14 mo waking at 5am on the dot

[Thefaceofboe]

A posted on here a month or so ago with my success with sleep training, my little girl went from being rocked to sleep and waking every hour, to going down sleepy and sleeping a solid 12/13 hours. Shortly after the clocks went back, she’s started waking at 5am or 5.15am on the dot, regardless of bed time, naps etc.

She was doing typical 7pm - 7am before so even with the clocks going back an hour, 5am makes no sense. We’ve started putting the heating on a timer for 4am incase she’s getting cold but that hasn’t helped.

any tips? Her typical nap routine is 10ish and 3ish for around 45 mins each time, but this can vary. It’s hard to control her naps too much during the week as she in nursery 5 days a week

@Caspianberg tried 8.30pm a couple of nights ago and she still woke at 5am and was so tired all day so I figured at least if she’s goes at 7pm and wakes at 5am she’s still getting that extra hour 😕it’s so hard to know what to do for the best

Have a chat with your nursery then. They will be used to transitioning kids from two to one nap. They need to help - this is part of their role ime.
The 5am thing may be new, but sometimes children's routines change and you need to do something to adjust it.
7pm is the right bedtime for her so it's the naps that will need to change.

@jemimafuddleduck but if she’s genuinely not ready for 1 nap like they say what am I supposed to suggest? I agree with them tbh

I appreciate it may not be what you want to hear, because it's difficult to do, but it's what will work.

But she IS ready, because she isn't sleeping for long enough in her shorter naps, and she's waking up too early (which is often a sign of overtiredness)

What further signs do you need?

@jemimafuddleduck but she’s always had short naps, so should I have been giving her 1 sleep at 7 months? No… she sleeps longer at home, not nursery, so it’s obviously their environment she struggles with

being hysterical from being so tired is not her being ready for one nap.

Arguing with the mum on whether HER baby needs 1 or 2 naps is really fucking weird.

What @lawofselfish says. My 17month old still has 2 naps because she just gets too over tired and miserable otherwise. Generally sleeps 1845 to 7am (sometimes longer) then naps 9-10.20 and 13-14.20.

If your little one is up at 4/5 I'd try an early nap around 8/9 then the second nap at 1300. Then if this helps her awake later in the morning you can adjust the naps from then. Easier said than done especially on nursery days so I'd try it over the weekend?

It's so difficult isn't it 💐

Sounds counterproductive but try an earlier bedtime. You also need to try it for at least two weeks consistently. She could be over tired hence the early waking. It worked for my son around the same age but you need to be consistent. I was putting him down at 6pm no later.

The earliest I can do is 7pm as we don’t get home till 6.30 pm ish so it’s hard to be consistent 😫so many factors come into play, bath time, if she needs food if she hasn’t eaten well at nursery etc. I’ve read early bed times promote later wake ups but until now it’s never really been an issue

People don’t realise not all babies are the same as theirs… nursery said 2 naps is the norm at her age. I’ll maybe give it a week or 2 and see if it improves on its own and If not play around with naps

25 month old still in this cycle

I agree with pp , it may be little or nothing to do with naps , possibly some thing wakes her bang on 5

a neighbour letting dog out ?
a car door closing
milk delivery

maybe sleep in her room one night and see

Not sure why you posted on here asking for tips if you didn’t actually want suggestions and you’re not willing to try anything different 🤷🏼‍♀️

@Ubbee but I have tried suggestions previously if you read my comments? I’ve said trying for 1 nap leaves her horrendously over tired so I don’t think she’s ready for that yet…

And then I have people arguing with me that she doss need 1 nap. Really not helpful

@Ubbee the OP has said one nap doesn't work for her child yet and people still pile on saying she needs 1 nap. You'd think she'd posted in AIBU

My DD wasn't ready for just the one nap till she was almost 19 months and I agree with you it was impossible for her, and borderline cruel if I 'stretched her out' as she was up so early and exhausted.

No tips but here's hoping it's just a phase

She went down for her first nap at 9am (up at 4am and couldn’t stretch her nap out any longer) and she’s just woke up. So she will hopefully have a longer one at lunch time 😫

she doesn’t seem tired now, unlike me!

I mean, I didn’t disagree with you about one nap… anyway I hope you find the support you’re looking for.

Suprised by all the 1 nap comments and no one asking if maybe your little one could be hungry? Is she eating well during the day? You've considered she may be cold but the heating doesn't seem to be helping, is she teething and once out of a deep sleep struggling with that? My ds used to wake so early when teething but went back to sleep after some calpol.

Worth thinking of these things especially if it's out of character for her

@margotann we usually offer porridge or similar before bed but she doesn’t always want it. She could be hungry as she usually is wanting breakfast straight away. I may try to tempt her with something else before bed tonight and see if it helps.

she’s also probably teething, but I feel like they are always teething so who knows really 😁

thank you!

One nap a day
Stretch her in the morning for as long as poss & then a big chunky two hour nap will solve it.

@Mamoun it probably will, but she will only sleep an hour max. That is my issue 😥

This is because she hasn't accumulated enough "wake time". If she falls asleep independently she will lengthen her naps. Might not work immediately but I think it will.
At the moment it is ok for her to wake at 5 since you offer a nap in the morning. Her body clock needs to adjust.

takingcarababies.com/early-morning-wakings

Read "culprit #3"