  All teeth except for 2 year molars are in, thank goodness.  His wake ups are inconsistent with time, and with the cold, I'm waiting to try much to tweak the schedule, but I'm nervous about the time change....

[JoC]

My ds wakes at 5ish for milk, which i normally give him, but i am awake for the day then, and as i am back at work i am shattered. Decided 3 days ago enogh was enough. Doing wi/wo to get him to 6.30-7am. 3rd morning tomorrow, think it will take a while as he is so used to being fed that early. I think you can change things (ha ha see if i am sayingthis in a weeks time  but it takes a while if they are used to one thing.

jo

[andibig]

lucmum
Sasha is about the same age as your LO and she still has milk 1st thing in the morning she will just not take brekkie b4 then. is it only when you go in the room he starts demanding milk/food. with Sasha she was a 5am waker for ages. even feeding her and putting back down in her cot didn't work.
in the end i would leave her for longer periods b4 going in as she wasn't crying for me just talking to her self!!!
she has now cut down to 1 nap and very rarely wakes b4 7am-which is ironic since i started this post (LOL).
rinajack-i think with Sasha a lot of it was to do with her getting older and able to manage longer awake periods which solved our early wakings.cos she was able to manage longer periods it was easier to move naps later.
HTH

[clairewillsmum]

hello all! oh you are making me feel so much better! my ds  (aged 9 months today!)wakes up between 4.45am and 5.30am every day. I give him a bottle which he wolfs down and try to put him back to sleep. sometimes this works for up to 1 hour but by that time he has usually pooped in his nappy, needs a change and is ready to properly start the day. My 3 and a half year old ds sometimes also starts the day at 6am too. great! any tips? is my 9month old waking due to hunger? I will post my routine in a bit. please help as the sleep deprivation is not good (yes I know I should be in bed now!)

[rinajack]

6:50am today with no wakeups YAY!!!!!

[clairewillsmum]

hi it's claire again. ds still awake at 5.15am. left ds until 5.30 then he had bottle but would not settle back after I put him in his cot. we greeted the day at 6am! yes it was still dark and yes the streetlights were still on! routine is as follows:

5.15ish - wake has 5oz bottle of milk
6am ish up
7am breakfast (cereal & toast)
8am ds is ready for bed again now - will sleep anywhere from 30 mins to 1 and half hours
9.30 ususally up by now
10/10.30 4oz bottle milk
11am snack
12pm dinner (savoury + sweet + yog)
12.20-12.30 bed - will sleep anywhere from 1 hour to 2 and a half hours
3pm always up by now
3 - 3.15 4 oz bottle milk
4 pm snack
5pm dinner (savoury + sweet)
6pm bath
6.20pm 4-5oz bottle milk
6.30 -6.45pm bed - usually goes straight to sleep as he is absolutely shattered by now!

would a later bedtime help? but how do I do this when he is so shattered by 6.30pm?  I know it is a long time between his bedtime and when he wakes but as he sometimes wakes at 4.30 but usually nearer 5-5.15, I still find this early morning unacceptable!
oh yes and I am back at work 2 days a week now too. thankfully no more than that! thanks for any help & advice girlies!