has anyone tried controlled crying for early morning waking?

[Tutter]

sorry if there's a similar thread - dh has given me access to the laptop for 10 mins so i don't have time to search archives.

ds turned 1 a fortnight ago and wakes around 5 or 5:30am. we suspect he's woken by the planes - they start around that time. in the past he often went back to sleep but now he usually is up for the day.

we used cc when he was 6mo to get him to settle himself at bedtime and it worked well. we're now planning on starting again tomorrow morning to get him back to sleep.

i'm sure he needs more sleep as he is grouchy and grotty til he goes back for a sleep at 8:30-9ish - and this is usually a long one - an hour and 20 mins or so.

also has a lunchtime nap - around an hour.

anyone tried anything similar? tips would be oh-so-gratefully received - i am so sick of waking so early

that's the problem isn't it? if you're very near to your neighbours and are on speaking terms with them i might even tell them what i'm planning. when i've done cc in the past i just settle myself down on the landing with a book and try to see it through. going back to bed is useless as you're up and down so much. you have to be very steely-hearted but it's worth it in the end! good luck

My heart goes out to all parents of early risers. My eldest boy was a 4.30am boy for his entire infanthood. I lived in a perpetual daze.

I am delighted to report that at the age of 10, he now has to be dragged from his bed every morning and likes to sleep-in to at least 10am at the weekends.

His brother, who never woke 'early', still gets up at 7am regardless of when he goes to bed. Contrary buggars.

michelly - i totally agree with moomin...give control crying a go.

it is so, so hard at first but you need to trust that it will work. and you must be strict and consistent (important!). it may take up to a few nights, but it will be well worth it! my first time of cc, i used to be counting the minutes on my watch, and read over and over the 'how to' instructions on control crying to make sure i was doing the right thing!

i had to do another bout of cc last month, and it sure was easier to know that it will eventually work.

yes and agree on letting your neighbours know. i used to warn my neighbours and say 'let me know if the crying is ever annoying you' - so at least the ball in their court and they will let you know if it's unbearable for them.

Hi, just read the thread and realised that we've done the 'moving the morning nap later' thing without realising it and it worked! Been on holiday for the past week and took dd swimming every morn so she wasn't having her nap till 11am. She usually goes down between 9.30 and 10 ish and sleeps for 2 hours. Anyway on the days she had a later nap (has another short one in afternoon)she slept through from 7.30 till 6. I know thats still quite early but she's only slept through about 6 times in her whole life! (she's 12months on wed). She usually wakes once in the middle of the night, sometimes 1 or 3am for a bf and then can wake at 5 ish or 6. We usually feed her and put her back. Its hit and miss if she goes back to sleep. Usually leave her chatting or crying but don't like doing it as she wakes her brother up(3.5). It was fab for us. Def going to try and keep on putting her down later. Also the swimming prob made her tired but its not possible for me to take her swimming every morning now were home! Sorry for rambling!

thanks Aquablue and Moomin, feeling ok just now, only a bit of squiffiness.
Well ........ 7.30am today
I've done 3 things - 1) a later nap - 12.30pm which took a few days for her to get used to but is fine now, 2) putting the heater on in her room to come on at 5am (it's quite cool here in the mornings at the mo)3) CC on 3 mornings at 5.30ish. Don't know what has worked but something has and I'm not changing ANYTHING.
Long may it continue.

flanelette, yes don't change ANYTHING! so glad it's all worked out!!! what time does your dd go to bed, maybe that's why she only has 45 mins during the day because she sleeps a lot during the night?

ds woke up at 6:50am today (goes to bed at 7pm), not too bad. he sure is going through a growth spurt - and he had a 3 hour daytime nap yesterday! he seems to have grown in a matter of days. my dh thought maybe he has an ususual growth defect haha!! he takes up 3/4 of his cot when outstretched!

I find I have to keep a close eye on the overall amount of sleep to stop early mornign wakings:

my toddler is just 16 months and needs 13 hrs fo sleep now. So if he gets more than 2 hrs during the day he cuts back at night.

So I was putting him to bed at 6.30pm, he then had 11 hrs and woke at 5.30am!!!

Now he has 1 1/2 - 2 hrs naps and then he goes to bed at 7pm and he wakes between 6.30 and 7am.

I didn't find CC helped with the EMW until I had got his overall sleep right, but now even if he wakes early (5.30am today) I can get him to go back to sleep (or at least lie quiet) as long as we run through the same ritual (no lights on, no talking, nappy check, small drink of water then each peach pear plum recited to him).

We dropped his morning nap at 13 months and it made an immediate difference to how well he slep at night.

Hi michelley, saw your posting on a 2 yr old up at 3am. My 2 1/2 yr old went through same phase and as we are very against cc we used another technique which was to insit that he stay in bed and lie quietly - it took a number of nights of protest and one of us had to stay with him but after 4 or so nights he didn't wake up and we did it without hysteria. He is now 3 1/2 and started waking in middle of night again when baby brother was born and we figured it was an attention thing so made an effort to spend more "quality" time with him during the day and it also worked really well. When there is a disruption now (like me having to go back into hospital) he does wake up but as he knows to lie quietly we can snooze on without a problem.

aquablue - I'm glad you've joined the May 2005 thread - I was going to suggest it to you today anyway .
DD goes to bed at 7pm and is still asleep (7.31am)

So it gives me extra time on the internet
As if I need that!
Yep you could be right about the great sleep she's getting at night affecting her daytime sleep.
She's never been a good daytime sleeper though.
I've ordered a good daytime sleeper next time
Wow your DS growing before your eyes. How funny.
Perhaps it'a ll the sleep he's getting.
about your 3 hours daytime sleep.

well ds woke up at 5:51am (funny how we know the exact time!). kept crying until about 6:04am, so b/f him. he went back to the cot ok, and started crying again around 6:45am or so. i think maybe his long 2hr40min nap yesterday maybe contributed to the early waking - agree with you riab.

fp - 7:31am ! so good for you - you need all the rest you can get now!

Aquablue,

DS was awake at 5.45 again this morning but managed to get him to go back to sleep between 6am and 6.45am so obviuosly something is working!
Now I've just got to try and stop him waking up at 5/6am in the first place

riab - i find that when i cc my ds in the early hours, the next day or so he doesn't wake up or i should say doesn't cry in the early hours again! it's like they realise their crying won't achieve anything, so they just go back to sleep by themselves.

although it doesn't last forever. it's like ds forgets about cc. like he's so used to just going back to sleep, that there's one day he must think, 'hey why am i going back to sleep when i could cry and get some attention?'!! then the cycle is repeated again!

There is a downside to later waking (believe it or not).
DH is really sad cos he doesn't get to see DD in the mornings lately. He works late so he hasn't seen her for about 3 days now .
But he gets to bath and bed her tonight as I'm off out

flannelette - aww poor dh! my dh also works very long hours, but usually he's around in the morning. although he's been travelling around a bit, so missed ds a lot!

last night ds woke at 4:30am, b/f him, and then he didn't wake up till 7:14am! maybe he really is hungry then? (not just pretending - lol!).

how great you will be out tonight fp! where are you going? love going out at night!!! although don't really do too much of it.

That's a bugger aqua - 4.30!
Hope you're not too tired.
We went to Swan Lake on Ice - it was fabby. A total spectacle by Russian ice dance superstars.
My sister loved it.
They tour the world and we saw Sleeping Beauty a couple of years ago. It almost reduced our Welsh rugby mate to tears!

a quick update from the original poster!... it seems ds is just an early riser - little we can do about it. have treid everyhting - later bedtime, shorter daytime nap, later daytime nap, a complete blackout of his room (including blind, curtain lining, and sheets filling gaps around the edges of the blind), but nothing makes any difference. he wakes between 5am and 6:15.

so - we're sticking with one daytime nap (starting at 11ish) and bedtime at 7-7:30. and hoping that if we have another, he/she'll be a better sleeper ...

congrats to those expecting again. i'm another that should check out the may 2005 thread - ds was born 17/5/05.

TutterOtsky

At this age it can take a while to get them sorted out. If you've tired quite a few things he may be a bit confused (I went through this stage)
What worked better for us was deciding on a solution (no morning nap, bedtime moved from 6/6.30 to 7/7.30pm) and sticking to it for 2 weeks, it took a good 4-5 days to see improvement but it did come!

hi riab. we have given each change at least 2-3 weeks. in fact we've cut out his morning nap for about 6 weeks now. it's a struggle if we're out in the car/pram in the morning - he gets so sleepy - but i keep him going til 11ish. sometimes he only has an hour and a half, but other days he'll sleep for 2.5 to 3 hours!! .

so - even after 6 weeks of 1 nap and bedtime at 7-7:30, he stil wakes early.

i believe that part of the problem for us is the planes starting overhead at 5ish. dh doubts this as he still wakes at that time when we're away, but my theory is that it's now a habit for him, and he'll wake with or without planes for a good while.

I think my DS may be the same - early riser no matter what I try! He woke up at 6am today! Control crying works for a week or so, then goes back to the early morning!!!

i think my ds is playing games with me! woke at about 4am - i let him cry it out for a few mins. then 4:30am, and i b/f him. then he woke up at 8:28am!!! what is going on? i need a rocket scientist to explain this one?

could it be hunger? growth spurt?

It might be hunger, the odd time I've fed him milk at a 4/5am waking he sleeps longer too.

I decided in the end not to do this as he isn't ravenous and i prefer to keep him on track with a 6/7am wake up. If he sleeps til 8 or later it messes up his day as he isn't tired for his nap at lunchtime.

I give watered juice at any waking in the night. Then once we get to 6am I give him milk. More difficult if you are BFing but hey - it does mean DH can get up twice a week to do the 4.30am wake up call!

Aaaaaah. I'm so SO SO SO fed up of the baby waking up at 5.30. That's it really.
I know it will pass.
I know I should be glad he goes down nicely at 7 and sleeps through
But he needs more sleep.
And so do I.

i know how you feel. my girls have been waking anywhere between 0430 and 0600. i feel like poo... but cant get upset at there beutiful smiles even at that time.

I know it's a very good job that he's such a gorgeous boy - although I'm looking worse as every week of it clocks up.

ive had it for 2 years i do the nights/mornings. i think i look dreadful now. im sure it will get better soon.... once they leave home matbe