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

[k3lly]

P.S. my DS is 10mo old, eats like a champ, naps well at the current times, and generally is a textbook baby. Just this darned early waking thing...

[andibig]

hi kelly
your routine looks great!what i would do and this is what i did with DD.push his am nap  to 9.30 still give him an hour so wake at 10.30.extend this awake time gradually and gently.
keep his pm nap at 2pm and wake at 3.30.i would maybe have his bed time at 7pm(that was DDs bedtime) so he doesn't get overtired.
this worked for us.sometimes moving the am nap later has an affect on early wake ups (ie making them later).it will take a while but worth it in the end

[k3lly]

Sasha's Mummy - thanks so much for your suggestion! I'm just wondering, what is the logic behind extending the morning A time so that the first nap is a bit later? I'm not figuring out how this would help him sleep longer in the morning. (sorry if it's obvious!!)

(someone else suggested I give toys or whatnot if he wakes up early to entertain him, but he's quite vocal and unhappy when he wakes and def ready to get up - what do you think?)

[andibig]

Kelly
the reason you have a later naptime is if the first nap is too early its just an extension of their night sleep.not sure if this really explains it (LOL) but thats why sometime moving naps later helps.basically why does he need to bother sleeping longer in the morning if his body knows its going to catch up with the early nap.
personally i don't think there is any harm in putting toys in his cot at all.i'd try some time in the cot when its not sleep time with some toys to see if that would encourage it.
i'd maybe try the early bedtime first b4 adjusting the naps to see if that makes a difference.an early bedtime doesn't always mean an early wake up.
HTH

[leahwlfe]

SOME ONE PLEASE HELP US!!!! 

Little background:
My daughter is 4 months and 1 and 1/2 weeks. She has been a great night time sleeper from the get go!! She is bottle fed and the doctor has suggested solids but we havent actually started that yet. (trying to decide if Im going to make the food or buy commercial baby food). I am a full time teacher, so her routine is really up to the babysitter. She eats and sleeps whenever she wants to. We have a nice routine by the time I get her at 330. We play, 4:30 or so eat, take cat nap, usually at around 6:30 eat, play then we start her bedtime routine at about 800. bath, message, pjs, bottle and then bed.
PROBLEM is she is waking up way to early. For the last week it has been anywhere from 4:30-5:30. This is too early for me. If my husband and I didnt work I wouldnt be worried about it. When she wakes she talks to herself for about half and hour then starts to cry. She does not like to eat right after she wakes. Like this morning she woke at 430, talked to herself until 500 we got her and fed her she ate only 4 ounces and then went back to sleep until 630. I know she is not getting enough night time sleep. 10 hours right? Please any suggestions? I think I have rambled on and on but I am SOOO tired. Oh, one of the days I have tried to go in and give her a paci and pat she did go back to sleep ONCE.. The other times she would just stare at me!! 

[rinajack]

I the bedtime is a little bit too late.  Magic bedtime is usually between 7pm and 8pm, so if you could bring it a little earlier that might help.

Early wakings are commonly from overtiredness.  Could you get your babysitter to write down the times your lo is sleeping and eating, and for how long she is sleeping, so that we can get a better idea - then you may have to encourage the babysitter to alter her day somewhat in order to fix the early wakings.

[k3lly]

Sashas Mum - thx am trying to get him down earlier for bedtime and HTH. It's helped him before (so I'm already a believer in the counterintuitive "more sleep means more sleep" theory!!) ... which leads me to...

Leahwife - I second the suggestion to put baby down earlier for bedtime. It def helped ours when he was 4mo or so! I know it sounds odd but quite often more sleep (e.g. more naps, earlier bedtime) means more sleep!!

Good luck!

[leahwlfe]

Thanks so much for your suggestions.. What time do you think I should start her bedtime routine. Now it is at 800. Last night we started a little earlier because she was cranky but she still got up at 430. I always thought the earlier she goes to bed she will wake up in the middle of the night or get up really early. I dont know! 

[litomi]

Leahwlfe, I'm a teacher as well... Our day starts early: 6:00ish wake up, feed and leave the house around 6:30ish. (Has to be in school by 7:30). When DD was 4-5mo., we went home around 3:30, catnap for 45-1hr, bath around 5:30, 6:00 bottle and 6:30 bedtime. DD could only wake up for 1.5hr-2hr max after catnap. It seems her nightsleep is an extension of her catnap. I know with this routine, DH doesn't have time to interact with her when he gets home. DH makes up by playing with her or doing morning duty in the morning while I get ready to go to work. DD's pead told me to put DD down to bed 12-13hrs after her wake up time. 

[leahwlfe]

litomi: Wow 730 for school, thats early. With the 12-13 hours after wake time is that including or excluding her naps.

rinajack:  This is how the day was with the babysitter:   900 bottle, 900-11-30 nap,  1230 bottle 200-300 nap.

[rinajack]

Well that morning nap was excellent, but maybe if there was anyway to reverse the nap lengths it would be better.  I wonder if limiting the morning nap a little might extend the afternoon nap, and help even out the sleep for the day, and thus prevent the evening overtiredness. 

As for bed time bring it forward a little each few days, maybe 20-30 mins at a time, spend a few days at the new bedtime and see what impact it has, then try a little earlier.  With the bedtime, aim to be asleep by that time, not just putting in the cot, which would mean you need to make sure bottle etc is all overwith before that bed time.

[texasmom]

Hey there...  Just a thought... what about a catnap?  I know my LO was still taking one at that age. 

What is total sleep for the day?  Average for that age is 14.75-15.   Awake time average is 1.75-2 hours.  Otherwise, you could have an overtired LO. 

[texasmom]

Hey Rina,
I had a question for you.  Do you know how to fix a bad routine?  I've had two suggestions.  One was to move bedtime 15 min every 3 days.  The other was to move it all in one fail swoop.  Meaning if he wakes at 5, and I want him to wake at 6, move naps and bedtime an hour.  Here's our awful day, and I DON'T want it to be our routine.   

4:45 wake
7:10-8:25 nap 1
11:25-12:50 nap 2
5:15 asleep

There is NO way he's going to wake later!  KWIM?  But if I put him to bed later, he gets overtired, and the problem is just as bad or worse! 

Just wondered if you knew a solution!  UGH!!!!  I am so tired of this. 

Thinking of posting to see if ANYONE has ever experienced this and resolved it. 

[rinajack]

Brooke I have been going back and forth on that issue myself for a while.  We thought we had the later wakeup (which we moved all in one go) then after a while we got early wakings again, but that was with Xmas and guests etc.  So now I have moved it again...bed time - for naps I do stretch, but follow tired signs mostly, so they probably didn't move a whole hour in one go.  Then if last A time is quite long, I do not give in, but am prepared to spend all my time with her helping her get to bedtime.  In the mornings now, she is still waking at 5, but the last couple of mornings has then dozed on and off til 6 when I will take her out of the cot. I am going to persevere.  If the evenings are a struggle, then she will either come for a walk in the sling or stroller, or have a very long bath as she is always happy in there.  Baby Einstein helps too.  So I have moved bedtime in one go, but naps are generally when she needs them anyway, I don't have set times for those, never have had and the timing and length varies from day to day.

Looking at your schedule though, I would go out, leave the house, to prevent having that 1st nap so early. It is easier to stretch A times when you are not at home.  Go for a walk.  That being said, around this age, Zara stopped being quite so sensitive to overtiredness when it comes to naps - will Colin just take a short nap if you keep him up to long?

[litomi]

leahwlfe, 12-13hr ---- including naps. Your routine looks great. Can your sitter put your LO down for second nap around 1? The second A time seems a little bit long. Maybe, that's why she can only take 1hr nap. If you move 2nd nap 1hr earlier, then it can move your whole bedtime routine 1 hr earlier.
1-2:30 afternoon nap
4:30 - 5ish cat nap
6 bath, bottle and bed around 6:30?  (my LO could only wake up 1.5hr after her catnap. Maybe your LO can stay awake longer)
As working parents, I sometimes feel guilty that I don't spend much time with my LO. I was questioned by a lot of friends and relatives (my mum, PILS) why I have to put LO to bed so early. But sleep is food for brain, I think it's so so so important for my LO. Good thing is DH totally understands and supports my decision. 

Brooke, How old is your LO? When DD wakes up early, we still keep our 1st nap around 9 (put her down between 8:30-9)... even though she's exhausted and very crabby by then. But it really helps to keep her bedtime routine around the same time and to prevent her waking up too early the next day. You might have a overtired baby for few days... but you really want to break that habbit of early waking, right? I've read that the 1st nap is usally the extension of the night sleep and the 2nd nap (afternoon nap) is the nap that helps LO recharge. If you can help your LO to take long afternoon nap (more than 1hr), this will make him not be too tired by bedtime. Right now, your LO's bedtime is around 5, this might help you to push the bedtime till 6.