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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

6 month old waking VERY Early...help!

18 replies

zsooz · 07/12/2004 19:24

Hi.
I have DS who is just 6 months. He has been sleeping through the night since he was about 13 weeks, nothing I did, I just could not wake him up for love nor money for his last night feed (11pm ish) so never bothered and he was quite happy to go through the night waking just before 7 am then cooing and playing in his cot until about 7.30am when I would feed him.

For the last 2 weeks he has been waking just before 5 am and ready to start the day. he refuses to be left alone and will scream the house down. I tried controlled crying, he went purple and made himself sick. I tried bringing him to bed with us...nothing works.

I thought that perhaps it was hunger more than anything so tried giving him a small feed intending to top him up at 7am but he wasn't hungry.

He is eating well, 3 'solid' meals and has cut his first teeth with not much fuss

I am really tired now, it feels like I have taken one step forward and several back as DH snores like a trooper and I am now lucky if I get 2 hours of solid sleep a night. Come on you experts give a first timer some tips! :-)

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AllIWantForXmasisPoo · 07/12/2004 19:28

Might it be his nap times? Or is his bed-time creeping earlier and earlier? I try not to let my ds nap after 3pm unless he is ill or something. Don't out him to bed before 6.15 either. He also had a bout of waking at 5am in this last week - think he was just cold as the weather has turned. Chucked an extra blanket on him, and / or put a little heater in his room after the central heating went off, and he straight through again. Might be something dead simple, like the neighbour going to work 2 hours earlier than normal and the door slam wakes him up. Sympathies though.

OLittleYurtofBethlehem · 07/12/2004 19:38

Is he having a nap too early in the morning - that can cause early waking - HTH

Original poster

zsooz · 07/12/2004 19:51

The only nap he has ever been concisitent with is the morning one. When he used to wake at 6.45 ish then he would go for his am nap at about 9.15 ish give or take 10 minutes. he used to only sleep for about 40 minutes but since I got him a grow bag this nap last for about 1.5-2 hours. Then he'll have maybe 40 minutes at about 3pm. He just hates to sleep really. I have tried EVERYTHING you name it. Gina Ford, baby whisperer etc. Do you think it's his nap times causing this. It isn't any strange noises the house is detached and no noisy boilers go on or anything at this time.

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Original poster

zsooz · 07/12/2004 19:52

almost forgot....he goes down for the night at 7pm, well that is when we attempt it but lately he is waking up at about 8pm too needing to be settled some nights 9 and 10pm too. Any suggestions welcomed

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wickedwinterwitch · 07/12/2004 19:54

Try dropping the morning nap and oddly, making sure he's getting enough sleep during the day too. I'm convinced being over tired can get them awake early as well. Hell isn't it? We've got a 5-6am one too (1yo) and I'm not impressed but dropping the morning one seems to help. Sometimes.

Original poster

zsooz · 07/12/2004 19:58

Drop the morning one completely? When would he sleep instead then? I really don't think he'd make it from 5am until the afternoon???

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wickedwinterwitch · 07/12/2004 20:05

No no, I meant let him have a midday or afternoon sleep, say 12-2 or 1 til 2 or 3 or something, just not a morning 10am or 11 am one. May not work but might be worth a try!

wickedwinterwitch · 07/12/2004 20:06

Someone posted on here that if they have a morning sleep (like 10am or something) then that makes up for waking early and you need to get them to reattach that 10am sleep to the main night time one by dropping it. Makes sense doesn't it?

Original poster

zsooz · 07/12/2004 20:47

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh excited now and will try it tomorrow. It's going to be interesting trying to keep him amused for 3 hours :-) So WWW, when you say enough sleep during the day, what would you say is enough for a 6mth old. Crikey Moses, don't I sound like such an amateur!???

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bluemoon · 07/12/2004 21:00

It's in the Richard Ferber 'Solve your child's sleep problems' book somewhere. If the morning nap is too early it's like a continuation of the night sleep rather than a separate nap. The idea is to push the morning nap later by 15 minutes each day. I also think that your Ds is having a very long nap at this time. You might try to split it up into 2 separate sleeps? At this age my dd did about 1 hour in the morning and 1.5 hours just after lunch.

Original poster

zsooz · 07/12/2004 21:06

Thanks blue moon that is really helpful. I think your suggestion of doing it gradually every day is best for me.

I feel like such a terrible Mum this evening. DS is only 6 months and I was so grumpy with him.I spoke to him so sternly. In the end I let him do what I always said I wouldn't and I let him cry and cry until after about 15 minutes he did fall asleep. Felt like sh%* though. :-(

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bluemoon · 07/12/2004 21:14

zsooz, those guilt feeling never go away to be honest . My dd's 26 months now and I've been feeling like the worst mummy in the world as I got cross with her this evening. She's been an absolute angel child until the last month and it dawns on me we're hitting the 'terrible twos' which quite frankly I never believed in until now! Everything's become a battle and by the end of the day my temper can't keep up with it all. I'm usually very calm and not a cross natured person and I feel AWFUL.

Sorry, going off the subject here!

I recommend the Richard Ferber book anyway, it has lots of useful tips.

ButtonMoon · 07/12/2004 21:21

My DD went through a few spells of waking up at 5am I tried to analyse it by keeping records of sleep patterns etc!!! Couldn't find a link TBH. I think that sometimes it is just a phase they go through or you could have, like me, an early riser. My DD's average wake up time is 6-630.

Original poster

zsooz · 07/12/2004 21:28

Blimey button moon right now 6 or 6.30am rising sounds heaven sent. hey could always make him do a paper round like in a couple of years or something.....must see about stabilisers for the bike i am going to by him next week :)

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TracyK · 07/12/2004 21:29

I'm a bit confused about the early morning nap thingy. But I shall watch with interest the outcome of this as my ds sometimes wakes 4.30am - 5 am. But the past few nights its been 6.30 ish - since I gave him an extra layer of pjs in fact.
But am willing to investigate his nap pattern. Although if he wakes early - then his nap needs to be earlier otherwise he is too tired to eat any lunch.

Original poster

zsooz · 07/12/2004 21:48

Tracy I thought it might be the temp in his room etc and have experimented with diff blankets/sleepsuits/growbags turning up the heater in his room (not too hot) but so far to no avail, will let you know what happens.

OP posts:

aligriff · 15/12/2009 10:18

Hi zsooz, hows it going a week on? I'm very interested in the morning nap thing as I have a similar problem - DS sleeps well from 7pm until 4am when he wakes bright as a button but wants to go back to bed about 1.5 to 2 hours later (usually can stay awake three hours during the day before needing a nap). He is seven months and has pretty much done this from 3 months. Like you, have tried everything else. Please say it is possible and works!?!

aligriff · 16/12/2009 09:41

I've just realised it is actually 5 years and one week on! still interested how it went though if you are still around!

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