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

[OliverRowland]

Hello fellow early risers.  Thakn you for welcoming me.  My lo's 5am fart is my new alarm clock!  Good grief!  Does anyone else have gas issues...or should i say lo have gas issues?  We had a week of 6am-6:15am w/u a couple of weeks ago but that was only becasue lo didn't pass gas nor go poo for 6 days!  (The 6 monthers intestinal development i guess)...it was very nice and he diddn't seem bothered at all that he hadn't gone in a few days.
What do you all do with your lo's when they wake up so early?

[OliverRowland]

just when i thought it couldn't get any worse (i know it could but it is just the way i feel right now)...Not only am i dealing with early wake up but we are now doing 25min naps in the afternoon.

[Grace's Mom]

OliverRowland...right when my dd turned 6 months old everything went crazy on us.  Early wakings and 3-4 30 minute naps every single day.  The good news is, it did get better. We worked on nights first.  We put Grace to bed earlier than we had been which slowly got her wakings a bit later and later.  During the day we focused on trying to figure out if she need more or less sleep.  Through much trial and error naps started to lengthen.  We still have a 30 minute nap once a day but all is much improved. All that to say that I completely understand.  It hard, hard, hard, but it will get better, I promise.         

[andibig]

Oliverrowland.
At 6 months LOs sleep (inc naps and nights) can go completely bonkers!Like graces mum said its usually a sign that their naps need tweaking (probably cos they drop their catnap around this time.)
in regards to gas is your LO beginning on solids?if so what kinds of foods are you offering.might help if we could see your routine

[OliverRowland]

HI Sasha's mum,
Yes, I have been readin re the 6 month crazy time!  I initially wrote in the general sleep section re early wake ups and a suggestion was that my ds was getting too much daytime sleep.  We had finally developed a good routine and he was becoming a star napper BUT mornings were beginning to get earlier.  He has never woken up at 7am (though i really would love it!) but he was regularly up at 6am. He was having 2 good naps (not unusual to do two 2hr naps) and a 30min catnap. Then alseep in bed by 7:15-7:30.  We were also holding him in the ams so that he would sleep t'ill 7am (bad I know).   But then am's started to get early ...5am.  And he was starting to do 10min catnaps and even regect them.  I made the mistake of dropping the catnap when ds was at 2.5hr awake time b/w naps and to bed 30min earlier.  But we have recently (couple of days giving him a catnap!)
This is our present schedule"

Awake: b/w 5-5:30 we have in the past held him to try and get some sleep...he may get another 30-60min before 7am.  Yesterday we did and left him alone but he never went back to sleep and we started our day at 6:30.  This am he woke at 3am! we left him and he finally went back to sleep at 4:20am but was awake at 5:30...gave up and went in held him and we both fell right back to sleep until 7am.
E: brf 7
A: (solids 8:30)
S: alseep by 9:30-10:45/11 (he has slept t'ill 11:30 a couple of times but i notice when he sleeps long like that his pm nap is VERY short)
E: 11 brf
A: (solids 12:30)
S: asleep by 1:30- well, this one is any where lately from 25min to 90min
E: 3
A:
S: catnap 5:00-5:30 (this when i offer it but doesn't mean he gets a full 30min)
A: (solids 5:30)
S: asleep by 7-7:20

We have done some tweeking lately and I am just not sure where to do now?!?!?!? 
The 3am wake up this morning after reintroducing the catnap was disheartening!

Re the gas....we have been dealing with it from day one!  I have tried changing my diet , had him on Pepcid for a bit (not a case of reflux in the end).  It was an issue before solids were introduced but he would wake at 6am with gas instead.  We introduced cereal at 51/2 months but stopped after not having pooped for 6days (but we also had later wake up!).  But the week after introduced pears instead and am following BW's suggestion on solid intro.

Any advice or insight you may have would be GREATLY appreciated!
E

[rinajack]

Try not to be disheartened by early wake after putting catnap in.  It will take at least a few days of consistency to get the wakeup to come later.  There is no overnight cure to early wakeups.

Re the holding in the morning issue.  I used to do this (unfortunately for me it stopped working).  I had a time from which dd could come to my bed (eg 5am but you can choose whatever).  And if she woke up before that time, resettled in cot.  From that time on, can come in my bed for a cuddle.  My thoughts on this were - am I starting as I mean to continnue?  And the answer was yes, I loved the idea of having a snuggle sleep for an hour or to every morning.  I am actually disappointed that we don't get this anymore, but when we try seh just plays with us so we still do it if we don't want to get up, but it isn't for extending her sleep anymore.

[OliverRowland]

Hello Rina jack!  Thank you for your encouraging words.
On the same note, i have been wondering about my night time put to sleep method.  For lo naps, I always put him down awake after a wind down and give him a dummie once in the crib and hands on his arms to keep him them from flapping around and knocking his dummie out.  he usually falls asleep in no more than 5 min.  The catnap is done in my arms.  But at night we have had the same routine since his first few weeks....including me holding and rocking him to sleep with dummie in mouth and as soon as his eyes a shut I put him in the crib (i love this time with him). I am hoping that this isn't coming back to bight me in the bum months down the road....what do you think?

[andibig]

oliver rowland
a lot of mums still rocked their babies to sleep until they were about 17 months!! If you both enjoy it then the general rule is as long as its not causing a problem during the night (ie consistent night wakings) and he expects it every time he wakes then carry on. i have to admit that we sometimes put sasha in bed with me with early wakings just so i can grab an extra bit of shut eye
in regards to naps as you've said that when he has a long am nap his pm nap is very short.so you could try to shorten his am nap so as to lengthen his pm nap.so start his am nap at 9.30 (if he is still having this early waking) and start to shorten it to maybe 1hr30mins.
i'm still thinking that catnap is maybe on its wayout.if he is waking at 3pm from his nap i would maybe try to aim for a 6.30 bedtime.
i know with sasha this was when we hit the 5am wakings.this was after she sorted her naps out (she was the 45 min nap monster).so we had great nights but up early.to be honest they only really went as shes got older and was able to tolerate longer A times.
its just a case of hitting the right amt of A time as they get older.

[rinajack]

As far as I can see, rocking to sleep is like any other prop.  If it causes more trouble than it saves, it has to go.  If it doesn't cause any trouble then if you like doing it, keep it.  (by trouble I mean things like needing same prop at every single night waking (not resettling self), or has to have you for every single sleep and noone else, etc etc).

We are still using a dummy.  She rarely wakes for it during the night, is learning to do it herself, and sometimes doesn't even need it, so I don't feel that it needs to be weaned.  If rocking is like this for you, then go for it, the more cuddle time the better!

[litomi]

I agree with rinajack. As soon as your LO starts to expect the same routine in the middle of the night or can't settle him/herself without being rocked. You need to wean it. Otherwise, enjoy your cuddling time with your LO.

[texasmom]

Hi everyone, again.  I read a few recent posts, and it is good to hear that 6 months is crazy.  It is so crazy.  This all started about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving.  He normally woke between 6 and 7, closer to 6.  Bedtime was between 7 and 8.  Then he started waking at 5ish, then 4ish, then back to 5ish, and now we're back to 4ish.  I THINK the 4ish happens because he has gotten over tired.  But I don't think he got over tired yesterday, and he was up at 4:30 this morning.  

I have a 5! page thread in General Sleep, and Zoey has been helping me soooo much.  This just gets sooo tiring.  

Melissa,
When he wakes, he just plays.  I don't go to him.  If I tried to shh/pat him to sleep or anything else to put him to sleep, he'd just stare at me wide awake.  He does start to get cranky again after a while, and he'll go back to sleep around 5:30/6 for 45 minutes, but our day is still way off.  And I hate him being in there alone awake for that long.  If I let him, he'll make up the sleep with LONG naps (for him).  So day time sleep would be 4 hours 25 min, and then he'll go to sleep 6:30 or later, making total sleep for the day 14 hours - about 10-10.5 at night, 3.5-4.5 day.  Not because I keep him up for a late bedtime, because he won't go to sleep.  He seems to want 14 hours of sleep a day.  I have also tried waking him from naps to make them shorter and put him to bed earlier, but it did not bid well for me.  He was really cranky, got over tired, and still would not go to bed early.  I guess I only tried that one day, but UGH.  I hated seeing him like that.  

Rina,
Hi!  We haven't talked in a while.  How are you?  I am sorry to hear that things have been sooo rough.  Goodness.  I wish it'd straighten out.  I guess the illnesses causing the wake ups?  What do you think?  I did have a good trip to NJ.  It was great seeing my parents.  That's when he started waking at 4!  But I know because of over tired.  He went back to 5 when we got home, and now I wish I would have just accepted it, although I don't want to.  So now we're back to 4/4:30.  And now my sleeping is erratic again too.  I was sleeping good till 6, when, for a long time, I'd wake several times a night, even if he didn't.  So now I'm doing that again.    

Sorry you guys are having it rough too.  

Hoping for better mornings for all of us.  

[OliverRowland]

Sasha's mum: when do you think i should drop the catnap?  I brought it back in because he was waking up early and naps were getting shorter...so he easly slept that 30min catnap.  I just don't know how to time it!  This morning he did better than most am's....woke up at 5:30(had pooped i leter found out) but fell back asleep at 6:15 (i think...i was pumping at the time) and awake again at 7am, so we started our day.  Asleep for first nap at 9:25am. 
Should I be waiting to cut out the catnap when he can tolerate 2.75-3 hrs of awake time?  It feels like we are presently stuck at 2.5hrs.  When I did cut out the catnap his early wake was bad and nap got worse...is that the transition period we just need to trudge through?
So confusing and frustrating!  How come each baby doesn't come with his own manual?! 

[texasmom]

oliverrowland-
obviously i'm no one to give advice, but the advice given to me here was that when they can stay awake 2.75-3, they push the catnap out.  at 2.5 keep it.  i don't know how to time it either!    

would LOVE a manual!


Brooke

[andibig]

oliverrowland
its really hard to say when to drop the catnap as LO will drop it anytime between 6-9mths so you can see its a pretty big age range.
from personal experience with Sasha when she transitioned from 2-1 nap there were some days when she would still want two some days when she could manage the one.
so i'll think you'll find some days he'll take the catnap and as its a "freebie" nap it doesn't matter where he takes it some days he will not.when he doesn't take a catnap then i would go for an early bedtime.

[OliverRowland]

Thanks so much for your help.
Did you find that your lo stayed at 2.5 hours A time for a awhile or were oyu about to steadily increase to 3 hrs...if so, how log did it take you?