7 mo waking early since clocks changed. Will she eventually realise?!!

[IslandIsla]

DD usually goes down around 6.45-7pm and sleeps until between 6-7am. (Of course she wakes up to be fed in between!)

With the clocks change we moved her bedtime forward by 15 mins a night starting last Friday, so now she is going to bed at the same time with the clocks having changed.

However she is still waking the same time she used to, around 5.30-5.45 (the 'old' 6.30-6.45).

If I just keep consistent will she eventually work it out? Or has the later bedtime made her overtired so she isn't sleeping as well??

I managed to bring her naps forward to the new time but since she has been waking so early her morning nap has lengthened which has made her afternoon nap shorter, and then she is more tired in the evening. This morning I put her down about 1/2 hr earlier to see if this will help...

Never thought just an hour change could be so difficult!

[PuppyMonkey]

You have got a blackout blind haven't you?

[IslandIsla]

yes had a blackout blind since about May when she started getting sensitive to the light in the a.m.! Her room is v dark at 5.30 ish so i don't think its that...

[PuppyMonkey]

Maybe the birds or something being noisy outside. I think she will just resettle naturally over the next few days... maybe try waking her up a bit earlier at morning nap if you think she's sleeping too long? Don't worry, she'll sort it out herself. Just have to prepare yourself for a few early starts...

[jeffily]

Hi IslandIsla! I'm not stalking you, I promise, but I could have written your message! Our DDs are v close in age, mine is 7 mos today. We have gone about it in nearly exactly the same way as you, her naps are at the adjusted time now, except for her morning nap that she is always ready for by 8.30 now and it has extended just like yours. She is also waking at the 'old' time. I am trying to encourage her to stay in her bed- teddy to cuddle, mobile going to look at for at least 30mins each morning, and I am just trying to appreciate that longer sleep in the morning as time to rest/read/MN! Although it is not as good as sleeeeeeeep of course.
I think its the biological clock isn't it? I mean, I know that I used wake up early for a while after the clocks changed pre-baby and eventually just figure it out. Fingers crossed for both us of that they do work it out soon...
(or I suppose we can just hang on for them to change back?!)

[jeffily]

PS by them I mean the clocks, not the babees. Though I'm not sure what they'd change into...

[jeffily]

IslandIsla how was your night? DD and I are currently sitting in bed, she is gumming on her teether and I am MNing and drinking a cup of tea- and we have only been awake for half an hour! Hurrah. Maybe she is starting to get it.
Although I do have to admit that from 5 onwards she was in with me, and from 6-6.30 she was ON TOP of me... But at least we were (sort of) asleep!

[CheerfulSoul]

We are having the same problem with our 14 month-old. He has woken at 5.30am every morning since the clocks changed. No sign of him adjusting. My husband and I are starting to get very stressed at being woken so early every morning, given that 6.30am was more normal for us until now.

I'm trying to leave him as long as possible, in the dark and the quiet, to see if he can get the idea that it's not time to get up. Eventually he gets cross though and I have to go in.

My husband wants to put him down late to bed but I think that will just give him less sleep as he will still wake at the same time.

Apart from a strong sedative does anyone have any ideas to help him adjust?

[Jojay]

I sympathise with you all -we are going through the same with 1 year old DS2.

He's always been an early riser - 5.30-6 am being the norm, so when the clocks went back he was up at 4.30 am on Sunday morning

We've tried to keep his daytime routine and bedtime as normal as possible in the hope that he'll adjust naturally.

He's going in the right direction.
Sun - 4.30
Mon - 4.40
Tues - 5 am
Wed - 5.15
Today 5.30.

So we're getting there. We leave him to chat to himself a bit when he first wakes too, so we get him up about 15 mins after he wakes normally.

I think you have to just ride it out tbh, and just try to stick to your usual daytime and bed times.

On the plus side, hopefuly they'll take this long to adjust when the clocks go forward in the spring too

[IslandIsla]

Hello all, thanks for your messages!

Well some progress today as little miss woke up at 6.30 :-)

The down side is she was a bit unsettled in the night, waking up at 2.30 crying and not settling back until 3.30. I have no idea why as she was fed at 10pm and 1am!

I did actually put her to bed a bit earlier so she was asleep by 6.30pm. She was showing tired signs all afternoon and getting quite grumpy.

When she has been waking early I have been leaving her until she gets grizzly about being left in her cot. So just have to wait for her to make the adjustment.

Jeffily, so nice to know I am not the only one in this position! I did wonder whether I just kept her on the old time but I think that would be even more difficult!

[IslandIsla]

Pre baby I always used to like this time change more than the one in the spring - more time in bed Although i am realising that with an early-rising baby, I think I will definitely prefer the clocks change in March

[Orissiah]

Exactly the same problem here with my 16 month old DD. Before the clocks changed she used to wake any time between 6-7am. Now she is waking anytime between 5-6am :-( I went in this morning when she woke at 5.30am to "go back to sleep, night night" and I admit she looked confused. I lay her down and went back to bed. She cried in protest for 5 minutes but then actually went back to sleep until our alarm woke her at 6.30am! May not work again but fingers crossed!

We have kept her routine exactly the same so bedtime has always been 7pm and a nap at lunchtime.

I really hope this is a clock change thing and will resolve itself.

Any others having same problem?

[IMoveTheStarsForNoOne]

Same here - DS was a 7 - 7 sleeper (finally, after 18 months of hellish sleep) and now he's 7 - 6 sleeper? Why is he waking an hour earlier.

One thought - have you changed the time on your heating timer? It's not coming on too early is it?

PuppyMonkey I suspect you maybe right wrt the birds being noisy - hopefully this will gradually get later as the mornings get darker.

[meep]

same problem here!

7mo dd2 still waking at around 5.30am.

All naps, milk and food are at adjusted time and she is even going to bed a bit later at 7.30pm.

'tis killing me - the only upside is that I am back to work on Monday and if I am up at sparrow's fart in the morning I definitely won't be late

[OnALearningCurve]

I'm so glad that there are others suffering out there too...makes it almost easier to bear these disgustingly early wake up calls!

[IslandIsla]

well 5.20 this morning!! But I decided to go to her, gave her a quick feed and then she snoozed until 7am

She had only fed at 3am, so not totally convinced she was properly hungry, but we both got some extra sleep, which is the most important thing at the moment!

[LucyBucy]

Just wanted to bump this message - is anyone else out there STILL suffering from the clock change? Prior to the clocks going back my 6mo was waking at 5.30 and now she wakes at 4.30!!!!

It is doing my head in.

Her naps are all at the new time.
I've tried adjusting her bedtime on another hour.
I've tried dropping her afternoon nap so she's super tired before bed.
I've tried putting her to bed early and waking her for an hour in the early evening.

She is so super adaptable with naps in the daytime and her bedtime hour but she literally wakes at 4.30am on the dot every morning.

Can anyone help me?

[chocolateismymiddlename]

We're in the same boat here, except that my dd is older, 22 months. She wakes between 4.30 a.m. and 5.30 a.m, every morning, no adjustment of bedtime seems to work

[IslandIsla]

Hello all, saw this had been bumped up and thought I'd check in.

By a week after clocks change DD had become very grumpy, was only sleeping 30 mins at her nap times and waking up crying and was becoming difficult to settle at bedtime.

I diagnosed overtiredness so I took some backward steps and started putting her to bed early. So, 2 weeks in and we have managed to adjust her bedtime by 1/2 hour! She's now asleep around 6-6.30pm and she is sleeping until about 6am (over the last week she has generally woken between 5.45 and 6.15). But the early bedtime means she is getting more sleep, her naps are back on track and she is settling at bedtime. she's actually going to bed earlier but sleeping later ....

I've decided we'll just keep it like this. When the clocks go forward I won't need to do anything!

[IslandIsla]

p.s. when I say sleeping until 6am, I have of course neglected to mention she wakes twice in the night to be fed!! But she does settle back quickly, which she wasn't doing before!

[LucyBucy]

Well after nearing breakdown at the weekend I've decided to accept that she'll be waking at 4.30am for the foreseeable future...

Interesting to hear about your DD's overtiredness IslandIsla, I think my DD has been suffering the same - shorter naps and general grumpiness - so I've put her to bed a bit earlier to see if her mood improves tomorrow.

My DD is also waking 3-4 times in night for feeds so am wondering about easing her off them - it would make waking up at 4.30am a little easier!