Help me - 8 month old early rising

[singingpinkmonkey]

I am so tired and about to start back at work next week.

For the past few days by baby has been waking for the day at silly o'clock. Friday morning it was 3:30am, Saturday 5:15am and this morning 4:00am. He used to wake between 6:00am - 6:30am.

I just don't know what a going on.

He has always been a crap napper during the day but his overall sleep is just terrible at the moment.

I'll put out day yesterday down below. Perhaps someone with a lot more knowledge can tell me where I'm going wrong or offer reassurance that this is a phase.

5:15am - wake

6:00am - 7oz bottle

7:00am - breakfast of porridge

8:30am - took baby upstairs to settle him for a nap. Nappy change, into sleeping bag, story read to him, Ewan the sheep playing.
Took 45 minutes to settle him.

9:15am - napped for 1 hour

10:15am - awake, dressed and out with me to run errands

11:00am- lunch

12:30pm- fell asleep in the car but woke up after 10 mins

1:30pm - 7oz bottle

2:00pm - nap downstairs on the sofa on me. Took 5 minutes of screaming in my arms to nod off.

2:30pm - woke up

5:50pm - getting tired so took upstairs to play in his cot while we started to get his bath ready

6:05pm - 6:15pm - bath time

6:20pm - Pj's, cuddles and a bit of crying and fussing when put in his sleeping bag

6:30pm - bottle and then cuddle. Put in cot very drowsy but awake and had to settle to sleep with a hand o the chest. Was asleep for 6:50pm

4:30am - woke up screaming and crying. Would not settle.

Being honest he has never been a great sleeper and I feel that I've never really got it right. I would really appreciate some advice. I think both me and the baby aren't very happy at the moment.

My partner does help out when he can but he works 6 days a week so isn't here a lot of the time.

As a final note, it does look like we have a tooth popping through but this is his seventh and with previous teeth it doesn't seem to have been too bad.

Thanks for reading this rather large post. Any help or empathy is very welcome.

You don't mention food after 11.00? Could he be hungry?

Erm not sure why my OP had come out as a block of text with no paragraphs? Sorry about that!

Oops sorry I forgot to add he has his tea at 4:30pm - a bowl of puree and a pudding!

It sounds like he's not having any dinner, could that be behind it?

Sorry he does have dinner. I just forgot to add it. I'm very tired!!

I'd go for a larger meal at 5/5:30ish

Interesting. I didnt consider hunger. I assumed it was to do with naps or the wrong bed time but I definitely will offer him more food at teatime and see if that helps.

I had this when my baby was about the same age and still have an early riser (5ish) now. Do you give him a bottle when he wakes up at 4:30?

I did but he still didn't go back to sleep. I even brought him in bed with us after his feed and still no joy. He just screamed.

Also it sounds like you're doing a brilliant job with the structured naps - I think if you're hitting one in the morning and one in the afternoon that's great, I really struggle to get mine to nap in the afternoon at all

It's taken me along time to get somewhere with naps and he still fights them.
I'm just hoping that it gets easier as he gets older and needs less daytime sleep.

I cried yesterday trying to get him down for his morning nap as not even cuddling him seems to get him to nod off easily!

We've tried holding the baby (after trying the bottle) in his room, even if he's crying, until eventually he's calm and will sleep for another hour or so. But that's exhausting so not a long term solution. Will follow and hope you get a helpful answer. I do think they have these phases and then suddenly it improves and you can't even put your finger on why. He's at the age when his teeth are probably playing him up. It'll get better

Ah thank you SeaSeeker a kind word is help enough. I know it could be a lot worse but I think I was a little naive and thought things would get easier by this stage.
Thanks again for your lovely posts.

Could he be overtired in the day? My 9 month old is awake about 2.5 hours from wake up to first nap and it seems you're not getting him to nap until over 3 hours awake.

Otherwise they do sometimes just wake early in the morning. Mine was awake at 5.40 this morning. If he wakes in the night it can take an hour to get him back down though. I'd definitely be persevering to get him back to sleep if it was earlier than 5am.

It might be worth putting him down for a morning nap half hour earlier. I was surprised with my youngest at how early she got tired in the mornings and if I left it too late it was more difficult for her to settle.
A good morning nap might mean he does t fall asleep in the car at lunch time and you can then try to put him down after you get home...

Also could be change in temperature as early mornings now getting colder

I’d definitely start with an earlier morning nap. My 8mo old DS is tired after 2 hours, maybe 2.5 hours on a good day. Thank day he was up at 6:10, took him up for a nap at 8:05 and he was asleep at 8:12.

Yesterday his naps were 8:00-9:00 (up at 5:45), 11:50-12:45 (fell asleep in car seat) and then 2:30-4:00. He was asleep by 7:15 but does wake though the night (BF baby). If he wakes a bit later, he sometimes has 2 naps (9-10 ish and 1-3:30 ish) but with waking earlier at the moment, he definitely needs 3.

Thank day?

*Today

That's quite an early bed time. My 8mo has a nap around 4pm, dinner at 6, last bottle at 7.30-8 and then bed by 8. Reliably sleeps through to half 6 most days.

He sounds overtired and hungry.
At 8 months we were doing
6.30 awake
7 formula 6 oz
8 porridge and 1/2 banana
9 -9.45 nap
11.30 protein based lunch e.g. Fish pie then yoghurt
12.15 - 2.30 nap
2.30 formula 6oz
5.30 carb based dinner e.g. Pasta with cheesy vegetable sauce then fruit purée
6 bath
6.30 formula 8oz
7 asleep

I also think food might be your problem... you only mentioned 3 7oz bottles too unless I’m reading wrong? I have a 7mo who is a crap napped so you have all my sympathy. Here’s a wee example of his day incase that helps...
wakes 6.30-7.30 has an 8oz bottle shortly after
Naps for 20-30 mins on school run at 9
Breakfast of porridge with whole milk and half a small banana
11am 8oz bottle and 45mins ish nap
12.30 lunch of hummus on pitta/veg strips/cheese/yogurt etc
2pm 45min nap
4pm8oz bottle and 20 min nap
5.30pm dinner of whatever his sister has
7pm ish 8oz bottle

I’d love him to take fewer longer naps and he sometimes does but not reliably. He also tends to wake for dummy a few times between 8-11pm but other than that sleeps through.

Might be worth trying more food/milk x

Oh yes, I missed that he has 3 bottles. Mine still has 4. Will be starting to slowly replace with snacks soon so if yours isn't interested in another bottle, perhaps Tey a snack?

Thank you all so much for your replies. I'm really worries that it may be because he is hungry as I thought I was feeding him to much.

He is on 3 x 7oz bottles a day and my HV that was gone but can definitely add another in although not sure if he will take it as his reluctance was the reason we dropped down to 3.

I am aware that things change so will definitely try again.

For his meals I generally give him a smaller portion of what we are having blended up followed by a yoghurt or pudding. Or I give him a full pouch if we are out/ have no food in.

I will offer more food as well as an extra bottle.

I took the baby back to bed with me about 7 this morning which is 2.5 hours after he first woke and he had 1.5 hour nap.

My other half then took him off my hands so I got an extra hour. Feel much more sane now. Worries about how I'm going to manage when back at work though.

I think 3 or 4 bottles a day I'd fine at 8 months. I wouldn't worry about getting a 4th bottle in if he's happy on 3 bottles. Concentrate instead on food - bigger portions, more food groups (especially carbs and meat) and well times meals. Also don't forget drinks - milk, water, fruit juice, squash - throughout the day.

For meal times, how about adding in finger food as well as the puree you are giving? For example:

• Big portion of puree savoury spoonfed
• selection of savoury finger food left with him for 10-15 minutes while you eat yours
• Yoghurt spoofed
• selection of soft fruit as finger food left with him while you wash up and tidy

Then over time you can reduce the puree and move to finger food.

Thanks FATE that is reassuring. I tried offering another bottle this afternoon but he just took s couple of oz and played with it.

I have some veggies and pitta breads in so will make some soft finger foods and offer them alongside the puree.

I'm so concerned that it's hunger that may be causing him to work as I'd the thought of him going hungry. I honestly thought it was the fault of the crap naps!