5:30am wake up??

[Sunnyx]

My little boy is 5 months and for the past month or so has woken at 5:30am. I've tried to make this later by moving his bedtime but hasn't worked..

Is this a normal wake up time? I can deal with 6:30, even 6am but from about 4am he is so unsettled I have to move him into my bed and then he's in a fidgety light sleep until he wakes properly at 5:30. I'm basically not getting any sleep past 4am now. I'm not sure whether he has wind build up and Is uncomfortable.

Any tips on how to move wake up time so I can get more sleep? He's down and 6:30 pm most nights and naps 3-4 hours a day. Although he fights naps, he sometimes goes 3 hours between them and I have to hold him while he naps.

His last nap varies, he can sometimes nap until 5:30 or 3:30 pm and still goes down at 6:30pm.

Sorry for long post

[Rainallday]

Can you feed him when he gets unsettled so he'll go back down for another few hours?

[Sunnyx]

Doesn't work...I try and treat it like a night wake up. I'm not sure if he's actually ready to start the day though or if it's just wind bothering him. When I try and wind him, it wakes him up even more 😩

[ravenclawchick]

I feel your pain OP. My (now 2yo) daughter went through a phase of doing that. But it was just a phase and they do get past it. It's easier when they're in a solid routine.

The hardest bits always feel like they're lasting for aaaages, but in reality they are just phases.

How does your LO eat? At 4 months I started my DD on baby porridge too as she wasn't getting enough milk for her meals and she therefore slept better!

[Sunnyx]

He's ebf, wakes up at about 12am then 3am for feeds. When he gets unsettled, I feed him again to try and get him to settle. He probably has 4-5 feeds during the day.

[strugglingthroughlife]

It is hard but ds (5 now) also did this, it was his normal wake up time for months, sorry

[FATEdestiny]

The timing of bedtime only matters to morning wake up time once baby is having mostly uninterputed nights and consistant naps.

Having said that, I would try to establish normal bedtime as later because one you are getting consistant sleep, wake up of 5.30am would be perfectly reasonable. 11h overnight sleep is average, with a 10-12h range. So anything from 4.30am would be considered "normal" if bedtime is 6.30pm

Have you tried giving a cuddle with a dummy instead of feeding?

[Sunnyx]

I only feed him during the night if he genuinely seems hungry. Sometimes he wakes and I just let him hold my finger and he drifts back off. Don't want to restrict feeds if he is genuinely hungry

[FATEdestiny]

I wouldn't restrict feeds either. What i would do though is I'd give alternate settling (I did dummy and sidecar cot cuddles) a good go before feeding. Past about 3 months old I wouldn't use feeding as the go-to first thing I did when baby wakes.

This only really works if you have an settling method that is effective though, so sometimes works.

[Tilapia]

You say you’ve tried moving his bed time and it didn’t work, but how long did you try for? IME it doesn’t work immediately as the baby needs to settle into the new routine. I’d move his bedtime later - and try for at least a week before giving up.

Having said that, I do think some babies are naturally early risers whatever you do. Sympathies, OP!

[Sunnyx]

UPDATE: last night he woke at his usual time at 4:30/5ish. I did all the usual things and made sure he got all his wind up. I then just left him in the bed next to me and tried to ignore him, closed my eyes... he rubbed his head against the pillow for a While but eventually settled himself to sleep and woke at 7:15! Woohoo. Let's see if he does the same tonight!

[Tilapia]

Yay!