Has changed to 5 am waking - can I alter this?

[bluesmile10]

My 11 mo ds has suddenly changed from waking around 6.15 to 5 am (sometimes earlier - yesterday was 4.45!!!!) It suddenly changed over a period of a few days - getting earlier by about 20 mins a day and has now stayed around 5!!! We are finding that we are exhausted!!!

He goes to bed around 7 - although sometimes recently this is a little later as he has discovered standing in his cot (separate post!!)

Is there any way of helping him sleep longer?

Is this caused by the lighter mornings?
Do you have blackout curtains? If not, they might help.

Otherwise, can you not help him get back to sleep?
Maybe a drink of milk and a cuddle would convince him to go back down for an hour or so?

How mature is he? Do you think he might be ready for a wake-up clock that changes colour or face in the morning (at the time you choose) and tells him when he's allowed to wake up.

Some children will play quietly in their cots and entertain themselves if some toys are available. Is there any chance he might do that?

I would second blackout curtains (in fact, we bought some blackout fabric and made a blind that velcros onto the window frame so no light gets in!) That certainly helps - and we can take it with us when we travel which makes travelling easier too.

Something we found which helped when DD was waking early was the decision we had made early on. We have always been absolutely consistent with these two things: that a) once she'd had her bath she didn't come out of her room again till the morning (unless really ill or something), so she's always had bath, stories (feed when she was still being fed at bedtime), bed. And b) Morning didn't start till 6am. This meant that if she ever woke before 6 I would go through and try feeding her back to sleep or cuddling/rocking. She would then either go back to sleep (and generally then sleep till 7 or later) or, at 6 I would take her out of her room - into our bed for cuddles and CBeebies! The time sitting cuddling her in her room from 5-6 was actually a really nice time.

Now, at 2, she tends to sleep till 7:30 or 8 which is really nice! In fact, we've now adapted b) above and won't take her out of her room till at least 7.

Also - there tends to be a sleep regression that hits at every big developmental milestone, so it could be that as he's starting to stand and moving towards walking, that he's not going to sleep well for a while and that this might change once he's past the developmental spurt. However, I would be temped not to let it become a habit before he grows out of it...

Does he have a late afternoon nap?

You can often get rid of early waking by making sure there is no nap after 3/3.30, or even earlier if this doesn't solve it!

Also second the advice not to get him up and act like it's morning before a certain time. Generally 6am for those 0-2 and 7am or thereabouts in our house for all those over 2!!! Does work, my 4 year old is heard shouting "Is it 7 o'clock yet?!!"

By the way clocks are ridiculous for those under 2 (sorry personal opinion).

Black out blinds are useful in the summer, but also sleep is definitely disturbed as pp said at developmental milestones and it sounds like he's going through one of these. The trick is to have coping strategies for this without it then becoming a habit that he wakes this early normally.

Thanks, we have blackout curtains, but have been considering the blackout velcro ones so that NO light gets through!!!! Think we might have to do the not leaving the bedroom til 6 as normally I bring him downstairs which says its ok to be awake!!!

Tgger, he does have quite a long sleep in the afternoon - sometimes about 2 hours! He went down today at about half 2. Bit later yesterday, but then slept til nearly 5, should I be waking him?

p.s forgot to add, there's no chance of him going back off - have tried every trick in the book - he's awake and thats that until nap time!!!

Is that his only nap? It's rather late in my opinion. If he still has 2 naps, perhaps see if you can get him to start having one nap around lunchtime. Maybe this is his way of showing you he's ready for it.

DD has never been much of a daytime sleeper, but by a year had moved to one nap at around lunchtime. This was generally 45 mins (She'd wake and not settle again)! However, as she's got older she's begun sleeping longer. By about 18 months she had started going for about 2 hours from 11:30 ish. This was great, but when she started being a nightmare to settle at night and during the night I began waking her after an hour during the day (Until then I always believed in 'never wake a sleeping baby'). It suits her just fine. She's had enough sleep to keep her going and not so much that she won't sleep well.

We never let her sleep past 3pm as if she does, she won't go to sleep at night until 9ish. We just tried it for a few days and saw whether it made much of a difference. Might be worth trying...

Oh, it's ghastly, isn't it? DD did this at about 9 months. I'm sorry to say that she too was impossible to resettle, but grew out of it. She occasionally wakes now before 6 but usually resettles herself, or if I get in there at lightning speed and give her a drink of water she drops back off.

Good luck! I only survived it by going to bed earlier and earlier myself.

Yes, I think waking from a 2hr nap at around 5:00 sounds late.
I have a rule that there's no napping after 4:00. I wake my children from naps if I think they are too long or too late and will affect nighttime sleeping.

Hello!
You have to experiment a bit with naps and see what suits your son- they're all a bit different and what suits one won't suit another.

Some move onto the one nap a day "schedule" at about one year old, but others stay on 2 naps until more like 18 months. My son did the one nap (at about 12 noon) from about 12 months but my daughter stayed on two naps, I think 10ish and 2ish until nearer 18 months. Sometimes though she'd only do the first one and refuse the second. If the later one gets pushed later and later you know it's time to switch to just one nap or wake them up after a certain time.

I think from 18 months or so late naps need to be banned, or only taken on special occasions (very busy days/illness etc), younger than this it takes a bit of experimenting as if they get overtired they can be difficult to settle at bedtime.

Hope you get it sussed. All sorts of things interfere with sleep so you might find that actually by doing nothing it rights itself soon anyway, but if not then good luck!!!!

Just wanted to add that my 12 mth old daughter has started doing this. She then needs a nap within a few hours. She always has a lunchtime nap of 1.5 - 2 hrs, and goes to bed at 7. She does not have an afternoon nap and the room is completely blacked out. I am hoping she grows out of it. I have read about wake to sleep method, but not sure I can bear to get up at 4.45 to try it....