What do you do with your early riser?

[graysor]

10 mo dd is up at 5am (usually after sleeping through from 7). Nothing seems to get her back to sleep, even though she is clearly still tired.

I hate getting her up at this time, as it makes for a very long morning before her 9am nap. But as she won't go back to sleep I don't know what else to do.

Sadly leaving her to play in her cot is not an option as she just stands up and cries (really howling, not just whinging ).

What do you do if you have to get up this early? What time do you do milk, breakfast etc?

Any tips on how best to manage this (or for getting her to sleep a bit later? )

Thanks!

[Aristacat1]

I no how frustrating it is. My lo has been waking up between 5 and 6 for a few months. She is just 1. We do leave her or we go in put her dummy in and she does sometimes nod of again for a bit.We have tried putting her to bed later and earlyer nothing helps. I have worked out if she goes to bed a bit later she still wakes between 5 and 530 but does go bk to sleep for a bit but if she goes to bed on time quite often she just chats. Have u tried going in laying her bk down and just repeating this maybe she will get used to it? Or giving her a little feed then bringing her into your bed. My lo sometimes snoozes for a bit in our bed. Tbh I have just accepted it now and we do what is right for that day. Today she woke at 515 and chatted for a few mins then went bk to sleep till 5.55 then started crying so we gave her milk and she dozed till 630 then up then breakfast about 7ish. Yesterday she was awake at 5.15 chatting till 6 so my oh got her up to play then breakfast bout 7. At weekends she sometimes comes into our room and we read stories in bed and have breakfast later. I find it works better for us to not have a rigid plan as everyday is a bit different. I also have to leave for work with her at 730 ( im a nanny so she comes in the morn) 3 days a week. I hope this helps I will stop now haha xx

[graysor]

Thanks for replying aristacat.

I repeatedly go in and lie her back down, with a bit of shh-ing and rubbing her back. But she just stands up and cries again. I usually do this 10 times or so before admitting defeat and getting her up. If I bring her into bed with me she just crawls all over the place, she won't snuggle down for a snooze or even just a quiet sit.

I haven't tried giving her any milk, because I don't want her to get into a habit of having a drink at that time in the morning. We've just a few weeks ago managed to night wean so I'm reluctant to take a backwards step on that front. For a while she was waking at 5ish but would easily go back to sleep till 6.30. I just want to get back to that!

[ImSoVeryTired]

I read the header of this post and my brain instantly put it to the tune of 'what do we do with the drunken sailor' .
That aside, I have an 8 mth old that does the same. He wakes anything between 4.30 and 6. Mostly around 5 ATM. No ideas I'm afraid. Hopefully someone else will come along with a magic technique.

[Flingmoo]

My child is now 2.5 and he doesn't wake up that early but I am pretty lazy so most days I let him watch Ceebebies on my iPad while we snuggle up in my bed, I get about an hour extra rest this way! I don't think it does him any harm. I think we only started doing this when he was well over a year old though, I don't think it would be appropriate for babies.

However, I've never got straight out of my bed when DS wakes me up, ever since he was a baby I've always taken him into our bed to flump around for at least half an hour in the mornings before I drag myself out of bed!

We rarely have breakfast before 9 on the days I'm at home, because our mornings are so lazy!

[LifeLong13]

My 15 month old goes down at 7:30pm, wakes at 10:30 for boob, 12 for boob, 2:30 for boob & then is up for the day at 4:45am

She's slept through the night twice. Once at 8 weeks and the night of her first birthday.

I'd count my blessings and enjoy 10 hours to myself personally

[QuilliamCakespeare]

Get up and drink lots of coffee. My DS was a major early bird for MONTHS. I don't think you can do much about it at that age. If it gives you hope, he's now 2.5 and sleeps from anywhere between 6 and 7.15. I feel like a new woman!

[Sleeplessinmybedroom]

Op I think you're me. Dd is exactly the same with the screaming and not cuddling in our bed. She's got a habit of pooing too so once her nappy has been changed there's no point putting her back down. She's not napping well either so is so grumpy it's unreal.

[Kokosjumping]

I don't bother trying to get him back to sleep but I do keep it dark and quiet til an acceptable rise time.

[dontpokethebear]

My 20 month daughter does this. Any time between 4 and 5.30am.
The ONLY way she'll go back to sleep (until about 7, when ds2 gets up) is if I give her some milk in a beaker and leave it with her.
Believe me, we have tried everything and even the HV has conceded that if I don't want to get up at stupid o'clock, then it is for the best.

I wouldn't actually mind getting up at 6, but I refuse to get up before that. Dh snores, ds1 is a chronic night time wee'er (he is 15, so takes himself but our room is next to the bathroom) and dd cries randomly in the night (then goes straight back to sleep) and each waking takes me at least 15-20 minutes to get back to sleep.

[Kokosjumping]

Actually I concur, the only way to get DS back to sleep at that time is milk. With milk I might get 2 more hours.

[dancemom]

Try wake to sleep method?

[GoofyTheHero]

Agree with PP's. DD2 15 months wakes up at 5.30am every day. The only way to have even a chance of another hour is by giving her milk. I give her a beaker of milk then put her back in and leave her to it. If I don't give her milk she cries and cries and doesn't go back to sleep. As my nearly 3 year old DD1 doesn't sleep though the night, giving DD2 a beaker of milk is the lesser of two evils.

[dontpokethebear]

So glad I'm not the only one!

[Thirtyrock39]

Does she have a good afternoon nap? I remember that if mine at this age hadn't had a good afternoon nap they'd be so tired by bedtime they'd crash out at 7 in a really deep sleep but then wake up well early whereas if they'd had a good afternoon kip they'd take a little longer to settle but sleep a bit longer (although I think 6am was pretty typical for ages but better than 5!) maybe drop morning nap and have a longer after lunch nap?

[dontpokethebear]

My dd has a good 1.5 post lunch nap.

[GoofyTheHero]

Mine too. No morning nap, just one post lunch. 1.5-2 hours.

[Sleeplessinmybedroom]

Mine is having 2 x 40 minute naps. Nowhere near as much as she needs. I tried giving her just one nap and she only slept for an hour.

[DontBuyANewMumCashmere]

I have a double bed in her room, so since she was about 12m whenever she wakes up I take her into bed and try going back to sleep with her. If it's after 6ish she's up for the day so I put something on the ipad and I go back to sleep for a bit. sometimes 2 hrs

[blueistheonlycolourwefeel]

Push her 9am nap by 10 minutes every day until it's 10.30ish. This worked for my son who at a similar age decided that wake up time was 4.30am!!!

[Tumtitum]

Also hoping for some magical tips! :) mine wakes at 4, grizzles for ten mins, falls asleep, wakes 10-30 mins later, I feed her back to sleep, repeat repeat until she poos then it's game over

[Aristacat1]

The thing that I have come to the conclusion of is that there are these advised things and habits etc... I was worried with the milk habit but you have to think what is best for you all not the habit. We give her milk sometimes. 5 is the morning and if it means half an hour or more extra sleep its prob best for you all. It might not work but think how many things you have tried since being a mum. Babies grow out of things so the milk thing at 5 will prob change in a few months.From all the reasearch and talking to other mums etc its quite common as there sleep is getting lighter so if teething or learning a new skill or even just wanting to play it makes it more tricky to settle. Do what you need to do for more rest for everyone xx

[TheHubblesWindscreenWipers]

Ds is up at least every hour and up for day between 4 and 5:30. I feel your pain.

I bring him in with me, milk and try to calm him
If that doesn't work I use a nursery rhyme app on my phone (my vox songs, other brands are available) and that gives me another fifteen mins or so
If that doesn't work I get up, go downstairs, get in our huge playpen which has room for me to lie full length in. Nursery rhymes on tv, lie down and despair quietly.

[TheHubblesWindscreenWipers]

Don't stress about forming habits etc.

I did for ages then I realised that all the 'right' things I'd done had made precisely zero difference to his sleep.

Now I do whatever I need to get through

[graysor]

Lifelong and others with mega frequent wakers, I absolutely feel your pain! Until v recently dd was up pretty much every hour through the night and impossible to settle unless in the sling from 4am. So I am very much counting my blessings that she is so much better now.

I may try giving her a cup of milk, to see if that will buy another hour or so. Worth a try as some have suggested.

Blue is the only colour - moving her nap to 10.30 - what is the aim here? To move to one nap or just have a later morning nap? If so what time should the second nap be?

[idontlikealdi]

Cry into a large coffee...

DTs have always been early risers 430/5 for a long stretch. Awful.

I think they just have to grow out of it to an extent. They're 5 now and still up around 630 but they play in their rooms until 7 at weekends which is slightly more civilised.