My SUCCESS story with those PESKY 5am Toddler wakes. Update 1st post 4-19-07

[rinajack]

Yeah I did mean the symptoms hang around.  For example, I am 100% certain Zara is teething right now, but from the look and feel of where they are in the gum, it is going to be weeks. 

Gippie - funny that you think silence is your best ticket.  For us, silence means she isn't sure we are there, and hears any tiny noise we make.  I think that is why the TV is better - she hears the noise non-stop, so she knows we are there, and little noises are not all that noticable.

I too am happy with anything from 6am wakeup.  Right now, bedtime is between 7:30 and 8pm, sleep til 6:30am. But we are still getting two naps most days.  Some days the AM nap is as short as 20mins. I will have to bring bedtime earlier when she switches to one nap. Problem with Zara is because she is a daycare baby who only takes very short naps there, she has learnt to cope very well with overtiredness - the only sign being early wakings.  

Her total day sleep is anywhere from 11-14 hrs, average is probably about 12 on daycare days, 13+ on home days.  I have learnt to roll with it, and my basic rule is this.

CRANKY BABIES GO TO BED.  HAPPY BABIES CAN STAY UP

[Gippie]

Another successsful AM.  This was my first day back to work and I wnated to see how all would go.  5:30 - she yelled and I didnt go in, that was hard.....I waited.    5:45, she yelled again and then quiet.  I stuck to my guns.  6am is her wake time.     In this time, my school (I teach) got cancelled due to snow    and I sat on the couch waiting for her, I must have dozed off and heard her at 6:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Hip Hip HOORAY.    I really was ready to go in at he 5:30.....it wasnt the same as when I was in bed hearing her......so sticking to my guns was important.

Seriously, Quinn my DD just signed "PLAY" and I asked her if she wanted ME t oplay with her and she said "Yeeeeeeee".    Be back.....

[MDHmommy]

Thanks for posting this Stacey!

We had been dealing with 5 am wakes too ... and realized over time that they were causing an overtired cycle. I helped DS work them out by using Wi/Wo at 5 (or 445...) W2S didn't seem to do the trick. It's been about 3-4 weeks of using Wi/Wo,  and now, more often than not, he'll sleep until 6 or 6:30 on his own. Depending on when he goes to bed. I do Wi/Wo for NW's if needed, but now, more often than anything, I just go in, find a paci and hand it to him and he lies down and goes back to sleep.

We've also moved his bedtime earlier - it's now between 6:30 and 7 rather than 7:30.
Makes a big difference!

It's funny, as they get older you tend to think that they don't need as much sleep, but it's these early toddler years where they seem to need it more than ever! Especially because a tired, cranky toddler is not any fun at all! Ick!!

K

[rinajack]

Great news you guys.  We are on Work day test number 2.  She has shifted and sighed in her sleep like she does when waking up, but all is silent (it is 5:12).  The test is usually when Daddy leaves as the house is quieter then.  But the TV outside her room is on, so maybe we will be fine

[frustratedmommy]

sorry to jump in here...I feel like an intruder.... But I really appreciate what you have all been talking/writing about. We've been dealing with our own toddler sleep issues (already posted)...and slowly we are getting better! It has been over 2 months and I appreciate what you wrote in your initial post Stacey...

My ds is now sleeping from 7:30pmish (lights out at 7:00 after LONG wind down)...but it's still taking him 1/2 hour to fall asleep. (Not sure why, because I know he's tired...overtired?)...BUT the screaming has stopped. Thank GOD!!!! He was waking 10 times a night screaming bloody murder, but in the last 2 weeks it has virtually stopped. He is still waking around 5:15-6am and only napping about 45mins a day. I am doing my best to lengthen that, but w2s doesn't seem to work, he's a light sleeper as it is! (can't even come in to cover him up!)

But I appreciate reading what you senior BW's have to say about it all. It's funny because I don't seem to meet many people who ascribe to the BW theory. Thank goodness for this site! It has saved my sanity in the last few months. (so tired of hearing he's old enough to scream! etc....)

The teething thing is weird. DS cut his first two at 6m and didn't see another until 11m. We were still waiting for one of his bottom eye teeth when he was 16 months old...we called him snaggle tooth! LOL and he cut his bottom 2 year molars at 20 months and the top two have been hovering ever since! (22.5 m) So does that have something to do with it? I don't know. I know the top ones are swollen and almost look like they're pulsating sometimes....GOTTA be a bother!
~Marie

[rinajack]

Oh no 5:55.  Not sure if I should leave her, or go in there and make sure she has her dummy etc.  Not crying yet, maybe I will leave her..... But she is talking way too much to sound like she will go back to sleep.....

[andibig]

rina
i would leave her.if shes happy let her be!

interesting thought about the teething and early wakings.sasha was a nightmare teether.she got her first tooth at 18wks and had 16 by the age of 14 mths.
so considering shes only got two more to go shes not exactly a slow teether.i don;t think its a case of how much time they take to come through but more a case of how well they teeth.some LOs get their teeth easily and some don't.

[rinajack]

6:07.  I didn't go in there (almost, was right at her door ) but held myself back by deciding to put the jug on LOL.

And now it is quiet again!

[AZMOM]

Hi ladies!!  Great posts!!  We had early wakes with ds before he became a toddler and I wracked my brain over the whole thing.  We made a few changes(not many) and he still woke early at times but I believe that is just him. I started to relax.   I knew as long as he was sleeping through the night and taking good naps that I really shouldn't get too worked up.  However we did reduce his first nap back then and that seemed to help.  Now at 15 months ds takes 1 nap during the day (about 2 1/2 hours in length) and sleeps about 10 - 10 1/2 hours at night sometimes he will take a little catnpa in the stroller or car if we are out around 10:30am.  He usually wakes between 6 and 6:30 but he talks and plays in his crib so DH and I don't get him until around 6:45/7:00 or if he calls "mama".  Back when we had early wakes I too realized I shouldn't rush in because many times he would fall back to sleep.  We still have some NW from time to time but for the most part things are good.  A friend of mine once told me that it seemed like once they turn 18 months or 2 things are so much easy with sleep and NW. 

Also I was laughing to myself because ds only has 8 teeth!!!!   ANyway ladies good luck!!  Sounds like everyone is on the road to improvement!!

Lisa

[Gippie]

Rinajack - This am, I heard her at 5...and AGAIN, I hesitate adn wonder....but I waited ad she was OK.  5:45, I heard her and I DID NOT GO IN, she was fine and at 6:01, I went in with a dog and pony show!   

We all seem to agree that there comes a point that we have to let them be, but I think that can't go without TEACHING them how to just be without crying.  I think thats what I spent the 60 days doing.   

[rinajack]

Well, yesterday I ended up getting her at 6:25 when she really started to call out to me (not crying more like yelling).  She hadnt' slept more, I heard her on and off, but waited.

Today, spanner in the works.  Yesterday she had a TOTAL of 25 mins sleep, and that ended at 11am.  She cried when they tried to put her to sleep. Really cried.  So I had to put her to bed early, at 6:30 (earliest I could manage due to what time we get home) She slept til 5:30, I went in and made sure she has dummy and lovie (yesterday they were on the floor, could be why I kept hearing her).  It is quiet in there, but I can tell she is awake.  5:45  I know she has never been one to do longer than 11 hours at night.  So all I can hope is that I don't have to get her too soon. 

[Gippie]

Quick post, still on the positive still.  heard her at 5 - of course and let her be.  Dont think she went back to sleep....went in at 5:45 (her up time is 6am) and she was doing her "all done" sign - I got her up and we happily started the day.


I think I will journal her times again and see if we might have some succes with w2s IF the first time I am hearing her each day is the SAME time.....maybe, if not, no bother.

[rinajack]

First time I heard her today 6:13.  6:20 and all is quiet. 

[rinajack]

7:00am and still no sound.  Not going to wake her yet - she can have a yoghurt for breakfast at daycare...so we only need time for the bottle.

[becky1969]

This post is really interesting to me!! I have a toddler who is having one NW, and it's driving me crazy. This NW actually started at 10 months, I think due to teething, and I used some AP (feeding and swaddling him) so that here we are 6 months later with the same stupid NW!

I have some questions, and I'm hoping with your success you can give me some guidance!

I'm a little confused as to what finally worked - W2S or just using your voice to reassure. Or was it both? I'll give you some examples of what's going on here, and maybe you can help me?

1) As i indicated above, I started swaddling again at 10 months out of desperation for some sleep (we actually had 3-4 NW, some as long as 3 hours). It worked for all but one of the NW. That NW I started feeding him, and he'd go right back to sleep. I'm weaned the swaddle AGAIN from naps, and he actually sleeps most of the night without swaddle too, but he can't fall back to sleep after his NW without the swaddle. Should I just unswaddle and soothe with my voice? Do Pu/PD or WI/WO?

2) We're also giving a bottle at that NW. We've been slowly weaning that as well. We've gone from an 8 oz bottle down to a 5 oz bottle. The last 4 nights, he's refused the bottle twice, so I think we're close to being done. I think this is the right tactic - but let me know if you think we should just quit feeding cold turkey.

3) How do I eliminate this last NW? Other than the NW, he sleeps without a peep! Which is a vast improvement to how he used to sleep. Even before the NW, he generally would cry out every couple of hours or so (I'm guessing at each transition). I didn't usually have to intervene, but it was very disruptive to MY sleep! Now I don't hear him at all, unless it's the 30 minutes or so before the NW, then he'll start fussing a bit. Finally, he comes completely awake stands up and starts playing with his FP aquarium. After 15-20 minutes, he'll start crying. That's when we go in and feed him.  Should I a) try W2S? or b) just try soothing him in his crib? If I do b, do I try to lay him down or let him stand up? When I lay him down, he just pops right back up and it becomes a game.

Thanks for your help! I'm desperate for us to go back to sleeping thru the night. He's always been a great sleeper, and from 3-10 months, we had no night feeds or NW, so this is VERY annoying and frustrating!