18 mths: 5am mornings

[pipsy1]

My DD wakes between 5 and 5.30am. I'm sure it used to be 6-6.30am so this must have crept up on us! She's then ready for a sleep anytime after 9.30am for 1-2 hours, then goes to bed at 7pm. I am knackered by these early starts but have just assumed she's an early bird and have to get on with it, but is this right? Or should I try CC until 6am perhaps. It means she is quite tired all morning until her sleep and we never get to do anything until the afternoon. All her friends seem to sleep til 7-7.30am then have a lunchtime nap. If I leave her to cry in the mornings am I just being cruel?

[Yorkiegirl]

Message withdrawn

[LoubieLou04]

Do you give her breakfast as soon as she wakes up? Maybe getting her used to later breasfasts might work incase it's a hungry belly disturbing her. Also does her waking up coincide with any household noise like heating coming on or milk being delivered.

[Lonelymum]

Ds2 used to be like this. They do gradually get later again, but it might take some time. Ds3 was waking at about 6 until recently when I stopped his pm nap or only let him have it occasionally and then only for a short time. He usually gets through the whole day fine but the difference is he sleeps until 6:45 or later. Mind you, he is 2 (today!) so he is a bit older than your dd.

[pipsy1]

She is a really poor eater whichI am sure is half the reason. She hardly eats a thing all day. I don;t think she necessarily wakes up hungry but I just feel sure that if she went to bed with a nice full tummy it would help her sleep well. But I can't force her..

[beansontoast]

my son is the same..or was the same.actually ill just say similar.

a couple of weeks ago he was doing the 5 am thing...and i was going to him pretty much as soon as i heard him.

then one day i didnt...and he went back to sleep.
now i let him grizzle for a bit and he drops off again [mostly] or plays.
(his sappetite has a;lso been less cos of teething,which was why i was getting up ,thinking he may well be hungry.)
fortunately for me though it seems that tiredness trumps hunger.

however my friend at college says..'chuck him a bottle'

im so rubbish at posting its untrue!

[mummylonglegs]

Have you tried moving that morning nap 15 minutes later every day until it turns into a post-lunch nap? In Richard Ferber's book he suggests that early waking happens very frequently when accompanied by an early morning nap. He describes it as though they're 'continuing their night' by having an early sleep and that the remedy is to move the nap later and later. I've heard this plan works very well so maybe worth giving it a go?

[pipsy1]

That sounds like a very good idea - will try that MLL thanks

[ghosty]

I agree with MLL pipsy ...
I read somewhere (may have been in Ferber's book) that if they are really tired by 7pm (ie haven't napped since the morning) then they go into a really deep sleep then and end up waking early ...
Although DD is tired at 10am, I keep her going till lunch (she has an early lunch at 11.30am) then she conks out at midday for 2-2.5 hours ... that way she can just about get to 7pm without being overly tired.
Also apparently it is better for them to sleep in the middle of the day ... good for development apparently but I can't remember where I got that from ...
Good luck pipsy ...

[pipsy1]

Right - then will do my best to entertain her til midday today. That sounds like a reasonable theory to me. Its a tough one because if that is her natural wake time then I'll just have to cope with it, but I am not convinced it is right for her really because she gets tired so soonn after. Will see how it goes the next few days

[pipsy1]

10.30am and this is getting hard! Think we'll have to go for a walk for freash air to keep her awake!

[ssd]

Good luck pipsy1

I'm rubbish at getting my kids to sleep longer, my ds1 wakes between 6-6.30am and is nearly 7 and ds2 wakes at 6am and is nearly 4 .

I'm always the knackered mum at the school gates with bags under her eyes....and last night I left a night out to come home early to get a sleep....DH is upstairs sleeping as he is always up during the night with ds2 as well as me!

All I can say is that I can't wait until they are teenagers as I will be waking THEM up at 6 and jumping on their beds!!!!

[pipsy1]

At least your DH helps in the night. Mine just snores away! Was hoping it would be something she grew out of but reckon i've just go an early bird. As you say roll on teenage years for the sleep if nothing else! Trouble is exhaustion is putting me off having another, I just don't think I'd cope

[mummylonglegs]

Well Ferber says that some kids just do wake up early and there's nothing you can do about it. But he suggests trying that later nap time first just in case it helps. I'll be interested to hear! Remember you can just put her to bed 15 minutes later every day, you don't have to go the whole hog and leap from 10.30am to midday!