6am Starts

[Rowlie]

Hello! Has anyone managed to push 6am wake ups to 7am?

I appreciate I’m very lucky with my 7mo sleep compared to some. Currently sleeps 7pm ish - 6am ish, usually with one wake for milk (formula) (can be any time but usually 1am-3am - we don’t dream feed). He has even gone 7pm-6am for a handful of nights recently which I know is good for his age.

He will wake around 6.10am every day and I would love to be able to get this closer to 7am. I understand I am seeking perfection here but any ideas or will he naturally get later in his own time? If he wakes before 6am I give him a bottle and he’ll usually then go back to sleep before I have to wake him by 7.30ish, otherwise it throws our day off when we have classes.

We have black out and his room is very dark but light does seep in around door frame (old Victorian house). Not sure I can do much about this, plus it gets light around 5am now so I don’t think the light is solely waking him as he manages to go until 6.

I leave him for 20 mins or so babbling and very occasionally he’ll go back to sleep but often not and by 6.30am it seems too late to resettle with a feed so I get him up then first nap 2 hours later by about 8.30am.

Have tried a later bedtime but still wakes 6.10am on the dot but perhaps I need to try it consistently over a week for it to have an effect? When he was younger he used to sleep until 7/7.30am but was waking twice for feeds.

Any advice or reassurance gratefully received.

I’d say he’s getting enough sleep so is ready for the day at 6. You say you’ve tried putting him to bed later but he still wakes at 6 that’s probably his natural wake time. Mine both wake at 5am my eldest is going through a horrible phase of waking at 4 for the day. I think 6 is very reasonable. Plus he’s so young it will inevitably change many times going forward.

Thanks @Username1234321 I do accept anything that side of 6am is ok, but it’s within my personality to want more I guess! Thanks for message x

You could try shifting his bedtime a bit later and first nap a bit later, gradually by a few minutes per day. It will take a while to work though, a couple of weeks maybe.

What's the latest you feed him? To push back waking to closer to 7 we had to delay my daughter's first bottle until at least 7, basically to push back the body's metabolic clock saying need to wake for breakfast.

Took a few weeks as would leave her as long as she was settled, if she was upset would try distract with play until got too upset then would feed. Gradually she started waking later as wasn't waking and staying awake and unsettled due to body saying needed feeding. So also increases chance if do wake prior to half 6 that will settle back to sleep as not expecting a milk feed at that time.

More often than not she wakes between 6:45 and 7:15 but can be left until gone 7:30 before gets rowdy for her milk, sometimes later. She's 16 months now but think started doing this around 7-8 months. My body clock gets really disrupted if I wake before 6:40!

I agree with @SnackSizeRaisin push everything forward so first nap is more 9am ish.
Will take a few weeks to see a difference. Bedtime later, initially may be tired but push through.

Is there light coming into his room at 6.10am. Is that the time the birds start singing or something random like someone in the road slamming the car door