Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Sleep

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler. Need more advice on your childs development? Sign up to our Ages and Stages newsletter here.

Flip

Original poster

5am waking for the day suddenly

19 replies

MilkyChops · 29/09/2015 07:06

My 6 month old had finally cracked sleeping and had learned to appreciate a lie in, he was sleeping 6pm to 8.30pm. One tooth later and he has woken up for the day at 5am for the last week. It's not teething anymore as it's through and not bothering him, he just wakes up and blows raspberries for a while then starts to fuss if no one goes to see to him. He goes to bed at 6pm and has 3 x 45 minute naps a day. He's not hungry, he's happy to wait until 7am for his bottle

Is it this tooth that has thrown his pattern out of whack or..? He's nearly 7 months, is there anything else going on at this time?

...and before someone says just go to bed earlier, it's not possible when you work 12.5 hour shifts and don't get home til 8pm, by the time you eat, shower, get stuff ready for nursery/work the following day and potter about the house it's not possible.

Any tips?
Thought about trying wake to sleep at about 4am for a few nights? Trying to keep him up this morning so he doesn't just think his first nap is part of his night time sleeping.

OP posts:

Artandco · 29/09/2015 07:11

Wait, so he was sleeping 6pm-8.30am? 14.5hrs straight? That's not usual so him sleeping 6pm-5am of 11hrs sounds fine.

Move his bedtime to 9pm for a later morning wake up ( as a short nap at 6pm if needed)

Original poster

MilkyChops · 29/09/2015 07:42

Not 14.5 hours straight. A bottle at 10pm. Then up a few times to put his dummy back in for him.

He wouldn't stay up until 9pm. He would be miserable. Whatever time he wakes up he would still be ready for bed at 6pm. In his head, 6pm is bedtime.

OP posts:

nottheOP · 29/09/2015 09:02

Really, at this age whatever pattern they have fallen into is likely to change many many times, usually just when you think you have got the hang of it. I would imagine that the teeth have just put him out of sorts and he's in the habit of waking earlier, so wake to sleep might work - I could just never be bothered to wake up in the middle of the night to do it.

I would agree that with a bedtime of 6pm, it isn't unusual to wake at 5am.

With my DS it worked that early waking meant I had to push back his first nap of the day. Here are some other tips;

www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/04/early-morning-awakenings.html

Artandco · 29/09/2015 09:14

Then he is going to continue waking at 5am I'm afraid. The only thing to change that is later bedtime. He's 6 months old, he doesn't know when it's 6pm.
Honestly, add a nap 5-6pm then dinner later, bedtime later, milk later, and he will be much more likely to sleep later.

6pm bed I assume he must be having dinner at 4/5pm. You can expect him to be going 15 hrs being dinner and breakfast.

Here at that age we did naps throughout day, last one around 6pm, dinner with us around 7.30/8pm ( we also get home late), around 9.30pm settle him to sleep in living room with us, 11pm dream feed milk and take him to bed with us. Woke around 8.30am

Original poster

MilkyChops · 29/09/2015 09:53

I do see what you mean, I know he's already done 11 hours sleep which is a fair amount. It's just a shame because he went through that phase of sleeping like a winner for 14 hours. For a while he was definitely his Mummy's baby haha. Maybe it was the 6 month growth spurt, because we have just moved up a size all of a sudden.

We'll move the bedtime later tonight and see how we go, add in a power nap probably at 5pm. Which means 4 powernaps a day. I know he can't tell the time but he starts making this whinge come 6pm goes into his cot and goes to sleep beautifully.

We kept him up for 3 hours this morning before his morning nap and he still only slept for 40 minutes. Seems however long he's awake he still only sleeps for 40 minutes.

This tooth has got a lot to answer for. Thanks for the help, I know I sound really negative, 5am is just a soul destroying time of day.

OP posts:

Pinkpowderpuff · 29/09/2015 11:04

He has 19 more teeth to go
Teething has been a big issue here regarding poor sleep..... DS2 is 17mo and has 16 teeth already.....

Jackiebrambles · 29/09/2015 11:08

I think my son has only ever had an 11 hour sleep overnight. He's 2.5 now. So 14 hours is loads!

I agree 5am must be soul destroying.

i hope an afternoon power nap helps him cope with a later bedtime!

momb · 29/09/2015 11:11

Just checking: it isn't that your central heating clicks on at 5am and wakes him is it? We have that at the moment with an 11 year old, as the heating has only been on for the last week..

Original poster

MilkyChops · 29/09/2015 19:27

Right fingers crossed. Kept him up til 7.10pm tonight but he was getting whingey and wanted to go down so put him down and he's asleep now. Will see tomorrow if we can get to 7.30pm or see if 7pm is good for us.

His naps were all to hell today and still only had 3 naps even though he was awake for 14 hours during the day, all less than 45 minutes too. Hopefully we'll figure out a new routine tomorrow. His teeth are still bothering him today. I thought once they cut through then the pain would go but it's still bothering him as it moved up further. Maybe tooth number 2 is started to budge as well.

We haven't put our central heating on yet. Our house seems to be on the warmer side without it. He does wake sometimes at 4am though if he gets cold.

OP posts:

Original poster

MilkyChops · 30/09/2015 07:04

No change. Still awake at 5am despite going to bed an hour later which means he's had even less sleep over night.

I know babies can't tell the time but his body clock is bang on and he's a creature of habit.

May have to try wake to sleep.

OP posts:

MigGril · 30/09/2015 07:26

You can try giggling his sleep but he may just still wake at 5am. He may not be able to read a clock but he does have his own internal clock.

DS woke at 5am for years and even now is a regular 6am waker it's just his nature. And yes he did sleep in a bit later when he was still feeding during the night. And after a random conversation with my HV who was actually helping me with something not related to sleep it seems they get a lot of mums asking about 5am waking babies. And sometimes you can't do much about it. Don't forget as your baby gets bigger they will need less sleep.

Original poster

MilkyChops · 30/09/2015 19:03

Will try wake to sleep for a while and see if that helps.

He only has 3 x 45 minute power naps in the day which in total is 2 hours and 15 and he only had 10 hours last night which is only 12 hours and 15. Everything I read says day time and night time sleep should still be totalling 15 hours which means he is short overall on his sleep by quite a bit. He's been really fussy today as well, and took a while to go to bed tonight instead of just falling asleep as usual. He's such an active boy as well. Quiet time is not an option, he wants entertaining all the time.

He woke up at 5am two nights running in pain crying with his teeth then his body must have thought, oh, we'll just carry on with that wake up time.

OP posts:

Jackiebrambles · 30/09/2015 19:38

I wonder if trying to adjust his naps might work?

Have you tried keeping him awake a bit longer between naps to see if they lengthen?

Pinkpowderpuff · 30/09/2015 19:42

This link is interesting -

sarahockwell-smith.com/2015/04/15/how-long-should-babies-and-toddlers-sleep-for-infographic/

So basically, for your baby's age, 11.5 - 14.5 hrs sleep in 24 is 'normal' range. So don't think he is lacking in sleep just because he isn't getting 15hrs. Each baby/child/adult is different and require different sleep amounts.

Original poster

MilkyChops · 30/09/2015 21:24

Whether he's awake for 1.5 hours or 3 hours he still only sleeps for 45 minutes for a nap. The only time he has long naps is on holiday when we've been to the beach!

I just hope it's just the teething making him grouchy then. I want my happy baby back. Not used to such a whingey whiney baby.

OP posts:

MigGril · 01/10/2015 07:23

He hasn't read the book, he doesn't know how much sleep he should have. My two where totally different one having the minimum amount barely and the other having lots. And they still do change so much.
You can honestly go round and round in circles trying to get them to fit in or adapt what your doing to fit there changing routine. The second normally leads to harmony faster.

BrandNewAndImproved · 01/10/2015 07:27

Mine were always 6 to 8 sleepers as babies. When they started waking up earlier I topped up their bottle and fed them morning the day. That worked for my dc.

Original poster

MilkyChops · 05/10/2015 08:32

We're back to his usual sleeping, 6pm to 7.15am for the last few days.

I know they haven't read the books but we can read our babies and know when they are miserable. He's back to himself now. Second tooth still hasn't cut but has gave him a break yesterday.

OP posts:

gemsie23 · 28/10/2015 07:27

Did you try wake to sleep? I'm wondering whether to do it as we have been waking at 5:20 ish for a couple weeks now after being poorly and teething!

Flip