15 months and still wakes at 5am.

[PavlovtheCat]

I had another thread, can't find it.

He naps between 45 mins and two hours in the day.

He goes to bed at 7pm. he sleeps til 5am ish, sometimes 4:30am.

he is still tired. he is NOT ready to start the day. he rubs his eyes a lot and fusses asking to go to dds room, or the kitchen or somewhere. He does not want cuddles, or to be put down, or to go back to bed. Then at 6am he is awake and happy and starts playing with his toys, being all cute .

I have tried:
Putting to bed later
Offering water
Offering him milk from a bottle/cup (used to be bf in the morning)and still asks for this, but does not put him back to sleep anyway).
CC
Feeding him as soon as he gets up
Refusing to feed him before 6am to let him know he has nothing to wake for
Ignoring him for 20 mins (not distressed just complaining that he wants to get up)
Having DH getting up with him
Soft music

Yesterday he drank 150ml of milk and a sandwich at 530am but not in one go, sips of milk and bits of sarnie, while also crumbling sanie and tipping milk.

This morning he has mostly been pointing out of the front room door going 'there? or periodically trying to my boobs (half heartedly).

A few weeks ago, can't even remember when, he slept 3 days in a row til 6-6:30am. And then started waking at 4:30am, now back to normal. and the odd night waking.

am i doomed to no life for the foreseeable future? all i do is work kids sleep.

Poor you. I have been having a massive grump about DS's early waking (18 months). Tried wake-to-sleep this morning, so got up at 4.20, but I wasn't back to sleep properly by the time he woke up at 5.10 (wake-to-sleep fail). Can't leave him to cry at all as we live in a flat with paper-thin walls and neighbour has already complained about his early waking. Still at least I can share early mornings with DH. As jennifer said, hope you have someone to share with.

Eek! It will get better, the clock change in a few weeks will help a little

Hope you manage to catch up a little on sleep this weekend. My two DCs share a room, so when they've both woken early I try to make sure they either go to bed earlier that night or have a nap in the day to make up for it. And there is always a duvet day and movies

Sorry if this has already been said, I haven't read through the posts, but the solution is an earlier bedtime. This sounds counter-intuitive but it works. I can recommend "healthy sleep habits happy child".

i got him back to sleep, it took 45 mins and a wake-up after 5 mins, but he finally settled at around 5:20am, and stayed asleep til 6:30am. And I think that was because DD woke him up! But who knows.

I went back to sleep after he finally settled for the duration and DH got up with him at 6:30am. I stayed dozing (rather than proper sleeping) til DH accidently pulled the shower curtain down when they all had a bath at about 8:30am ! Then up at 9:15am.

Strange but being able to go back to bed made today feel like a normal day, it has not felt like that for so long. Each day has just felt messed up and all about lack of sleep and dreading the following night. This morning everyone was happy. DH managed to get a good amount of sleep so was fine with getting up. He is a night owl and struggles to sleep early so if he gets up at 4:30am it half kills him, but last night we both went to bed at 9pm and he woke at 6:15am when DD came in for a cuddle, so had a good 9 hours sleep.

I am not expecting tomorrow to be better, but if I am able to get him back to sleep, even if takes 30 mins or so, then we stand a chance of some more sleep in this house. However, unlike all the other times, I refuse to believe as when I say it aloud it all goes wrong!

whisky yes, have put him to bed earlier, he woke at 4:20am and that book is recommended earlier so I will take a look, thank you

Pavlov, you have my utter sympathy. ds is similar - this week has been a bit better, which is, I think, maybe due to the fact that he walked all the way home from dropping dd at pre-school each day - only half a mile or so, but a long way on little legs. Anyway, I'm intent on walking the legs off him as much as I can. The other thing we've started doing is blatant bribery with chocolate buttons (I am Not Ashamed) - if you have another sleep, you can have chocolate when you wake up, which is working a bit.

But who knows? The wee bugger tricked us with his first ever consistent 3 night pattern this week, then fucked it up last night, so I know nothing. About Anything.

I just wanted to say I feel your pain, I have had to leave DD screaming in the middle of the night (4-5am) because she thought it was morning and I refused to give in. She can scream loudly for 45 minutes, I can hear it through the earplugs, it's horrible. But I think she has got the message Things have been better for a few nights.

Oh and we gave her an earlier bedtime - 6pm and she's very ready for it.

habbibu I am so with you on the not knowing Anything. About Anything. I thought, second child, I would have some clue. But, nope, such a different child. I am Not Wise. And I so agree to the walking them into unconsciousness. DS has not been walking too long but he insists on doing it now he has his new shoes, so long as it is, it does tire them doesn't it?

Bribery though, i like it. DD would not have budged, not an enormous sweety fan, whereas DS is a gannet. He will eat anything, especially chocolate buttons. I shall text DH and get him to bring some home. They will have to be giant ones though as they are my his favourite.

.

scones it is a sad state of affairs i think when we start to consider 4-5am as 'morning' i like the fact that you bring it back to reality in your post - is is NIGHT TIME .

You have my child by the sound of it. Fingers crossed for a good night/morning for you. And also for all the other early risers. I think we will try the earlier to bed, I just can't convince DH about it. He does not get it no matter how i explain the whole Sleep Begets Sleep process. And if I so much as say 'but some people on MN...' i get the rolled eyes, as do I if I mention a 'Book' that has been recommended 'do they know our child though?'

4:50am and he refused to go back to sleep. I did not get him up til 6am. But in the end had little choice as he got louder and louder and louder once he heard his sister up and about (he woke her up at 5:45am again!). He was however not screaming between 4:50am and 5:30am, he was moaning, and stopping for a min or so, the starting then stopping, he found a toy which I heard him talking to for a couple of mins before he tossed it over the side of his cot - that was the start of his squawking the place down.

He had a 20 min doze on me at about 7:15am and is a good mood.

Pavlov I think if you keep the sleep diary I suggested you will see there is a gradual improvement happening. Your consistency is paying off, it's just so wearing at the time

I need to, you are right. I have done one before and it was so shocking I stopped, did not have the strength to tackle it at that time. It does feel like it is improving. I just sort of hoped for a sudden 'oh ok i need more sleep oh look it is 6:30am!' kind of change!

I should do one. On the plus side he has not been waking in the night for a couple of nights.

I don't really have a great deal I can add here. I do agree with moving bedtime earlier. It does seem counterintuitive but when my DD ( 2.5) was sleeping badly/waking early in a very bad mood, I brought her bedtime forward half an hour and in a few days things had improved.

My DS1 has always been an early riser, and I do believe that sleeping patterns/need are nature and not nurture - he's 16 now and still wont stay asleep beyond 5:00am although he will now stay in bed and watch TV quietly!

I think, whilst you cant make a child sleep, you can teach them that 'get-up' time can be very different to 'wake-up' time. We were lucky and had a spare bed in DS's room, when he woke up as a toddler I would go in and get on the spare bed and doze whilst he read, cuddled or played with lego/quiet toys. It wouldn't always work so I can sympathise with the strong coffee at 5am

DC2 (now 13) is and always has been the exact opposite and sleeps for England, asking to go to bed when sleepy. DC3 (2.5) sleeps until about 6:00/6:30 when she will shout 'morning mummy!' I usually ignore this and she will chat to teddy in bed until the 7am alarm goes off and she comes into us, pulls the curtain and announces 'good morning world'

I'm a fan of the 'gro-clock' if they are old enough to understand that they stay in bed until the sun appears. www.gro.co.uk/Gro-clock ( finger crossed this works as a link)

Oh god Pavlov, it's fucking awful isn't it? DD is 8 months, and today the day began at 5.25. I'm in a terrible mood, and I know the day is going to be awful, particularly the afternoon, as she'll be more and more tired.

We live in a terraced house, so ignoring the angry screaming at that hour isn't doable.

Hey Pavlov I think I have been on Crappy Sleepers threads with you before! Both Devon, both with babies the same age...
Full sympathies here. If it's any consolation DD is still waking at least twice a night and then up for the day before 6am...

Hi, I've been lurking on this thread and other similar ones for a while. I have a 20mo DS who has never been a good sleeper. Like your boy, Pavlov, he only slept on me or DH until he was 10 weeks, and even now he would rather sleep on one of us than anywhere else.

Last week DS slept until after 6am three mornings in a row but, as always, Something Happens. Last time it was new teeth waking him throughout the night. We got him back to sleeping through (but still waking sometime after 5am) and now he's gone down with a sickness bug. I've been awake since 2.30am today.

I'm going to try putting him to bed earlier. It's not easy though, because I don't get home from work until after 6pm. DS and DH have usually eaten dinner, I eat then bath DS and before you know it it's 7.30. Still, worth a go.

Good luck tonight all. Zzzz...

heylottie yes I remember you! Shame we are both still suffering. How are you managing with two night wakings? It is so hard isn't it? The things that upset me the most I think now, is not so much the lack of sleep as I am getting used to that/go to bed earlier, it is 1) the lack of life I lead outside of parenting, as I am just too tired to go anywhere and 2) the horrid dark circles and puffy eyes. I was talking to a friend yesterday and she was drunk said the dark circles were not that bad but I had a line under each eye, like a circle all around . luckily i have thick banded glasses which hide it. I feel very unattractive.

quenelle Same for DS. He slept for the last two days much better (not today), he slept til 5:45am on one of the days and yesterday til 6:05am, on that day he slept right through from 7pm so I was very happy with that.

Today, he woke at 4:15am. BUT. He had his fingers jammed in his mouth and was going 'owowowowow' cry rather than his his grumpy cry. I gave him ibruprofren which he took with little fuss and then I nursed him as he seemed in a lot of pain, i did not have the heart to put him back down screaming. He fed, then I cuddled him and he looked at me, stroked my cheek and then fell asleep, back into cot with no fuss and woke at 6:30am. Poor boy. This molar coming through, the first one and he only has 8 other teeth which came through in twos, this is hurting him quite a lot, he has snot too. A lot of it.

And typically, he woke last night at 11pm. After footie, we had some friends around and they drank too much beer and were quite vocal outside his bedroom (on same level as front room) as they went home and he woke Very Very Angrily took 15 mins to calm him down.

mrsmiyagi we are very luck, although we live in a terraced house too, we are first floor flat conversion, the lady downstairs in 95 and deaf, and the other neighbour's room next to DS's is not used as a bedroom, as the neighbour sleeps in another room on the other side of the house (lives alone) she has assured us she doesn't hear a thing at night. When he was in with us, our neighbouring room is a teenage boy and I was happy if he was kept awake from time to time as he has done that to us when his family have been away, had horrendously loud all night parties (one when DS was only 4 months or so, and I was already v v sleep deprived) So this was Pay Back .

That does sound positive Pavlov about the sleep Poor thing with his teeth. He sounded like such a sweetheart last night.

4:45am this morning. And he would not go back to sleep. He refused. Woke my DD up at 5am too.

Eek! Try and make sure he gets an earlier nap after some calpol or calprofen for his teeth today? That's what I had to do with my boy. Seemed to help before he descended into an over tired state. They share a room so his sister would sometimes need a nap in the day to make up lost sleep too, even now at age 3 and a half I still have to offer her a nap sometimes if DS has disturbed her a lot or woken her early.

Bad luck Pavlov. Hope you get a chance to rest during naptime.

Erm, 0:30am this morning . DS has completely reverted to old habits this week and because he's been poorly and we're tired out DH took him in our bed and I moved to the spare room. He fidgeted all night though and kept DH awake so we swapped halfway through.

So tonight he's going to have to stay in his cot no matter what >