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Half blinking Four??? And a few other sleep Q's...

10 replies

MamaDuckling · 07/10/2015 11:57

I'll try to be brief, and thanks in advance for any advice...

DS is almost 2 (at end November). He's a good sleeper, settling himself around 7pm and making it through the night, more often than not. Recently we've had a bit of regression in that he's found it harder to settle (so we've reverted to our version of controlled crying/pick up put down) which has worked, but the mornings are getting earlier and earlier. He's always been an early riser, 6-6.15am, but I can live with that. Recently though its been 5am, 5.30am... And 4.40am today!

He's always upset when he wakes, but is wide awake... 'Up, play, downstairs, breakfast...'

I have DC2 on the way, due at the end of December. I can't keep on with these early starts. DH helps but heads to work around 7.30am and we both struggle to function in the mornings.

Does anyone have any advice? He's still in a cot and we thought we'd wait until DC2 is about 6 months before moving DS into the bigger bed in a new room... Or should we be looking to get that sorted now so that its done?

Happy to try controlled crying again but would need to warn the neighbours... Can't see how it would work though as he just doesn't seem tired at all once he has woken.

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FATEdestiny · 07/10/2015 12:51

There is a school of thought that says if you rouse a child slightly, that is disrupts and restarts their sleeping cycle and helps stay asleep for longer. Have you tried waking him slightly when you go to bed? Maybe give him a drink or have a wee. Then settle him back to sleep and see if this means he sleeps for longer in the morning.

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AbeSaidYes · 07/10/2015 12:52

keep him up later.

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fluffikins · 07/10/2015 15:03

Try putting the heating to come on a bit earlier in the early morning. He might just be cold.

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mintbiscuit · 07/10/2015 17:27

Agree with Fluff. Temp really drops around 3/4 am.

If that doesn't work, and I know it sounds counterintuitive, but try and earlier bedtime. It may be that he is overtired in evening which causes earlier wake up.

How long does he sleep for his day nap? Around 2 they should be getting 11-12 hrs at night and 1-2 hours in day. Is he sleeping too long in the day maybe?

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imwithspud · 07/10/2015 17:37

We had a similar problem when I was pregnant with dc2. 5am wake ups that went on for months. We resorted to sticking Netflix on and having dc1 in our bed till it got to a more reasonable time. Obviously this wasn't going to be sustainable with a new baby on the way, so we bought a gro clock, and i swear up and down, it changed our lives. The effect was instant. We set it to 6:30 on the first night, and instead of bounding into our room after stirring at 5am. She woke, noticed her gro clock and went back to sleep. I watched it all happen on a video monitor, I was amazed! We now have it set to 7am and dc1 now sleeps to roughly that time, give or take a few minutes. And always waits for the sun to come up on her clock before coming in. Absolute god send, would definitely recommend giving it a go.

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MamaDuckling · 07/10/2015 21:07

We have a gro click ready and waiting, we tried it a while back but it was freaking him out, he'd cry and point at it when he woke... Could try it again though.

Will try cranking up the temperature, he does tend to wriggle free from his duvet a lot and it drops to 18/19 in his room at the moment.

I've also heard about 'waking to sleep' which I think I'll try as a last resort.

What age did you all move DC into a toddler bed? DS is still in his cot.

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imwithspud · 07/10/2015 21:52

I think dc1 was about 2 and 4 months or something like that. Probably could have left her in the cot for a bit longer but now at very nearly 3 I feel like it would be really weird putting her in a cot now.

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mintbiscuit · 08/10/2015 10:29

If you have dc2 on the way keep ds in a cot for as long as you can would be my advice! Definitely one less thing for you worry about with a new baby.

If ds is kicking covers off have you tried growbag. My ds is 2 and you can get big ones to fit them. He's a wriggler too a night so ideal for him. Obviously if you do switch to a bed then don't use it for safety reasons but in a cot is fine.

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GeorgeTheGiraffe · 08/10/2015 18:52

Personally if things are going fine in the cot (child not throwing themselves out of it) then I would keep using it as long as possible. If they're not trying to get out with the bars on why give them the option by removing the bars. Just my opinion of course!

I'm also interested in his daytime sleep-I read somewhere that early wake ups (although there can be many reasons) can point to too much sleep. Does he nap? How long and what's your cut off time?

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MamaDuckling · 09/10/2015 08:34

He naps in the day, up to 1hr 15 mins usually. Often less. But he's playing up with that at the moment too.

Turns out he's developed a full blown cough and cold this week so that could explain the very recent sleep issues.

Going to see how things are once the cold has passed and then back to strict sleep training again!