15 month old waking far too early.

[alfiemama]

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice, as feeling very zombiefied.
Dd is 15 months old and has never slept all the way through. She had reflux issues when born so has always needed to eat little and often, so she still has a bottle when she wakes in the middle of the night.
She is now waking though at about 3.00am and refusing the bottle. Screaming the place down until I take her down stairs. I have tried leaving her, but she is relentless and I have two other children with medical issues, who need their sleep.

During the day, she used to wake at 7. 00am, have lunch about 11.45am and then bed for 1pm up by 3pm and then bed by 6.30pm afte bath, bottle and bed.

Now I am finding because I cannot get her back to sleep our pattern during the day is all to cock, and we are going back to bed usually about 9. 00am, but we have been up since 3.00am.

Any help really appreciated.

Is the reflux still there and does she still need to eat little and often? How much does she eat during the day? My 17mo has just been through a phase of waking around 3. When he does this it can take forever for him to go back to sleep but I think it's developmental rather than hunger. I stay by him and use the bore him to sleep technique of minimum interaction until he eventually drops off again but doesn't get too distressed. I do ignore crying and standing up until it really gets to me then I lay him down again. I find he does tend to stop eventually. Falling asleep usually that takes around 1 1/2 hours, sometimes up to 2.

Hi undergroundernie.
No the reflux is gone thank god. She is quite a good eater but only small portions.
My mum suggested it could it be her legs are aching due to her walking more. I hadn't thought of this. So may try some calpol tonight.
I have tried sitting with her and holding her hand, and boring her but she just throws herself around and bangs the hell out of her cot.
It's so hard sometimes isn't it?

You say her old routine was WU 7am, nap 1-3 & BT 6.30pm, but you haven't said what her day looks like now she is waking at 3am. How long is she napping for at 9am? Is that still the only nap of the day & what time is she going to bed?

Sorry omana.
She has been going to bed about 9.00am but I try not to let her sleep too long, usually about 1.30 - 2hours then she will have another nap about 2.00pm for about 40 mins tops then bed by 6.30pm-7pm. This is only when she has been getting up about 3.00am and not going back to bed. Usuall day prior was like this.
bed 6.30pm
Milk 11.00pm in cot.
Milk 3.00am in cot
Wake up 7.00am
Nap 1-3pm

I'd try and cut her nap or move it earlier - sounds she is not tired enough to sleep through and so you are getting stuck in a cycle. Put her down around 11am instead? Even if she has woken at 3am...this might force a routine..

Hmmm. I agree with pp that the 1 nap routine you had going was probably a bit late with nap at 1-3. Most little ones start off on 1 nap at 11/11.30 & this gradually moves until after lunch to 12/12.30ish over a couple of months.

I think she may have been awake too long before her nap, & then not long enough after it, as 3.5hrs awake after a 2hr nap is pretty short. She will be tired enough to go to sleep at 6.30pm, b/c of the long morning, but she's not quite tired enough to sleep a full night. And then you end up with the EW. Then of course she needs to nap early b/c she has woken early, and the vicious cycle of EW continues.

I think the trouble now, is that with a nap at 9am for 1.5-2hrs, she is using this nap as an extension of her night sleep, & so while she continues to have such a long nap, so early in the morning, she will continue to wake early. If you want the EW to stop, IIWM I would work on gradually shifting that AM nap later by 15mins every 3-5 days, let her nap & then give her a really short nap in the PM of 30mins max. The later the nap gets the shorter the PM nap will need to be, & then when the AM nap gets to around 11am I'd drop the CN and do an early BT & hey presto you are back to 1 nap. I would then keep very gradually nudging the nap out every couple of weeks until its at around midday & you should find she can make it to her usual BT of 6.30/7pm. I would hold off pushing the nap as late as 1pm until she's a bit older.

I'd approach it this way b/c I think you will struggle to keep her awake all the way to 11am from a 3am WU - thats 8hrs & she will get incredibly overtired & probably only sleep for 30mins. Doing it the gradual way will obviously take longer, but it won't be such a shock to the system.

HTH.x

Thanks Omana, yes that is really helpful. Going to print this out.

This morning though she got up at 5.30am (still had milk at 3.00am) what would I do in this case?

I really appreciate your help with this.

Hiya sorry didn't see your post til now. What did you do in the end?

IIWM I'd probably have kept her up for 4.5-5hrs absolute max & then let her sleep so nap at 10-10.30am. Then depending on how long she napped, either a very short CN at tea time, or an early bedtime 6pm ish. That would have given you a head start on pushing the nap later.

Hi Onama.

It kind of worked a little like that anyway. I kept her up until about 10.30am-11.00am and then she went to bed about 6pm.
Today she got up at 4.00am but managed to get her back to bed after 1hr.

Onama, just to let you know. She slept from 11.00pm until 7am with no milk which is unheard of. Fingers and toes crossed.

Woohoo!!! Pleased to hear it!x