9 month old waking up around 5am

[Kvizzle]

My 9 month old keeps waking up early, between 5am and 5.30.

I've googled and googled but I'm not sure which of the many possibilities it could be.

He isn't hungry, he wakes up happy, we give him his first bottle at 7 and he isn't crying of hunger before then. When he's up he'll happily play until then.

He self settles when we put him down, and when he wakes throughout the night so I don't think he's relying on being rocked/fed back to sleep.

His naps seem on the right tracks for his age, of course I'm happy to be told otherwise for this and all the above, but here is a pretty typical day routine for us

His first nap is 9.15/9.30, regardless of when he wakes up. He'll pretty much sleep 1hr10mins most times.
His second will be 2/2.30 and I'll cap it at 3.30 if he hasn't woken up, then bed between 6.30 and 7, it's always 3hr30 from when he wakes up.

He isn't fighting naps, he falls asleep nicely and wakes up happy. And he seems rested when he wakes up and isn't cranky during the day. Having said that he's being a cranky nightmare this morning so perhaps he is still tired, but he wouldn't go back to sleep this morning!

His naps average about 2hr 30 which seems about normal for his age.

Another thing worth mentioning is that I don't go in as soon as he wakes up, so long as he's content I'll leave him to it. If he gets upset I'll change him, keep the room dark and try and put him down again. I don't get him up officially until after 6. Very rarely he goes back to sleep but most times he doesn't.

I'm really unsure how I can get him snoozing a bit later. Where is this instruction manual for this baby?

If anyone has any thoughts I am all ears.

and yes go to bed @ 8:30 a couple of nights a week.

He's sleeping 11 hours pretty much solid. I think you can call this a win. Neither of my dc have ever slept that long in one go in their lives and they are 10 and 13. As a pp said you can't have a pre 7pm bed time AND a lie in. And it's unlikely you'd be able to change the wake up time significantly by moving bed time later if this is the natural timing for your dc. You'd probably just end up with a grumpy baby. I'd just enjoy your evenings and chance to get an early night and pretty much unbroken sleep. You're very fortunate

Normal OP. My 2yo woke at 530 today and I consider that a good day. Managed to get him to go back to bed until 6. Win!

Hey @Kvizzle did this improve for you yet? Any tips? Going through the exact same with my 9mo x

@Gingerface90 It did eventually. Now we struggle because he doesn't want to go to bed until 8.30, I miss his 7pm bed times!!

Waking up at 6/6.30 (7 if we're lucky) is pretty normal for him now. I didn't change anything, it seemed like there was nothing to change, it just naturally phased out.

I know of friends who would give a little bit of milk with an early wake up and then they will get a bit extra sleep - I was reluctant to get into a rhythm of this, didn't want little one expecting a feed when he didn't seem hungry, I rode the wave and was reassured from others on here that it was normal.

I remember being quite strict with nap times, so even if he woke early, I'd do everything in my power to make the first nap 9.30. I capped his afternoon nap to try and prevent him having a really late bed time. Making sure he ate and drank plenty in the day.

I am no expert in babies, but I am an expert at googling 😂 and it can get a bit overwhelming when you see there are so many possibilities: Being under tired, over tired, too much day sleep, not enough day sleep... there is so much guess work involved in parenting I swear. I hope it improves for you soon. I'm sure it will.

One last thought, I can't remember ages of dropping naps but early wake ups can be a sign of needing tpo drop a nap. Mine was on 2 naps at that age. Changed to one nap at around 11 months.

@Kvizzle thanks for the reply! Glad you're getting a more sociable wake up time now. There is something psychological when it starts with a 5 😣. I expected it was a wait it out thing, my older son was totally different to younger son and he just woke up at 6.45 from about 7 months although didn't fully drop his night feed until he was 1. It's definitely not milk or hunger though with 2nd as he started pushing bottles away at night at 6 months and not desperate until 7/7.30 for a feed. Nothing else to try except the waiting game

My eldest did that and I complained at the time but what I would have given for my second to sleep through to 5 at 9 months 😅😅 even with a sleep consultant, she would wake multiple times sometimes for hours until she was 2 years old. My third now is only 8 months but I’d be so so happy if he slept through to 5/530. Count your blessings!!! It does feel rough though but go to bed at 9 or half 9 and you’ve got enough sleep x

Hes using the morning nap to catch up on lost sleep from night before

Just been reading as my 9 month old is waking between 5 and 5:30 and it’s a killer. She’s still tired and is back asleep by 7 so not sure what is waking her. It’s not hunger as she’s not too bothered about the bottle.
I know people are saying 7-5 is good but why do all these women say they have 7-7 sleepers?? It winds me up 😡 people I speak to make out 7-5 is awful

DS is now a year and is going through until 6.30am, much better when it doesn't start with a 5. He just got better when he started eating more dinner