Early riser

[daydreamingnightowl]

Baby is 8.5 months and sleeps from 7pm to anywhere between 4-5am. He rarely will go back down with a bottle unless he wakes before 4.

He is then exhausted exactly 2 hours after waking and goes down for an hour nap. So his first nap could be between 6-7am

We're then on such an early schedule that he can't make it to the afternoon for the 2nd nap and is very resistant to a third nap later.

Should I be trying to extend his wake period after he first wakes up and if so by how much? And should I cap the length of his first nap?

I've asked similar on here before when he was a bit younger but didn't have much success...hoping someone has the magic answer!

I don't really have the answers sorry - currently sat with one half of my twins who is a 5am riser - to be honest as I work full time I'd have to be at 6 anyway so it suits me for them to nap on the school run between 7-9, then they might have a mid morning nap or just a long one in the afternoon, bedtime at 6 but that can take a couple of hours to get them to sleep. I'd let him sleep as long as he wants in that first nap and then maybe see if he'll have a top up nap about 11 for 30 mins- hour?

Mine was like this. I found the 4am wakes got later with age and were a bit of a phase, but tbh hes still an early riser. Hes now nearly 2 and wakes anywhere between 5.30-6.30.

My 10 month old wakes at 5am and has done for a while now, so I feel your pain! We’re on a 2-nap schedule and have been since about 8 months. Even with the early starts, I don’t let her nap before 9am. She’ll do an hour at 9, and then another 2 hours at 1pm, with a 7-7.30 bedtime, so whilst the early starts are a killer, her total sleep is normal for her age, and she naps well. Unfortunately I just don’t think she’s capable of sleeping more than 10 hours at night (though she does sleep through), and it’s quite common for little ones to wake that early. I sometimes go to bed with her a couple of times a week if I’m extra tired.

But, to actually answer your question, yes, I would push that first nap back to 8.30-9am, and shift to just the two naps a day. It’ll be a struggle to start with, but my LO doesn’t seem to mind being up that long in the morning any longer (though it’s done nothing to encourage a lie-in!!)

If he will go down after a bottle earlier, could you try a dream feed at say 2am to hopefully see him through a bit later in the morning? I gradually night weaned my DS (breastfed) from 9 months and initially did a dream feed at 10pm and 2am, kept up the 2am one for quite a while as like your DS if he woke up hungry past 4am he was really hard to settle.

Thank you so much for all your replies. I think I just need to gradually move his first nap later until it reaches around 9 and then hope that everything else follows!

I have tried dream feeds before but it has not been successful!

Lucky these little sleep thieves are so cute right?

Agree - move first nap later. I also limit it to max 45 mins. Then second nap has to be min 90 mins (resettle if less). My DS who always woke up between 4 and 5 has started sleeping to 0630 (touch wood) doing this.