Wake to sleep.....will it work for a 17mth old?

[fordywastaylor]

I am sure that there are plenty of messages out there that cover this topic, but I just wonder if it will work for a 17mth old?? A habit seems to have formed, where previously waking was about 6.30 which has now moved itself to 5.30. Not sure why, and have gone through the other probably causes like hunger, cold, hot etc. I don't know much about the technique but it seems fairly straightforward. I just wonder if it would work for me????? Hey - anything is work a try!!!! BTW he is in bed at about 6.30-6.45pm but settles himself in about 20 mins. Has a morning nap at about 10-11.30am (but is actually shattered at about 9.30am from being up at 5.30!)

[Pheebe]

Not what you want to hear but early waking is the hardest one to fix. DS1 nearly 4 goes through phases and we've never found anything that works. We just ride with it and took it in turns to get up with him when he was smaller. Now we let him play in his room.

I would try letting him take an early nap, if he's tired at 9.30 let him sleep then and perhaps offer a brief afternoon nap. Sounds daft to offer more daytime sleep but it seems that los who sleep better in the day (ie who aren't overtired at bedtime) sleep better through the night.

I think the wake to sleep technique works best for middle of the night wakes rather than early morning start of the day wakes

[Seona1973]

I used wake to sleep on dd when she was about 20 months old and it was to fix early morning waking i.e. she started waking at 5.30am rather than the 6.30/6.45am she usually did. The first night I disturbed her at 4.30am by changing her nappy when she was still in the cot - it was very complex and she ended up rolling over part way through which wasnt helpful!! The second night she woke crying at 4.20am so I didnt have to disturb her as she did it herself. I never did anything the next night and she slept to her more normal time of 6.30am. I wouldnt recommend the nappy changing bit but just try to bring your lo out of deep sleep and then let them settle again - you do it about an hour before their usual wake time i.e. 4.30am if they wake at 5.30am.

[fordywastaylor]

I must sound greedy to those who have even earlier starts than 5.30, but its what you get used to and I cant find a reason for the shift in pattern. But it probably is another phase that may move itself back without doing anything myself. I can see how the wake to sleep will work since you know yourself if you get disturbed in the night you end up oversleeping - I may be too chicken to try it in case he wont go back to sleep!!!