Early riser

[daydreamingnightowl]

My baby is 7 months and bed time is between 6:30-7:00pm Baby then wakes up between 4 and 5am and is then up. Not too interested in a bottle, may take a couple of ounces but is wide awake.

Would usually then go back down for a nap after a couple of hours and sleep up to an hour. The rest of the days naps are very hit and miss and I can't seem to get into a routine.

Have you any tips on how to stretch overnight sleep out so wake up time is a little later. Is there anything obvious I am doing wrong?

I know I shouldn't complain, but the 4-5am starts are hard as I can't get back to sleep during naps.

Bedtime seems a bit early?

Aim for the following goal:
Up at 7
Morning nap 9.30 - 10.15 and not a second more
Lunchtime nap 12.30ish for 1.5 - 2 hours
No afternoon nap unless been extremely busy (or nursery)

To achieve this from where you are now, arrange to have a pretty boring week from tomorrow onwards

Get up with baby when he wakes (4.30ish?)
Let him have his AM nap 7-8ish (allow more leniency in timings than the 'goal' allows)
Lunchtime nap 11-2 in his cot in dark room. Pitch black. Tin foil the windows if necessary, towel under door.

Repeat each day pushing timings back by 20-30 mins.

Just a suggestion
Good luck!!

Just to say, expect failure for first few days, this won't magically happen overnight!!

I don't know the answer but mine is 3 and still wakes around 4:30 every morning 😭

Thank you, that is really helpful. Our blinds are terrible and a lot of light does come in during the day. The first thing I'm going to do is make sure it is pitch black and then work on pushing the naps back by 20-30 mins each day. Fingers crossed!

Oh @dyerun it's not fun is it, especially as it's so dark in the mornings now!

@wineismycarb I have definitely not started thinking about how happy I'll be when he's waking up at 7am by next weekend......

Haha it may take longer than a week but I'd hope you'd get to the better side of 6am by then!
My babies (now 3, 5 and due third and last in Jan!!) had made to measure blackout blind, double bump lined curtains, pelmet and cot positioned so the last slit of light didn't hit her! Saying I like my sleep is an understatement.

Also, I wouldn't go in for 'muttering' or whinging... Wait until he cries/shouts out for you. Made that mistake with second child!

Well he actually woke at 5 this morning which was a lovely lay in for me!

He went back down for a nap at 7:10 and will try next nap at 11 so here's hoping!

Should I be making sure this first nap is no longer than 45 minutes straight away or is that the goal? He is actually still asleep so it's been 50 minutes

I love the dedication to pitch blackedness, I need to get on to this asap haha

I consider the morning nap to be a top-up to keep them going. Lunchtime is the main nap, and getting them to have a solid 1.5-2 hours will mean they are refreshed to enjoy their afternoon and help them learn to sleep more deeply for longer (rather than just snatching half hour kips here and there).
Give him a really good lunch (brunch?!) or bottle (or both!) Before he goes down so he's full up. Also helps reassure you he's not hungry if he wakes after half an hour - you'll feel happier saying 'its sleepy time now, go back to sleep" or whatever

Sorry, answer to your question, yes, I'd go and get him up now and do something rough and tumble if possible (walk round the block? Chasing round garden?)

Amazing, thank you. He woke up a few minutes later and is now having rough and tumble time with his grandad. Good idea on the feed up/bottle before putting him down. Thanks so much for the advice, it feels good just to have a plan!

How did you get on at lunchtime @daydreamingnightowl ?

So he went down at 11:30 for next nap and woke at 12:30 I managed to settle him but only for another 15 minutes and then he was rocking on all fours and chatting away.

He fell asleep again at 4:15 but I only let him sleep until 5....not sure if that's going to have ruined it?? It was going so well!

He's gone to bed at normal time (asleep at 6:45) so we'll see what happens tomorrow morning!!