Early waking.... 4.30... Please help before clocks change!!!

[Marsha101]

Hi.

I have posted about this before but with the hour change looming I'm getting a bit desperate so do apoligise for the repeat!

DS is 14m and has started waking about 4:30am! Always has been an early waker (5:30-6) but this is excessive!! He sleeps through and self settles to sleep and if he wakes in the night. He has recently dropped (most days) to one nap as he just refuses to take a pm nap however late I tried to push it. So I'm trying to get the am nap as late as poss (at the mo 10.30-11start) so he isn't up for hours & hours pre bed! Obviously this is hard with such an early start to the day!

He goes to bed about 6:30 not cause he is desperate but because I worry if he is up too long he will be over tired. When he wakes at 4:30 he is well rested and raring to go! He does seem to need 10-10.5hrs a night! And can have anywhere from 1.5-2.15 in the day! He is not an over tired child, v happy even at the end of the day!

Have tried leaving him but he just cries and cries and doesn't re settle, tried feeding him and then putting him back down, tried going in and stroking his head/holding his hand but he soon gets up wanting to play!!!

Not sure if we should try a later bedtime say in bed at 7/7.15 hopefully asleep by 7.30. This has worked before but I'm worried that he may just get an hour less sleep! Hubby recons two naps (easy to say but when he won't have a pm one it leaves him awake a v v long time pre bed) and a later bed time.

I know anything may take time and I'm not expecting a 7am wake up but 5.30 would be nice!

Any thoughts would be great... Thanks.

Morning, how awful for you. Early wakings are the stuff if nightmares indeed.

It definitely sounds like you need to move bedtime later. The baby whisperer suggests doing this in small increments to avoid over tiring them . I would say start moving the nap back by 15 mins and bedtime back by 15 mins and see how you go?

You def need a later bedtime. If as you say he only needs 10 hours at night (which is within the normal range) then the only option is later bedtime.

DS is similar age and needs 11 hours so we do 7.30pm-6.30am. He may take a few days for his clock to reset and sleep later so don't give up after day 1.

Try waking him after 1 hour at morning nap and then doing a second nap at 4pm. Then he should be fine for an 8pm bedtime. When DS was that age (now 17m) he had 2 naps like that and 8pm bedtime with a 7am wAkeup. Now he has dropped to one nap he goes to bed 7.30.

I would do 9am nap -45 mins -1hr long max. Then afternoon nap at 1.30pm- 3pm. Gradually changing so he eventually naps 1-3pm only by around 18 ish months.

7.30pm bedtime

Wow... Thank u for such quick replys and confirming what I think thought! A question tho.....

So we have been up since 4:30 yesterday was the same so when he seemed tired at 9 I put him to bed he only slept for 45m which is v unusual and then when I tried putting him down again at 2 he completely refused, tried again 4 or 5 times but he just jumped on his mattress and got distressed to the point I gave up in the end.... So yesterday he had 40m sleep !!!!! Should I try for two naps again and do as hidihole suggested and go for a hour this am and then a late pm nap risking only one nap again or should we try and push him on?!

My gut says he is shattered as he missed out on sleep yesterday so I should try it so he can have a late bedtime to get us out of this cycle but I'm terrified that he won't want to go down later!!! Aghhh!

Thanks in advance!

Artandco our posts crossed!! Do u mean in bed at 7.30 or in bed to be asleep by 7.30?!

Sorry for all the stupid questions but I need help with this one!!

Thanks! X

Don't get your hopes up!!

My 7mo goes to bed at 6.45pm and wakes up around 5.30-6am. I've been moving bedtime back by 10 minutes each night in the hope that I won't have an even earlier start on Sunday but he's going the wrong way - each night that bedtime has been later he's woken up even earlier so last night we ended up with bedtime 7.20pm and wake up today at 4.30am!

If you can get him to have a pm nap then I probably ly would just to avoid him getting strung out!

It will take a few days to ease him into a later bedtime and I think it's a do what you need to do time, whilst getting that bedtime later

My ds was simmilar at that age and i just stopped trying to get him to take a 2nd nap, he just wouldnt even if the first one was at 10am! He would nap for about 2 hours though and didnt seem.overtired in the evening so i just carried on putting him to bed at 7.30ish. He would wake between half 5 and 6 but as he got older the nap would get later and eventually went down to about an hour. He is now 19 months and sleeps.from 7.30 till 6.30 ish, sometimes even gone 7.

I agree with greta. Changing bedtimes has never made the smallest bit of difference here - I've got three larks and most mornings they're all awake by 5ish.

I would put into bed at 7.30pm so doesn't have to be asleep at 7.30pm .

I always aim for 8pm-8am bedtimes as would much rather they are awake later and not up in the middle of the night. Also gives more time as they grow to eat together as a family in the evening without a huge rush.

You def want to keep an afternoon nap as long as possible ( up until school age if you can, so good to establish )