almost 9 month early waking

[brightonbythesea]

i realise this is a small problem compared to many other sleep issues but my dd has started waking no later than 5.30. she will not go back to sleep and as a result is still tires amd grouchy all morning until a morning nap. she goes to bed between 6.30-7 as she cant stay up any later. on a typical day she takes two 1.5 hr naps a day 9-10.30 and 1.30-3. I have tried:

shorter naps
longer naps
earlier bedtime
later bedtime
leaving her in her cot whining until 6.20 whih I think is acceptable and her old wake up time.

i wouldnt mind but she is very grouchy in the morning and too tired for breakfast. it is an effort to keep her up until 9. Thoughts gratefully received

[minipie]

Yes it was my target, of course now we have 6am I want 6.30... but yes it's not bad really especially given she is cutting a tooth poor lamb.

sorry to hear of your napping woes - I actually find bad napping one of the hardest things to deal with as I get paranoid about overtiredness and end up tramping the streets with the pram muttering 'go to bloody sleep' like a mad woman. Hope it improves. I often do naps in the pram at home so I can rock dd back to sleep if she wakes too early.

[brightonbythesea]

ditto about getting stressed about bad naps, I probably shouldn't but I do get wound up about it, and then dread the day with my overtired baby! I often make the mistake of trying to get her to go back to sleep (in cot, pram, car whatever) and these days she NEVER does, once she's awake she will only go back to sleep 3ish hours later!
For example, I put her down at 1,20 today she was asleep by half past. I have just heard her squeaking at 2pm, aggh! although it has gone quiet so perhaps it was just a squeak this time. I wish I could be one of those relaxed mumma's who go with the flow but I just can't!
You go for your 6.30, that is the first time of day that is seriously human .

[minipie]

hope it was just a squeak Brighton!

[brightonbythesea]

it was a squeak! she's still asleep, hurrah!

[mrshope]

Hi - realise this is an old thread but anyone crack the early wakings! My LO used to go to 6/6.30 but it's been getting earlier and earlier ?? I can't keep him up until 9am so I guess this could be part of the problem. Anyone got some happy stories to tell me?!

[mewkins]

Hi! I was getting confused as to this zombie thread til I saw your post! How old is your little one? The key is definitely to keep awake til 9am for a baby and 9.20/30 for 7months plus (gradually getting later until it's a quick 15 min power nap). Have you got a sling? When he gets grouchy put him in that and distract, talk, sing etc il nap time. Wake from nap no later than 10am. After a week or so he will start to understand and hopefully start waking later again. (And then the clocks change and it all goes to pot!). Basically if the morning nap is too early or too long they see this as an extension of night sleep so start cutting back on that.

[mrshope]

Ahhh so because he is 8months now he should be awake until 9.30 and then only have half an hr?
He used to only ever do half HR naps so I was enjoying the novelty of him sleeping for longer but then he just started waking earlier ????

[icklekid]

My 8 month old wakes between 5-5.30 and takes up to an hour but will go back to sleep eventually. I just keep telling myself this is better than 3.30-4 we had before and looking forward to clocks going forward

[mewkins]

Yes it's one of the joys of babies....at the point when they start napping for longer is the point at which you need to start cutting naps! I follow Gina's times and as much as people don't like her I find her timings have always been spot of for babies over 6 months.

[mewkins]

Ps. Should take 3 to 7 days to gradually sort itself if you try to stick to the times.

[mrshope]

Thanks mewkins - I am inherently suspicious of Gina as found her new born stuff ridiculous.
My little man despite going to sleep on his own just wouldn't nap for more than half an hr - I drove myself a bit bonkers trying to follow her schedules as my little guy just couldn't do it.
I have friends who it has worked perfectly for from birth (so appreciate it works for some babies)

The thought of waking him breaks my heart!!! I spent months obsessing over his 30mins nap!

[mewkins]

Yes I know what you mean. Short naps drove me bonkers too. But I am a strong believer in waking the baby as know my older dd would have slept all day and partied all night left to her own devices!