9 mo old has started waking at 5.30am

[mozzamo]

Hi my 9.5 month old ds has always been a good sleeper at night, settling into a pattern of sleeping from 7 to 7. Recently though he is waking at 5.30/6 and dying to get up. He goes back for a nap around 9 for half an hour and has a longer nap 45 mins in afternoon.
I'm wondering if the new behaviour is because we have in laws staying (they are here for several weeks) and maybe having extra people in the house is disturbing his normal pattern?
Me and DH take it in turns to get him up in mornings and it's usually me who puts him to bed at night so there's been no change in his bedtime routine.
Is this just a phase?

I would have thought it is just a phase. Unfortunately it's a common time for children to wake up, but if he normally sleeps til 7 then I would have thought something's disturbed his sleep pattern. My guess is either he's just exited that people are staying and wants to see them. He might have woke at 5:30 before and then gone back off but he probably just remembers that they're there and simply wants to see them.
Or, it could be that he's becoming more sensitive to light. Do you have a black out blind? I do and as long as it's not too warm they work a treat.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Yummum, I noticed there was a bit of light poking though at the top and bottom of curtains so have temporarily put a blanket over the curtains so the room is now totally dark, will see how long he sleeps tonight!

Mozzamo- how was last night? Any luck?
Was keeping my fingers crossed.

We've never found the darkness of the room makes any difference.

My ds went through this at around 13 months.

He usually slept 7-7 as well. I started giving him a slightly later nap in the afternoon then not putting him to bed until 8/8.30pm. After a couple nights he started waking up at 7am again so I left it a couple nights then started bringing bedtime forward to 7pm again and within a week and a half he was back to 7-7 and has been since.

I think after waking up at 5.30 for a few days his body clock adjusted itself so he continued to wake at this time. I figured I just needed to re-programme his body clock back again and,well, it seems to be working so far. Lol.

Hi, I must be going mad, thought I had posted a message here earlier on today but just realised I hadn't.
Anyway, the make shift curtains/blackout blind seemed to work, he slept until 7 yesterday and 6.30am this morning.
He has been teething this week and I think maybe that could be a factor too.
Thanks for the help!

My DD (almost 9mo) has started doing this too and I'm shattered! I'm hoping it might be a growth spurt (said in hope)?? It will adjust itself soon won't ?! You can just agree and say 'yes' to make me feel better if you like!

Yes!

yes, it will!

My DS did this for a while but has gone back to his usual wake up of 6.15 (not much better but he was waking before 5 )