Early rising at 13.5 months?

[2monkiesmum]

My LO is getting up at around 5-5.30am. Goes to bed at 6.30/7pm. 1 nap of two hours in the day.
He screams at about 5am every morning, has been over a week now and I could do with some sleep.

I can have a cuddle with him and he will go back to sleep from around 6/6.30am until 7.30/8am. I don't do anything, we just lie cuddled up and he tries for nearly an hour to go back to sleep and babbles/talks to himself and me and points at things in the dark??

He is very tired when he wakes (yawns a lot) and doesn't seem like he really wants to be up? But he is still alert and a little chatterbox? It seems very odd.................

Any ideas would be appreciated   

[momofclaire]

I am going to move this topic to our toddler sleep forum.  There is a lot of info over there about early wakings for toddlers.  Good Luck

Also, this thread may help you.
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=86026.0

[Layla]

How long has he been on 1 nap for? What time does he take the nap?

[2monkiesmum]

He has been on 1 nap for about 2 weeks and he sleeps for 2/2.5 hours from 12/12.30pm.

[Layla]

It could be from the ovetiredness. Although some babies are comfortable on 1 nap at 13 months, alot still need 2 naps. A midmorning catnap and an afternoon nap. Especially if he is up at 5ish and then is up for 7hrs till naptime, that leads to overtiredness. The av awake times are 5.5 hrs but when we started the transition, my lo could only handle 4.5hrs and only went to 5hrs at 15months and then finally to 5.5hrs around 17months. She was on a really early bedtime for ages (like 6.30pm).

I would try to go back to 2 naps so maybe a catnap at 9ish (if he is up really early) but wake him after 45mins and then an afternoon nap at 1ish (which should be a longer nap) and bedtime at 7ish. If he is still fighting the afternoon nap then try to cut the morning npa to 30mins. Some do a long morning nap and a catnap to tie them over till bedtime but my lo never took a catnap in the afternoon so my only option was to cut the morning nap. I honestly though at 13months that my lo was ready to be on 1nap and had her take it around 11ish. At 1st she did great, taking a nice long nap but then it all went horrible, waking up at night and waking up at 5am to start the day (obviously still really tired). So I went back to 2 naps and it helped alot with the overtiredness.

Also in the meantime bring the bedtime forward to let him catch up on some sleep. He should be waking up better rested and will hopefully sleep in more in the morning.

During the transition, we went from 2-1-2-1 naps for a few months, all depended on how well she slept at night, the time she woke up in the morning and how she acted in the morning. If she woke before 6am, that would surely be a 2day nap. If she refused to sleep in the morning, I used ot hold her off until 11ish and give her 1 nap and a really early bedtime (like 6ish).

Let me know what you think
Layla

[2monkiesmum]

I don't think he needs to go back to 2 naps. He woke at 3am this morning and I left him to self settle (which took nearly 45mins), instead of me getting up and taking him into my bed for a cuddle and he did self settle in the end. And he finally woke up at 7am!!   

I think he is just waking at 5am due to AP, he just wants a cuddle at this time and has a natural tendency to wake up at 5am.

I have also noticed that the early mornings are worse the later he goes to bed, so I think it is also partly to do with overtiredness (as you suggest) on the new routine. I think he needs an earlier bedtime now he is on one nap.

What do you think, do you think I may be on the right track?

[Layla]

Good idea. Give that a go - make bedtime at 6pm to start with and see if that helps.

Let me know how it goes
Layla

[2monkiesmum]

I have finally had a couple of 7am mornings   

I put him to bed earlier and (just by 15mins) and it seemed to do the trick!!
Who would have thought such a small change would make such a big difference..............

[Layla]

That sounds great!!!