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Original poster

summertime morning waking

116 replies

strangerthanfiction · 25/05/2004 12:04

Just wondered if everyone finds their kids wake earlier during the summer months? Dd is 19 months and I remember this happening last summer and it seems to have started happening again now. She usually sleeps til around 7.15 but is now awake between 6-6.30 and is pretty knackered by mid-morning. I've done the usual blackout curtain stuff and her room is pretty dark but still she wakes. Maybe it's the bird song. Anyway I just wondered how common this is and if anyone ever has found a miracle cure!!

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Original poster
strangerthanfiction · 25/05/2004 22:27

Where are you in London? I'm South East. Alas!

I took dd to a baby signing class when she was about 7 months old and I really intended to do it but never quite got into it. At the moment she's a real chatterox, very wordy, so I guess it's a bit too late now!

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lalaa · 25/05/2004 22:38

stf
do let us know how you get on with the black out blinds. my dd is waking at 4.30 (!!!!!) and has done for the last 6 out of 8 nights. if she's up and babbling, I know that she thinks she's ready for the day and I'm going to have a battle to get her to go back to sleep, but if she's crying, at least I know that she's tired and wants to sleep! am at wits end as I'd only just got over 9 weeks of not sleeping since we moved house. we had nearly 2 weeks of sleeping through and now this.....
sorry, off on a rant. but will be v interested to see how you get on!

throckenholt · 26/05/2004 09:23

My lot wake up anything between 5 and 6 (so all of your 6.30 and later sound wonderful to me !) Mine share a room and tend to wake each other up as well . We also have a problem at the other end of the day - they are very reluctant to go to sleep until about 9 (they go to bed about 7), unless they are completely exhausted (and even then sometimes they manage to stay awake !)

Do blackout curtains help ? We haven't got round to sorting them out yet because the window is awkward for durtains/blinds. I was hoping the novelty would wear off soon and they would decide they actually need to sleep !

Original poster
strangerthanfiction · 26/05/2004 11:30

Well, the slightly blacker room helped a bit, dd slept til 6.45am this morning. Still earlier than usual but better than 5.30!

lalaa (dd's fave teletubby if that's who you're named after), how old is your dd? Was she an earlier waker before? If she's up at 4.30 when does she next sleep?

Throckenholt, I do recommend the blackout curtains both for going to bed at night and for the mornings, they've helped dd no end and staying at my mom's this weekend without them was a nightmare. I've also got awkward windows so what I did was to buy some lengths of blackout material, cut them to the size and shape of the windows and velcro them to the actual window panes themselves.

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maomao · 26/05/2004 11:31

What time did she wake this morning, stf? (I'm in NW London, BTW.) How is dd today? Have yesterday's playgroup adventures worn off at all?

Throckenholt, you are a saint --- I'll not complain about 6:30 risings any longer! How old are your children?

maomao · 26/05/2004 11:31

Oops, posts crossed

freewheeler · 26/05/2004 11:47

I know this thread is really about sleeping (a subject also close to my heart! but s-t-f and mao-mao, could you tell me where you went for those signing classes? sounds like a really good idea...

throckenholt · 26/05/2004 11:55

stf - thank for the tip re blackout - I will try getting some and sticking them on with velcro.

maomao - not a saint just a very tired mummy ! I have trained my body to cope with 6am but before that and I am a zombie until about lunchtime. My kids are nearly 3 and 16 month old twins.

Original poster
strangerthanfiction · 26/05/2004 15:59

Hi maomao, dd's with big strong daddy today so I'm confident she's in safe hands!

I double checked her room this morning when she woke up and it really couldn't be much darker so that's obviously not the cause of her waking earlier. I couldn't particularly hear any birds either. I wonder what it is. I think she might be a bit over-tired at bedtime at the moment and she is a bit unsettled in the night around 3-ish for 20 mins or so.

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Mo2 · 26/05/2004 16:00

Oh well -extra fabric & sticking blackout curtains to wall didn't help too much.... DS2 woke at 4.30 am this morning

Actually we've come to the conclusion that it's his cough that is waking him up at this time when he comes into light sleep.
At least DH managed to get him back to sleep until 6.30....

maomao · 26/05/2004 16:04

Oh dear. Mo2, could you give something for the cough?

STF, mine is unsettled around 3-ish too! But that's also when the cats seem to get up and rummage around, so I just assumed that she heard them. Hmmmm, maybe it's something else then!

Freewheeler, I started a thread for you over on behaviour/development about the baby signing.

Original poster
strangerthanfiction · 26/05/2004 16:15

How do you guys manage to resettle your kids when they've woken? It never seems to work with dd. Well it does when she does the 3am call but if it's any time after 5-ish then I've got no hope. Also how do they cope in the day after a v. early morning? I find dd's really whacked by mid-morning but she doesn't sleep more for her nap and make up the lost time.

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Penguin2 · 26/05/2004 16:54

Sorry, haven't time to read whole thread and don't want to dishearten anyone, but ds1 and ds2 (who share a room) still wake most days around 6ish. They are 8 and 6. It used to knacker ds2 (because ds1 was the real early bird and he couldn't be persuaded not to wake his brother) but now they both seem to wake naturally. The only consolation is that they occupy themselves and only occasionally wake dd and ds3 in another room. I am only posting this because I feel hard done by. I always imagined by their ages they would sleep later. I have tried letting them go to bed later, but this has no effect on when the wake up. I keep thinking about teenagers having to be dragged from their beds for school and sleeping all morning at the weekends, and I wonder, does the transition happen overnight or can I expect my boys to gradually sleep later? How great it would be to wake naturally some time after 7 (me, I mean). To be honest, the only advice I can give is to go to bed earlier yourself, however sad that sounds. I am often in bed by 9 (though not sleeping until later).

noddy5 · 26/05/2004 17:07

pin some blackout lining up at the window and if this works then get a blind made.My son definitely sleeps longer in winter and so tried this and it worked a treat

hermykne · 26/05/2004 20:59

STF
sorry for slow response, my dd is 20mths the week after nxt. she woke at 6 today, i "succumbed" just couldnt get up at that time, plus she wasnt really awake, and gave her some milk, got another hour out of her. then she was bright eyed rearinging to go. she napped late at 1.30 til just after three, and then bed at 8.30 tonight so thats a bit later than normal.
maybe i'll get til 7.30 tomorrow- but you probably have the same problem as me - you wake before them and are waiting , try not to look at the clock to see if its pre 7am!!, and you cant nod off again.

maomao · 26/05/2004 21:01

Sometimes, if I'm lucky, dd will wake early, but then sit in her cot, singing and talking to herself for a little while.... But usually once she's awake, she's definitely up for the long haul in the morning. But I'm thankful that she settles herself (usually) at 3 a.m.!

mob · 26/05/2004 23:23

Thought all of your chat was very interesting. I tried black out blinds a while ago and they worked a treat. Other than that, the only other thing that works is routine, routine, routine and consistency(sorry!). Sadly, I'm now getting up even earlier- any suggestions for something that works for a pre-schooler and new puppy?

CountessDracula · 26/05/2004 23:29

Well strangely yesterday dd 20 months woke at 6.30am yesterday and 7.00 am today. Usually between 8.30 and 9, last sat was 9.45! Don't understand why the last two mornings she has woken so early. Nothing has changed. May have to slash my wrists if this continues

maomao · 27/05/2004 08:50

stf,

We woke briefly at 3:30 a.m., and I heard a bird loudly trilling away at that hour!

Original poster
strangerthanfiction · 27/05/2004 12:50

Last night we had no wakings at all but a lovely 6am start (groan ...). Went to her room and lay on fold out bed with her for an hour as it was too inhuman to get up and she didn't sleep but did doze on and off quietly while I lay there wondering why oh why it was 6 this morning when it was a much darker morning and no birdsong as it was raining ...

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Redwood · 27/05/2004 14:23

Does anyone think that reducing the daytime sleep will make my dd sleep any later in the morning? I have had odd days of only allowing her 1hr during the day but wondered if I was more consistent it would work better?
She is 17 months and slleps from 7.30 until 6 if I'm lucky!

Original poster
strangerthanfiction · 27/05/2004 20:19

Hi Redwood, in my experience the more they sleep the more they sleep if you see what I mean. I think when dd's had a good daytime nap she sleeps better at night rather than worse and vice verse. However I do think the timing of the nap can affect night sleep. I try not to let dd sleep later than 3pm-ish unless she's ill or really exhausted. Usually she's up from her nap by 2-ish. 7.30-6 is 10.5 hours, and I think you said your dd sleeps about 1.5 hours in the day? That would make 13 hours which from what I know is just about right for that age. My dd's 19 months and sleeps between 12-13 hours a day at the moment but I'd prefer it to be 13 which it always was until very recently, she functions better after that amount of sleep.

I've felt so absolutely exhausted today, really barely able to cope with doing anything. I'm hoping like crazy for a better night tonight.

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LHP · 27/05/2004 20:49

Anyone know how I can reset ds's bowels (!), as that's what has been waking me up at 5:30am for the last fortnight: "poo poo mummmeeeeeeeeeee!!!" He then insists on coming downstairs for jammy toast and a cup of tea but wants to go back to bed for an hour by 6:30. Can I get back to sleep?? No chance. Short of ex-lax for breakfast (joke) I think I'm stuck with this dawn chorus until the phase passes. Any advice please?!

Original poster
strangerthanfiction · 27/05/2004 20:53

How old is he LHP? What time was he waking at previously? Dd has done this occasionally and woken early but other times she must do it in the night and not really bother until she wakes up and realises. She's also sometimes done a massive poo during a nap time and not woken up. So I'd say he might just be waking earlier at the moment anyway. I think there was another thread about this around a month ago but I can't remember what it was called or where it was (v. helpful, sorry!) and people gave advice about different kinds of food to avoid at evening mealtime, timing of meals etc.

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maomao · 27/05/2004 20:57

LHP, does he have a lot of meat at tea? I'd read somewhere that a lot of meat in the evening meal often causes bowel movements in the nighttime, and indeed, this seems to be so with my dd. I try to give her her main meat protein of the day at lunch time, and also don't load her up on a ton of fruit at the end of the day either.