Extra early wake ups - is it just us!

[5ambreakfastclub]

Hi all,

First time poster on mumsnet! Just after a bit of advice or to hear from other people who have had similar experiences with early morning risers! My baby is now almost 10 months old and from day 1 has woken up at 5am ( or earlier ) ready to start the day. I have tried everything to get her back to sleep when she wakes at 5 but she is completely awake ( smiling , laughing and now crawling around her cot like a maniac!) She goes to bed at 1830 ( pushing this back makes no difference apart from she’s super grumpy) and on a good night has 2 wake ups , settles quite easily with her bottle or patting and then up with the birds between 0430 and 0500. On a bad night she’ll take around an hour to settle about 3am and then she’ll sleep in maybe till 0530 or 0600 max. I guess what I’m asking is a) please tell me I’m not alone with this and b) should I just accept it and pray she’ll grow out of it 😩 thanks in advance !

I know chosenbyyou at least in the summer we could go for an early morning walk! I usually end up in bed at 2030 most nights just to get a few extra hours sleep! I've never tried too hard to get her back to sleep at 5am because she's so happy and full of beans that I know it would be pointless 🤣 I invested in a good coffee machine and when it's been light and nice in the summer mornings we have been sitting out in the garden together watching the birds! I just hoped she would have grown out of this by now ( which is what everyone kept telling me!) but from what you all have been saying about your wee ones I think she might just be an early bird and I need to accept it!

@5ambreakfastclub: Honestly 5am isn’t that bad. My 15mo used to wake at 4.30 and now 3.30am every day. On the very rare occasion he sleeps till 5am and celebrate with joy!!
Only way to survive is be in bed by 8.30/9pm. It’s depressing but needed for survival!

How is everyone doing?

We are still the same! Managed the other morning to get mine back to sleep at 4.30am with a bottle and just put him back in his cot and he went back to sleep!! It was like an actual miracle??!

I am also really trying with just one long nap a day - it’s really hard to keep him going until a decent time but with two naps a day he goes to bed soooo late I have no evening and no sleep.

I am worried about the clocks changing to be honest :(

Still the same here! Trying my new mantra of accepting that's just what she's like but still feel depressed having to drag myself out of bed so early! We are currently on two naps a day, she just can't last going from 5 so on a good nap day she'll have about 30 mins between 0830 and 0900 then another nap at 1230-1400 ( again this is a good nap day!) Then bed at 1830/1900. I can't imagine ever dropping that morning nap at the moment, she's so so tired by 9am! What's your nap schedule like?

Oh and so impressed with your 0430 miracle!!!

We struggle with the naps - I don’t know what to do for the best.

I try to get him to have one long nap which is 2hrs - 11-1ish but if not he will have two 1hrs 8.30-9.30ish and then 2-3ish but that second one is awful cuz he won’t be tired then at 7. Even if he goes to sleep at 8.30 he will still get up by 5.

Where I read on here that some babies get up at 7ish I just couldn’t imagine that!!

Tried to get him back off this morning at 4.50 but no joy.

We will get through this haha! :)

My eldest is 28 and still wakes up at 5, my youngest is 7 and normally wakes up around 7, but is waking up at 5 at the moment because of his cough.

*normally wakes up around 6

@Chosenbyyou sometimes I dream about the days naps won't be needed anymore because I obsessively tweak them to try and make her sleep at night better! Do you find meal times hard because of the early risings? So DD has her breakfast at around 0630 cause she's starving by then so then it's lunch about 11 , big snack ( pretty much a second lunch!) at around 1430 and then dinner at 1700, she's basically having 4 meals a day which I suppose is ok ? Not that seems to have any bearing on the night time sleep or how many feeds she still wakes up for 🙄🙄 we had a 0510 wake up this morning , it's sad how happy that made me 🤣

Hi 5am

Weirdly if we get past 5am I think that is a good thing?!! Haha!

Yes I have always hated naps - it’s better when they just have one nap after lunch for about 1hr.

Gives you time in the morning to do something and a slot in the afternoon with a little break in the middle- with my first I used to drive her home after lunch and then transfer her to the cot for the last 1/2 hour or so.

Both of mine have been bad sleepers but my first wasn’t an early riser - just 6ish.

Hadn’t really thought about food but yes my smallest has two breakfasts. Normally porridge/fruit at 6.30 and then toast/cereal with sister at 8ish!

I work four days a week but on other days I find the mornings really long before we can go out do anything.

What do you tend to do in the mornings? Sunday’s are the worst for me as shops dont open til 11 so that is 6 hours after we got up!!

@5ambreakfastclub

@Chosenbyyou oh the mornings are loooooong!! I will confess to sticking on the telly first thing just so I can wake up a bit and have the energy to play with DD! We normally play for a bit then early breakfast then I'll do some housework if DD lets me ( she is endlessly amused by unloading and loading the dishwasher for some reason so at least that gets done!) but I do struggle a bit once that's all finished. I tend to get us both dressed very slowly 🤣 weekends aren't too bad as at least DH is there so we can tag team but weekdays are tough and I'm still on MATL so it's just me and DD allll day 5am until 5pm 😭During the summer an early morning walk is good but with the darker mornings coming around I'm not sure what we will end up doing . Probably stuffing my face with pastry's and coffee in our local Tesco cafe as it opens at 7am!! It's a long day , especially if you don't have the nap to break it up. It does help to know I'm not alone!