9 month old waking at 4.30am !!

[MissMyNaps]

Help! My baby used to be an angel at night from 3 months, albeit she didn't nap much in the day. She used to do 3 naps of 45 mins and then sleep 8pm to 6.30am.
The day she turned 6 months old she started waking at 4am/4.30. She's now 9 months old and still waking.
She doesn't wake up crying, she's just awake, but will start crying if left longer than 15 mins and the only way she will go back off is with a bottle of milk. She has 20oz during the day plus 3 meals and snacks. She now naps twice a day and has about 2.5 hours total.
It's just this early waking that I want to crack, shouldn't she be sleeping for 11 or 12 hours at this age?
Do you think it's a habit or could she still need a feed?
Any advice greatly appreciated xx

Hi OP,

I used to have this with my DD who's now 11 months. I didn't ever find a real solution as such, just had to persevere with:

1/ if she woke up and wasn't crying I didn't go through.
2/ Our ideal wake up time was 6am so if she got upset I would go through, switch on her white noise, and sit with her quietly (no books, no chat) so she knew it was still time for sleep.
3/ At 6am I would 'wake her' and say 'good morning, time to get up baby' and open the blinds, change nappy etc.

After a couple of weeks, this worked for us and she went back to sleeping through.

I hope you find a solution and good luck! Let us know how you get on

We're going thru the same thing!! Was a fab sleeper, hit 9 months and sings from 4.30!!!! No idea how to fix it, we go in and shush/pat/dummy in and hope!!!!! Would love to know why and hear ideas!!

It's reassuring to know I'm not alone. The only thing to get mine back to sleep is a feed in the dark. I don't even talk to her, I pick her up and feed her (bottle fed) and put her back and she usually goes off again for a while. I don't fall back to sleep so easily and this is why I'm struggling!
If I don't feed her, she remains wide awake and singing etc! I just worry that her body clock is adjusting to this time.

My DS is 10 months almost and this is his natural pattern now. Bed at 7, up for a BF at about 4/5am and back to sleep till 7ish. It’s normal for babies to still feed in the night at that age, and if she’s going back to sleep after it may be genuine hunger. She’s still tiny and that is a long time to go without food/drink. I much prefer feeding him and then getting to go back to bed, than having an early wake up at this point 😂 I know other babies that have been in a similar pattern dropped this feed closer to one year old so I’m holding on to that 😂

That's good advice and maybe I am being too impatient 🤔

I am a firm believer that they sleep all night when they are ready. A quick 10 minute feed is much preferable to me than starting the day at 4 am 😂 I always choose the path of least resistance.

Honestly I’d love for him to sleep all night- I’m exclusively BFing a bottle refuser so it’s ALWAYS me that does every wake, but he will when he’s ready.

Wise words and you've made me feel better xx

the only way she will go back off is with a bottle of milk

You’ve hit the nail on the head, she’s hungry! I would feed as soon as she wakes to get her back to sleep. It’s normal for them to be hungry in the night.

Have you tried adding a dream feed in around 11pm? Just gently pick her up and feed and back down. Let her self settle back to sleep. It might be enough to keep her full throughout the night