Early waking 13mo - any advice?

[ExasperatedSigh]

DD's default get-up time has always been 5am, which after a year of struggle I have reluctantly accepted, but over the last couple of weeks she has started getting up at 4.30am (with a prior wake-up of 3.30am). I feel a bit churlish complaining about this considering that she has finally started sleeping properly after a year of the most intense sleep deprivation hell, but it is pissing me off somewhat.

Any advice on how to persuade her to sleep later, or do I just ride it out? I can't really do much with her upstairs e.g. let her squawk in her cot because she shares a room with her 4yo brother and our house is very small with thin walls. I can't inflict that on our neighbours She is VERY loud.

Thanks :)

Ds2 is nearly 14 mo and has been getting up at 5 since about four months so I feel your pain

He did go through a short phase if half three/ four awakenings and we had to drop his afternoon nap. So he just has one hour to an hour and a half nap a day now.

And we gave ds2 more food at tea time and a bit extra milk too at bedtime. That seems to have helped.

I used to have a rule to keep myself sane that any waking pre-6am was worth trying to resist.

So if ds woke up after 6am I started my day, if it was before that I would attempt to resettle. My most successful method was to give him a bottle of milk, I would not pick him up (soothing noises and kisses but no pick up), keep the room dark and minimal activity, give him his bottle and tuck him up again.

Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't but he rarely wakes before 7am these days (now 24mo tho').

However, I think that is partly luck/ the way he is, not just my amazing genius at giving a bottle!

I also tried taking him to bed to cuddle till he feel back to sleep, which had mixed results. And I made sure everything was very boring that early, so waking early didn't result in anything interesting happening (kept lights dim, no tv, etc) and breakfast never arrived earlier than it would have if he has stayed asleep (in an effort to educate his body clock).

Sounds like you are doing a great job - hope something works for you soon as it sounds like you are due some sleep after the time you have had! :)

Maybe try a slightly later bedtime, stodgy supper + shorter naps?

Make sure she doesn't nap in the morning, and definitely treat everything before 6am as if it's night time. Even (especially) if she thinks it's getting up time.

Thanks everyone. How do I keep her awake in the mornings? She's always preferred epic morning naps, well since she started napping anyway, and at the moment she just flakes out at 11am if she hasn't slept before then. I definitely would prefer her to sleep after lunch as DS starts back at nursery next month (afternoons) and it would be bliss to get the odd hour to myself.

I will certainly try more stodge/milk at bedtime. She is quite the shoveller but am sure there's room for more

Our first gave us merry hell on the sleep front. Stodgy food is helpful, pasta, night time formula etc. We have also found a gro-clock helpful. Eventually got one when DD1 was nearly two. She understood the concept as soon as she saw the box. The have to wait till the sun shines before they get up. The number of stars showing helps them see how long till the sun shines.

Ds is now 26 months. I was you though and feel your pain.
I think it improves with age.
He is now bordering on the cusp of not needing an afternoon nap.
Those days he goes without, he sleeps way past 7. Otherwise it's 6.
We just to to plonk him between us so his sister could sleep.
He wriggled and played but we never spoke to him and never fed him. Occasionally he would drop off between us. Usually he would climb and giggle.
It just gradually got later. Slowly though, I actually didn't notice it happening.

If she needs to flake out at 11am let her but only for an hour, does she sleep inth e afternoons at all? That's the one to cut out, she still needs a good nap & if you can stretch it to lunchtime then put her down after (even if it's an 11.30 lunch) for just an hour it might help.

She doesn't often nap in the afternoons, probably as a result of being up so early/flaked out in the morning, and so it perpetuates itself. She's just gone down now actually so I will wake her up in a hour and get us all off to the library.