Early morning wake ups
I am working through trying to figure out the cause of my 9 mo early morning wake ups (4-530am).
My question is, while you’re trying to figure out the cause what do you do when they wake up at 430 am? Desired wake time is 6am.
Low sleep drive at that time so CIO doesn’t seem to work. My LO doesn’t do well with check ins, so I’ve avoided it. When sick I’ve previously tried to nurse at that time and it’s 50/50. Sometimes LO goes back to sleep, other times not.
LO has slept through the night for months. But the last two we seem to be on a cycle of, one week early wake ups, one week sleep through. They do not wake any other time through the night. And go down independently for all naps and bedtime.
I’ve tried 630 bedtimes and 8pm bedtimes, and everything in between.
I’ve tried capping daytime sleep to 2 hours and giving him up to 3.
They’re a daycare baby so I only get 3 days of trying to adjust their schedule until it’s out of my hands.
Naps great. Sometimes our schedule works great for us. Up at 6am. Nap 930-1030. Nap 130-330. Bedtime between 630-7.
While I try and find the culprit of the early wake ups I don’t know what to do with them while they are still happening. CIO, try checking, nurse?
Posted Apr 19, 2022, 9:37 AM UTC
I think you need more awake time before bed. My babe has been on a 3.25/3.5/4 schedule since about 7.5 months with only 2-2.5 hours of naps (she’s now 12 months) and has in the last couple of months started sleeping through despite no change to schedule. The longest wake window should be the one just before bed.
If they wake early, the first nap should not be moved earlier to compensate. I know it can be difficult to deal with a grumpy baby, but even if you do get them, keep it dark and chill until their desired wake time and then keep their first nap at the same time (9:30 in your case). Moving the nap earlier reinforces early wakes.
Keeping a consistent bedtime would also likely help. If they sleep until 3:30 for their nap, bedtime should always at 7 or 7:30 depending on whether you go a 3.5 or 4 hour wake window.
We were doing a 730 bedtime with 2.5 hours of naps for awhile and then right before daylight savings things started shifting and I decided to just wait until after daylight savings and then try and adjust as it seemed pointless to do anything the 10 days before.
But after daylight savings it wasn’t working after another 10 days. So I’ve tried pushing bedtime out to 8. I’ve tried pulling it in to 7, 645, 630 And anything in between.
Naps were always at 930-1030 and 130-3. But then that just wasn’t working. So I’ve tried increasing day time sleep while at home. When at daycare he’ll only get 1.5-2 hours total of daytime sleep and he still typically wakes sporadically, so I am not confident in cutting his daytime sleep down to 2 hours will help.
It’s been hard to tell if it’s a schedule issue or Illness related as we’ve had ear infections, HFMD, and an amoxicillin reaction sprinkled throughout all this.
It’s so sporadic. Sometimes the schedule works for 3 days. And then it doesn’t for 5 days. And then I make an adjustment and it doesn’t work for 5 more days and then works for 2 days.
I’m fine with continuing to try and make adjustments to his schedule every week/two weeks to see what sticks. But while I try and do that, I’m struggling with how to handle the early wake ups.
If it’s 530 or later I’m fine with letting him fuss it out till 6. But sometimes he wakes at 430 and he will fuss in and off. Act like he’s going back to sleep but then by 520 he’s full blown crying. When we sleep trained he didn’t respond well to check ins. So I’ve been avoiding that. Just trying to figure out what people do while they are trying to find the right schedule.
I get it - it’s bloody hard. My girl never responded to check ins either and had false starts for 4-5 months straight.
All the illness doesn’t help either - it can definitely feel like a losing battle! I have heard though that you want to keep any schedule etc change for at least a week before deciding if it’s worked or not. We also don’t have daylight savings where I am so I can’t talk to that either. Makes me nervous for when we move somewhere that does.
Solidarity and good luck fellow mum. Hopefully things sort themselves out soon x
Thanks. I have a 2.5 year old. She never did early wake ups but did deal with separation anxiety and we used Ferber to get her through that regression. She now does 8pm-7am and will Take a 3 hour nap. When she was his age she did 6-6 with 3 hour naps. She’s a sleep unicorn. LOL. She also was a binky baby while my youngest isn’t.
I don’t expect my youngest to sleep the same as my other. All I want is to make sure I’m giving him what he needs with his schedule. I try to not make changes for atleast a week. But then we get sick and I feel like that screws it all up.
Appreciate the kind words.