Help Baby early waking!

[Lockdownbaby2021]

My 7mo has started waking up at 4/5am for the last week or so.
His room is very dark and he’s not hungry so I know it’s not that.
He has previously slept through from 7pm- 645 up until 2 weeks ago so I’m at a loss. And I’m dreading the clocks going back this weekend. I tried putting him to bed 15 mins later to see if it helped but it’s made it worse. His day goes roughly as followed

Wake up 5am (used to be 7)
7am bottle
8am breakfast
Nap 830/9am- 10 Ish
1030/11am bottle
1230- 1/230pm nap
230pm bottle
4pm- nap for 15 mins
5pm- tea
615pm -get ready for bed
645pm- bottle
7pm- bed
11pm- dream feed

Any ideas I’m going back to work soon and can’t be doing this and he’s very grumpy through the day because of this early wake.

@Lockdownbaby2021 yeah you're right, i had to get my boy's posterior tie cut privately as the NHS wouldn't do it. The tongue tie itself can be a cause of reflux as it means they can't latch properly (not saying there isn't another reason as well). I would push for infant gaviscon from the GP - i just phoned and said i think he has reflux, these are my reasons, i want to try medication for it. It's not fair them saying he will grow out of it (which he likely will) if he's unhappy and in pain!

So baby is still waking early, along with the clock change he woke up at 415am yesterday today was 515am.
The issue is he gets so tired by 730/8am but I’ve read you shouldn’t let them sleep earlier than 8 due to them thinking it’s a catch up on night time sleep?
I’ve also cut the last nap of day if he wakes up from lunch time nap at 245/3pm. If he wakes earlier than this I give him 15 mins at 4pm ish.
I gave in this morning and gave him a nap at 830 as he was hysterical. He’s still asleep now @0945.
Should I have woken him after an hour?
I feel so lost with everything. A few weeks ago he was sleeping through and we had a solid nap routine… don’t know where it went wrong xx

@Lockdownbaby2021

I've honestly been in the exact same place as you, analysing every bit of his sleep...it can be all consuming. The only thing that really helped was when i relaxed. I stopped looking at wake windows and ideal schedules and just followed his cues.

That being said, I would fully expect a 7 month old to need a nap by half 7/8 if they were up around 5! I also stopped worrying about waking them after a certain amount of time and just let him take what he needed.

Have you heard of the possums approach? I read about it on a facebook group and i think the gist is that you need to keep them as busy as possible as boredom can look similar to tiredness - so they say that when you think they're tired you change activity and see if they carry on for a bit or whether they're actually tired. Plenty of time outdoors and light can help with that too!

Have you had any luck with the reflux?

I know it's really hard but they do change so fast. Often it's just developmental stages and teething x

My youngest had two or three long periods of early waking - 6 or 7 weeks. Each time it was teething, a long run up to each of the sets of teeth on their way. And then they went back to their usual waking. It felt endless each time but it did pass.

@mumofbun
Thanks for your reply I really appreciate it
No I’ve not heard of the possums approach. I mean I do try keep him entertained as he gets bored/ frustrated very easily.
His reflux still isn’t great. He was arching his back in his high chair crying today when I tried to give him lumpy mash. (Trying to move away from purées). He deffo prefers feeding himself with finger foods and taking control. I can tell he doesn’t chew the food properly as he bits big chunks off and gulps straight away.
I hope you’re okay and had a lovely weekend. It’s so reassuring you’ve been in the same position as me xx

@Himawarigirl
That’s interesting to know. I feel he’s been teething since he was 3 around months but still no teeth! but I guess he’s 7.5 months now so they must be due to erupt soon! Bless them if only they could tell us what was wrong and why they’re waking up so early xx

That sounds really hard op. I also had a baby then toddler with severe reflux, we did try gaviscon but it was v v tricky as i was breastfeeding and he never had a bottle. I did try it but it can cause constipation so then its another issue.. I eliminated all dairy out as this was a huge problem for my lo. I also echo loads of fresh air, my baby loved a sling and would nap in there too if that was a possibility? I didn't spoon feed as all my dcs hated it and i would also say be careful with acidic foods, my dc loves all types of food but tomatoes i discoverd massively impacted his reflux and does now at 7 too.
Don't worry about what others say , my poor dc never slept well and always looked tired but I tried everything. Once your lo is moving the reflux should improve too!

I would also get a full check up at the gp, ears , throat etc

When baby wakes at 5am, if he isn't crying what happens if you just ignore and leave him in his cot? My dd used to wake, chat to herself and then fall back to sleep. What happens if you offer a bottle at 5am, does he go back to sleep?

@Lockdownbaby2021 Thank you i did :) but the clock change has knackered me!! Up at half 5 and then off to work is not fun!

Have you had any investigation into potential allergies? I'd bring up the back arching with the GP too.

Don't worry about the not chewing thing - if you give them food to feed themselves it should be soft enough that they just gum it a bit. I did that with my son and he's now chewing fine :)

If you have a 7 month old baby who sleeps through the night until 5am then you are very very lucky OP!

You can stress about the early wakings and try to ‘fix it’ or you can just put up with it and wait for it to change, as it eventually will. But the truth is there isn’t mu DH you can do. You’re already way ahead of where I was, my child woke every 1-2 hrs until age 3. Count your blessings!!

@Skysblue I know what you’re saying and we are lucky he sleeps most of the time until 5, (sometimes we have to go in once or twice for dummy run) although I wake frequently through the night on my own accord and check the monitor and he’s awake moving around without making any noise so who knows how much sleep he’s getting! what I’m concerned about it that he doesn’t seem settled through the day even after a good chunk of sleep and gets tired about an hr after waking from a nap..