Waking up time is inconsistent

[TOJ123]

Hello!

I was wondering if anyone could offer advice as you guys have been so helpful in the past!

My little one is nearly 10months old and has always had inconsistent waking up times to the day even though her nap schedule has always been consistent (not sure if this is where I’m going wrong). Her waking up time ranges from 5.15am through to 7am (which point I always wake her). But each night is so different. When she wakes before 6.30am she is still so tired abd will want to go back to sleep within an hour or two of waking. if I try to get her back to sleep straight away so like this morning she woke at 5.40am it took 40min to get her drowsy again but then she refused to go to sleep or sometime it can take 40min but then she will go back to sleep until 7. Her nap is at 10/10.30 but I made that as otherwise her naps would be so different each day?!

Xx

I follow a wake window as opposed to set tones...

🤷‍♀️ yup thats just the way it goes. They don't have built in clocks.

If she's naturally waking up earlier, you could try bringing her nap forward to 9am for 45mins ish, then a longer nap straight after lunch (12.45 - 2.30ish).

Yeah, I gave up on the idea of set nap times. I have no idea how people make them work. We do awake windows with my 8 month old, first one is after 2 and a half hours. Can be sooner if she's obvs tired. She wakes up anytime fom 5.30 to 7.30, I just let her do whatever as long as she's had over 10 hours night sleep. First nap is usually between 8 30am or 10. Second nap depends entirely on how long the first nap was and what time. Bed time I always take her upstairs at around 6pm regardless. She falls asleep before 7pm.

My daughter has just turned 11 months i agree with the above posters about windows of time she’s awake more than nap times. I have no idea how anyone does set nap times, I’d find that really stressful and I know it’s easy to say but I’ve stopped getting stressed about her naps! She used to wake at 5am daily, sometimes she’d go straight back to sleep until 8ish other times she’d be up and wanting to play and start the day until like 7 when she would crash for an hour no rhyme or reason! She’s just started self settling at night and has been waking at 7am, then first nap is between 10-11 for maybe an hour or so, she then goes down between 2/3 for another hour or so and bed between 7/8. Just rough guides and nothing set in stone so I don’t feel like I’ve failed if she’s not down by a certain time. The other morning she resisted a nap until 12 after waking at 7:30 but had a second nap at 2:30 as she obviously needed to catch up on some more sleep after her long morning.

Is your 10month old only having 1 nap?

That might be your problem. Average age to drop 2nd nap between 12-18months

Early morning wakings are normally the last bit of sleep to crack, it's the hardest for them to go back to sleep. But if all other sleep is good then it is normally indicative of an over tired baby or late bedtime.

I used wake windows with mine but he's now sort of set himself to a schedule. This flexes 15 mins either way if for some reason he woke early/late or seems tired.

So he's 11months-
Wakes at 7.15
Nap 9.45-10.30
Nap 13.45-15.30
Bedtime 19.30

Hello,

Thanks everyone for the comments!

No she’s currently having 2 naps a day @ShinyShooney....so my problem with naps is that she’s also inconsistent with timings of those too. Sometimes she has an hour, half an hour or very occasionally one and a half hours. I feel like she’s constantly over tired and that’s why her wake time is so inconsistent.

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion cheers for the useful comment - I’m completely aware they don’t have built in clocks but if you can read my post again I’m purely asking if I’m doing the right thing

Well it sounded more like you were asking how to go about having set nap times, which ime is impossible with most children. If you think she is tired, don't wake her up in the morning, or from naps. If she wakes up early, stop spending 40 mins trying to get her back to sleep, just let her get up and tire herself out and then put her for a nap later.

If she wakes at 5.40, whats the point spending 40 mins until 20 past 6 to get her back to sleep for 40 mins until 7?

I wouldn't wake her is she sleeps beyond 7am, if she's still asleep it's because she needs it, it may or may not push her nap schedule back but I very much went with the old adage of never wake a sleeping baby when mine were little. Actually not much has changed - I never wake a sleeping teen either

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion thank you for your input - I was purely asking if I was doing the right thing that was all that’s why I posted on here

Ok I’ll let her sleep until she needs to

I just always started counting the awake window when they woke up on their own in the morning and then put them down three hours later or whatever was the current time for their age. Worked great for us.

I actually disagree with previous posters. I always have set wake times if he's not woken himself. So 7.30 in the morning, then max 1hr or until 11am for nap 1 and max 2hr or 15.45 from nap 2. This was absolutely key to getting him on a schedule. It keeps everything on track for the next sleep.

Schedule not at all necessary and we do move it around if we have plans but it does make everything so much easier. He puts himself to sleep in 5 mins if we get the time consistent. He definitely prefers it.

I think your early wake ups are due to over tiredness. Maybe try bedtime 15-20 mins earlier. Is she showing sleepy cues before your start your bedtime routine or during it?