14mth. old consistently wakes at 5am each morning!

[Ronyag]

Hi I'm new to mumsnet.& having trouble with dd wakening at 5 each morning.She goes to bed fine at regular time each night(after bath story etc.)and doesn't wake up during night at all but is crying at 5 each am.Have tried later bedtime & didn't make any difference,still woke at 5.Unfortunately we have no choice in that she shares bedroom with ds & her crying at 5am has started waking him too.Have tried c c technique for 5 mornings now though feels like wasting time as by time get her back to sleep its time to get up to take ds to nursery.This has beenhappening for 3 mths. now.Before this she slept through till 7 or 8am.Her bedtime is 7.30/8.00 each night.Has anyone else out there had similar sit.& did anything work or did you just accept it & get up early with them?(p.s sorry if this seems to ramble on ,didsay Iwas new to this!!)

Hello Ronyag
Welcome to MN, you do realise you will never leave now as it is so addictive and useful and friendly.
But on a different note, I have to tell you that it sounds like a phase that a lot of them go through.
I have 2 DS (dear sons, dd is dear daughters) and the first one did exactly the same thing, up with the bloody sparrows at 5. Did it for about 3 months then just stopped, no rhyme or reason.
It was in winter too so I sympathise with you for all the dark mornings
Someone else may have some more practical advice but all I can say is she may well stop as suddenly as she started.

hope this helps (hth)

hI Ronyag - the only thing I can think of at the mo is are your dd's daytime nap(s) long enough?

I find that if ds (17 mths) has had a crap sleep during the day, then he's too exhausted to sleep at night, if you see what I mean. He gets overtired and just doesn't settle. He dropped his morning nap at about 14 mths, but still has 1.5 - 2 hrs after lunch. If he doesn't get that sleep then he'll be up at 7am (early for him - it's usually 8am or later).

Or does something else wake her at 5am, like milkman/postman/dustbinmen/ neighbours etc? At that time, once they've been wakened, they need an awful lot of convincing to go back to sleep

Keep posting and let us know how you all get on

Hi Thanks for messages s & b .dd has been alittle better this week & this am cried @ 5am for little bit then went back to sleep herself without me having to go to her at all!She has never been one for naps during the day but has recently been going 1-2hrs in afternoon & this seems to be helping things.(she used to only have 1/2hr.at very most morn.& afternoon).Anyway heres hoping it is just phase like u said.

Ronyag - just a thought - might she go back to sleep in your bed if you feed her in the dark (Are you bfeeding? If so, try it lying down) My 4.5 mth dd goes to sleep in her cot and at the moment is waking at about six. And she then tends to go back to sleep in between us until 8. I don't bother with winding and it doesn't seem to bother her - maybe she's too relaxed to take much in at that time...