9mo waking at 5am everyday

[MamaLoua1]

Hi, in desperate need of some help. My 9 month old little girl has been waking at 5am for months now. She went through a stage of stretching to 6am which actually made a huge difference to our sleep just getting one more hour but more often than not its 5/530.

She has a set bedtime routine along with my 3yo son and is usually down to sleep no later than 7pm. She has a long morning nap (usually 2hours) from around 9am-11am then another around 3pm which can be anything from 30mins to one hour. I know so many things I've read say dont let them nap as long in the morning and allow a longer nap in afternoon but even if I wake her to shorten the morning nap she doesn't seem to sleep any longer in afternoon anyway and just ends up grumpy from not getting enough sleep. Im just desperate to resolve this as I'm due back at work next month full time (overwhelming enough as that thought is) never mind throwing in 5am starts to my day 😭

Should mention that I have tried treating the 5am as middle of night, tried rocking,white noise,dummy but she is fully awake and ready to start her day.

Please help!! Thank you x

Have you tried sorting out the light in the bedroom first? 5am sounds a lot like sun beginning to rise and kids are like vampires, even the tiniest undetectable amount of light will wake them.

I bought a piece of blackout material the size of our window and some Velcro and literally sealed the light out. Stick one side of the Velcro to the window and sew one side to the material.

Honestly? I would say just alternate early mornings with dad if he is around.

My 4 year old has been in a good phase but now this is the 5th morning in a row he has woken at 5am.

I can hear my 8yo and 6yo whispering and climbing into each other’s beds. Been going on since 5:30. A ‘lie in’ in this house has been 6am ever since they were babies. I tried Gro Clocks once they were old enough, and even before that. They did fuck all. Some DCs are just early risers.

Sorry OP.

Nor a solution but clocks change next weekend and then she will be waking at 6:00 each day. Which might help.

Sleeps loads in the day and sleeps all night? 😮😄 I think that’s great sleep for a 9 month old! Is she going to sleep too early?

I know it’s not what you want to hear but it will be the morning nap. It’s making up for the last part of her night time sleep.

How long have you tried shortening the morning nap for? It might take a couple of weeks for it to work.

I don't think it's the naps - both of mine were doing a short morning nap and a long afternoon nap at that age.

Some are just early risers - both of mine were up at 5 for months at the same age. Even now half 6 is a lie in - both wake regularly at 6 or just before. Sorry. You'll just have to take turns getting up.

Wait a week and the clocks change and 5am will be 6am!

I agree that some kids are just early risers. Go to bed early OP!

Unfortunately for you this might not change much for a while.
I know a family like this. It is not too bad for mum as she is a morning bird. Bad for dad as he is a night owl.
It is spring which may be making a bit of a difference, but you say she has been doing it for months. Sorry I dont have a better answer for you.
Mum regularly has to go to bed at 9pm, and complains if her family rings her up after 8pm!

My 2 year old has always woken up around 5am, always wide awake and ready for the day. It was hard with going back to work but we just had to get on with it. She has never really napped during the day unless she is exhausted - so if we need her to sleep in or nap we spend hours 'running' round the park. She always asks to go to bed at 7pm so im hoping with the clocks changing she will go to bed a bit later and start regularly sleeping until nearer 6 🤞.

Sorry OP, we are another family of early risers here (DH and I not by choice!).

Reducing the morning nap might help but not definitely. DD is 4 and wakes up before 6 every day no matter what time we put her to bed. She stays in bed until 6:30 with a Gro Clock but yours is too young for that yet.

DS is 12 months and used to lie in after a 5am feed but that was even worse for me as I usually couldn't get back to sleep so we ditched it and now he's up at 6 too.

If I'm in bed after 9:30 I consider it a late night.

I was asleep by 8:15 last night #rockstar