5.30 am waking - is there anything I can do?

[allatsea]

DS, 20 weeks old has gone to bed at 6.30/6.45pm, dream fed at 10.30pm and then woken up at about 5.30am every morning for the past 3 months. Has anyone any tips for how I can make it a little later? I've tried trying to settle him until 6am (this worked when he also used to wake at 3am), but doesn't seem to be working now. We decided that I wouldn't feed him until 6am, so we're in the position of having him cry for maybe 30 mins or more, then feeding him. He feeds ok for about 10 minutes (not starving though), then I put him back down until about 7am. Part of me thinks that I should just feed him whenever he wakes up so we can all go back to bed, part of me thinks that there should be other things that I can try to get him to sleep a little longer
HELP

Do you think maybe he goes to bed a little too early? Dd never went to bed before 8pm at that age and now at 18 months goes at 7.30pm. A lot of babies don't do the hoped for 12 hour night but more like 10-11 which is fine so long as they nap well in the day too. Could you try putting him to bed a little later and even try dropping or cutting back on the dream feed? 20 weeks is still very young and if I were you I wouldn't be too bothered about giving a feed at 5.30 and then going back to sleep for a while. He sounds like he's sleeping rather well to me. We did that with dd for ages, she'd go down at 8, wake at 6, have a feed and sleep again for a while. Gradually she stopped going back to sleep after her morning feed but she also started waking up a bit later which made that easier.

Does he sleep well in the day?

I try and try to keep him awake - but he's absolutely exhausted by 6.15pm really. When we have managed to keep him awake longer, till 7pm say, then this has had no effect.
How did your CC go Evita?

Putting them to bed later tends to make no difference - if he needs to sleep he needs to sleep, and making him tired, delibarately, is doing no-one any favours. In my experience (I have 3, all routine babies) that morning waking hour just has to be suffered... he will gradually grow out of it, but in his own time. I think you will find that either he starts waking later, or he starts to be less desperate to feed, and just chats to himself for a bit.
Do you have other children? I mean, is he tied to any other routine, eg school runs etc? I fed mine at 6 am and then they went back to sleep, then the next feed was at 9.30-10, although they might be up at 9 for slow getting dressed etc. When I say I fed them at 6, that was the idea, although, it was earlier for wuite a while. My point is, though, that that feed was actually treated as a night-time one, then they didn't actually get up until 9ish. I really don't think you should worry at this stage. It will happen.

put him on Gina Ford routine ASAP. Make room COMPLETELY dark with blackout blinds and curtains. Use a sleeping bag.

Second majorstress!
My ds did this for a few months (sorry!). We ended up giving water at that feed, but he's always woken more like 6 to 6.30 rather than my preferred (and Gina's!) 7 to 7.30. Putting him to bed later has made no difference. But blackout helped a LOT.

Is there any chance of giving him a bit longer day-time nap or a bit later - to get him through to a later bed-time? I'd also recommend black-outs and sleeping bags. Also is there any possibility that something is waking him? But at 20 weeks you're actually doing pretty well and - even if you're feeling exhausted now, it's very likely that things will change naturally - you're not doomed to wake at 5.30 for the next 4 years - you will get through it!

He's pretty much on a Gina routine - except for the early morning waking. We have blackout blinds, and black out lined curtains, will try the sleeping bag tonight though, The choice at the moment seems to let him fuss/cry until 6am then feed him, or feed him when he wakes up so we can all go back to bed.

I presume by dreamfeeding you mean picking him up for a sleepy feed?

Have you tried waking him up properly and keeping him awake for a bit longer? I only suggest this because I've tried letting dd2 (16wks) have a sleepy feed and go straight back to bed, with exactly the result that you describe, ie. waking at 5ish.

It seems slightly counterintuitive, but if I wake her at 10ish, feed her, keep her awake for an hour (nappy change, chat, cuddles) and then feed her again at 11ish before putting her back to bed, she sleeps through till 6.30-7am. This was suggested by a friend who does the full Gina, and it has worked for us. If I cheat and put her back to bed after 20 mins, she goes back to early waking.

Might be worth a try...

I ditched the dream feed at 16 weeks when dd started early waking. She then woke at 2 am for a full feed and slept until 7.30am
Problem solved.
Means getting up once in the night, she started sleeping through at about 11 months. It sure beats waking at 5-6am!
And I hate Gina Ford with a passion

I did the same as kiwisbird, cut out the dream feed and let dd sleep for as long in a row as she could, then fed her when she woke up which got later and later. I found a night awakening was better than a desperately early morning.

I still think that a slightly later bedtime might help though it may take a few days to work. Like someone else said, how about giving a long daytime nap or a late one? Dd at that age was having 3 naps a day, the last one was only 30 mins or so and was 5.00-5.30 which meant she could last until a later bedtime and also meant waking a bit later. I know some people think it doesn't make a difference but I found it does though as I said it does so after a few days or a week's perseverance.

Both my kids like their dad are early birds, have tried black out blinds and putting them to bed later at night but it has made no difference except they are more tired so very grumpy the next day. Your baby is still young so may change but if not, I think you do (eventually) get used to the early mornings and at least you have got more of the evening with them in bed so can relax and go to bed a bit earlier if you feel tired! Hope some of the other ideas suggested work, if not know that you are not alone - Ds2's favoured time for getting up until recently has been between 4.45-5am -lovely!

thanks everyone - dh does the dream feed - I'll suggest waking ds up properly at this point and see what happens, we can then try dropping it all together if that doesn't work. There are certainly no 'waking early' genes in the family - so I don't think that it's hereditary

we dropped the 10.30pm feed last night to see what would happen. ds woke at 2am, drank 5oz, then slept through till 6am :0, I fed him for 10 minutes, then had to wake him at 7.30am. However, feel absolutely exhausted since dd woke at midnight, she was so hot and sweaty we had to change her pjs etc, then I woke at 5am out of habit, waiting for ds to wake up! better luck tonight I hope

Gosh, I do that pre-emptive waking. Dd has recently been sleeping a bit later in the mornings until 7-7.30 and I still wake at 6 expecting her to wake up any moment!

That sounds encouraging, allatsea. I have also been doing a 'dreamfeed' but have been wondering about dropping it--though waking at 2am isn't exactly 'problem solved' imo kiwisbird!

We've got into the habit of letting him sleep in our bed from when he wakes at 5am. Not an ideal solution, but I'd rather have him in bed and we all get sleep till 7am, than an hour of screaming habdabs while we try to get him back to sleep in the cot. It usually works, although sometimes he lies there poking your face and babbling.