7 month old waking at 5.30

[Liloosmum]

My 7.5 month old DD wakes at 5.30 nearly every morning, coo-ing quite happily for about half an hour and then crying to be fed. She used to go back to sleep again until 8ish, but now plays for about 15 minutes before crying and wanting to get up. We give her her last bottle at 7pm and put her to bed around half past. My DH is convinved that it is because she is hungry, but I am not because I think she would wake up crying if that is why she is waking.

She has just started having a longish (1-2 hour) sleep at 9 and then another sleep for 45-60 minutes around 2-3. She is usually really tired and crotchy from 6.30, but we make her wait until 7 when she frequently falls asleep during her last feed and we usually wake her up to put her to bed.

I am not sure if I should just accept that she will wake up at that time and it's unreasonable to expect her to be able to sleep longer, or if she would sleep longer if I changed/cut short her naps, especially the morning one. I know she already sleeps longer than a lot of babies her age, but my nephew sleeps every night from 7.30pm to 7.30-8am religiously !

Sorry for the long post, but I am new to this and wanted to make sure I put as much info as possible!

Any thoughts?

Just check Argos website - it's 'blackout' curtains (d'oh!) and they actually seem to only do them in blinds, not curtains at all. Bummer as we already have venetian blinds up. More work for me...

we have blackout curtains and they dont make a blind bit of difference! (that was a terrible pun there, but also the truth!) but ours dont properly keep out the light, i think you need the velcro ones that stick to the window.

last night got woken at 2.30 by my lo's mobile going! it was the middle of the storm and i think it somehow switched it on (?!) but he slept til 6.15 this morning, which was great news for us.

we went out last night, me and dp, and a friend babysat. he woke up at 8ish and its the first time someone other than me or dp has gone to him, but he went back to sleep after a few distressed minutes, and he seems fine today (well, grizzly and clingy but thats normal!)

good for maebee and swc - 5.22am ths morning. i did not go to him until 6am as he just grizzled and cooed intermittently(sp?) but now he has napped for 1.5hrs so far. he also woke and cried out several times last night so he is obviouslly knackered. think it is as a result of crummy naps yesterday and beingh awake from 1:20pm till bedtime - a marathon for ds!

Mine woke up at 5 this morning. We also had a lovely period last night between 11.45pm and 1.30am where he wouldn't sleep, either. Niiice. How the hell is he so bouncy when he finally does wake up?

Has anyone tried those velcro blinds? I'm tempted to try them - there's a company that advertises at the top of this thread but I've never heard of them so I don't know whether they're safe to order from.

mrsT - I presume they must be OK for MN to advertise them. I hvae blackout curtains but it makes bugger all difference to ds's waking time. It is random to say the least! ACtually, when he does wake early adn I expect him to coo and babble until I get up I always feel a bit guilty that he is sittig in his cot in pitch blackness . He does have a night light but still.....

We were on the dot of 5am this morning and I'm tired and grumpy. Tonight being the first night I've gone out with my childless girlfriends for wine and dinner in ages, no doubt I'll be sleepy after the first drink and they will think you boring old hag. Blah.

Cruisemum, why do you feel guilty about your ds sitting in darkness? If he were unhappy about it I'm sure he'd let you know. We stopped using nightlights after our ds was a week old, for environmental reasons but also because we realised that (as Tracy Hogg says) they've spent the first 9 months of their lives in darkness, and fear of the dark is something which is learned, not innate.

Sorry to hear about the 5am starts! Hate, hate, hate those!

DD has put teething and cold behind her and
is back to 7-6 which is nice.

Now I need a few early nights..

We have those velcro blinds and they do blackout fantastically. But it makes s*d all difference to sleep around here. possibly because he's already woken up and come in with us hours before dawn... Also you have to stick em to your windowframe which is fiddly & will prob wreck paintwork.

DS has been up at 4.45 on the dot for the past few days. Can feel that zombie stage kicking in again

mrs T - get the point about lo's being in the dark for 9mths prior to birth but does that mean it would be OK to carry him around in a bucket of water all day too?

cruisemum - go on, try it!

another 5 oclock one today. its solstice on thurs though, and then those mornings will be getting light later. never looked forward to shorter days so much! maybe it will make a difference, cos i know i wake much earlier naturally in summer too.

Me too! 5.15 this morning. My LO is nearly 1 and her pattern was bed at 6.30, sleep til 4 ish then wake for a bf then back to sleep til 6.30.

Now she misses the 4 am feed but wakes at 5ish. Not sure what is worse!

I too am waiting for the darker mornings to kick in to see if it makes any difference.

I am knackered most of the time but have learned to live with it. Going to bed at 9 every night helps.

My dd's natural pattern is to sleep very well until 5.30am. She wakes then for milk , and is up for the day - v lively, no chance of settling her. I have found this last couple of weeks that a brief dream-feed at 4.30am (I was waking up then anyway , waiting on tenterhooks for THE CALL) settles her until 7 or 8. she does not fully wake up, or if she does, settles again with only a little grumbling. I am usually back in bed before 5am.

Worth a try?

It'll probably all go pear-shaped now!

i go to bed really early most nights too! but i do manage an 11oclocker once or twice a week, just to feel young and reckless again!
my dp is away playing some gigs this weekend, so im left holding the baby at home. even worse, he takes his laptop so i cant go online! am reading "we need to talk about kevin" though, so will pop off to bed early with biscuits, herbal tea and a book over the weekend. i usually invite friends around for dinner and wine when he's away, but sometimes alone time is even more appealing. we both have a one-night out a week each deal (we can take more if we want, neither of us would ever say no to the other one wanting to go out!) but i seem to look forward to his night out as much as my own.
am i getting old?!?

Hello, I recognise a few of you from Sleep is for the Weak which I am still a long standing member of however, I quick question. DD (almost 10 months) has this week started to wake at 5 for the day. This is coupled with an epic hour and a half nap in the morning and 1 hr in the afternoon. Do you think I should wake her after an hour in the morning or do you think it'll make no difference? She goes to bed around 7 and generally wakes 2 or 3 times during the night that a pat and a dummy will solve. The bedroom is dark so I don't think it's that although the birds are very loud.

gingerninja - hello again! hate to tell you, but the naps seem to make sod all difference to what time my lo gets up! still, its good to no longer be in the sleep is for the weak gang, so i shouldnt complain. the company was great there, but im so pleased my lo's sleeping through, even if he does think 5.20 is morning.

Hi Mae, ahh it really is the Mystery of the Incredible non sleeping baby here. She has just started to have these mega naps, normally being a 30 minute girl but has started to rise earlier and earlier. I think she'd been doing the nap thing for a little while and then rising early so one didn't go directly hand in hand with the other but I'm wondering if it doesn't help.

Hello, nice to see a few familiar faces - I've been off mn for a while - was trying to do some non baby things in the evenings, which is my usual mn time. Was getting withdrawal symptoms, though, so am back .

My dd (7 months) has started waking up at around 4 and won't settle without feeding (nursing). I try not to feed her until 5, which seems a bit more reasonable (never thought I'd hear myself say that ) but she just carries on crying until then. I tried just feeding her when she first wakes up, but then she started waking earlier and earlier and regressing to wanting to sleep in my bed and waking every few hours. In the end we had to redo cc which only took a night, but was horrible. Then she started on the 4 am waking again. She's not up for the day then and if fed at 5 will usually sleep again until 7ish in her cot. But its the up to an hour of crying until 5 that's horrible and not good for her every night, I'm sure! Any ideas??!!

Shameless bump for my msg below - any ideas anyone? I'm getting desperate - dd is up for at least an hour every night .

lilysma - hi . Uuurgh for your early starts . I suspect your lo has grown fond of the early morning cuddles and bf's - she is obviously a little girl who know what she wants! haven't got any real experience of this at this age (my dd1 did this when she was about 2.5yo but we could reason with her to a certain extent). Maybe go back to square 1 withe the cc??? I know it is hard but may be your only way forward if it is getting to you all. Sorry not to be of more help. Hope someone comes along soon...

Thanks Cruise. The problem is we keep trying to return to the beginning of cc but it never seems to end iyswim! I'm thinking of getting a consultation with one of these 'sleep experts' to see if they have any wisdom... will keep you posted. How is your ds doing? Still up at 5?

lilysma - ds is waking mostly around 6 which i can cope wiht (just about!). He is not well at the mo so it was 11pm, 12am and 5am last night and upo for hte day at 6:15am.
Good luck with teh sleep consultant but be prepared for them to suggest more cc....

Sorry for poorly ds . Hope he's better soon. It is a funny old world where we're quite happy with a 6am start, isn't it?! Sounds like heaven to me at the moment, frankly . Am prepared for more cc, but just want to do it properly so that it works! Will let you know how I get on...