4:30/5am wakes - did anything work for you?

[ChiquitayouandIKnow]

DS is 10 months. Can settle himself to sleep, goes to bed at about 6:30, and is always up 4:30/5am - it’s a killer! I have cut down his morning nap and he sleeps for around 2 hours at lunchtime.

when he wakes, sometimes milk resettled him but much less so these days. He’s just sitting up screaming in his cot ready to start his day.

did anything work for you? I remember my DD used to do this but it was more like 5/530 which was better.

Sorry, no. They just grew out of it eventually.

Im right there with you OP! It was 4:20am for my DD of 7 months this morning. 😭

My DS who is nearly 5, grew out of it around age 3. We tried everything: less naps, earlier bedtime, later bedtime etc. Nothing worked except time.

I’ve resigned myself to this fact. I now go to bed at 8:30am and try to make the most of the 5-7am when she’s awake but will happily sit in her high chair. I read, have a coffee etc.

My nearly 5 year old still does this. I've tried bed times as early as 6 and as late as 10. Nothing works 😭. Hoping he grows out of it soon

Don't force cutting out naps. Your baba will drop/shorten them when ready x

Wake to sleep method, sounds crazy but works if your child is still tired in waking. Not so much if they are full of beans and ready to start the day

I’ve had two who do this, the others didn’t. One stopped aged 18 months after getting much more active, the other stopped aged 3. I used to go to bed at 7pm like them if possible and was a zombie tbh. I suggest you share this situation very fairly as it can lead to huge resentment if it is always you dealing with it.

Here for the sympathy 💐 Daughter is 21 months. She was up at 4:30 today. Expecting another one in 4 weeks, dreading the combo 😞

Gro clock. Go in point to it, say night time and leave. Don't engage or slow out of their room until the sun comes up( you can set for an acceptable time). Took a few weeks but really worked.

Oh. Just realised he is 10 months. The clock won't work yet. Mine was over 2 when it did. Can you put a few toys/ books in the foot of the cot?

You need the naps and a later bedtime.
3 naps per day at that age and try an 8pm bedtime, dinner/tea atv6.
Babysleepsite.com

I’d try a later bedtime - 7 or 7.30. You have to do it for about a week before expecting an improvement.

Also make sure he has had something filling just before bed. Milk and rice pudding or porridge.

My DS also had a phase like this. Their stomachs are still really small so if he’s having a growth spurt he might be waking up hungry.

I assume you’ve already done black out curtains.

@ChiquitayouandIKnow what time does his lunch nap end ? He is sleeping 10.5 hours .. if do a later bedtime of 7.30/8

wow, he is sleeping a huge amount! if it aint broke dont fix it! mine slept from about 10-4, with a one hour wake in the middle at this age. the bedtime gradually got earlier over the next few years, but the wake up time didnt change until primary school.

I got my own back in the teenage years.....

also, had dropped naps by this age too

Horrible isn’t it?

We had a couple of phases of this. They passed within 2-3 weeks. It's a killer.

I’m 38 and haven’t grown out of it. 5am it’s time I naturally wake up but I do need to be in bed by 9am or I’m tired and grumpy all day.

I have the opposite problem with my daughter as my 3.5 year old is clearly a night owl. It’s a killer staying awake when her dad works away.

Sorry I tell you that mine got up at this time till they were about 8-obvs as they got older they knew to stay in bed and read or whatever.
On the upside now they are teens we rarely see them much before midday if they don't have to be up for anything.
It's absolute hell being up that early on the daily-you have my sympathies.

We did fix it OP. I tried a zillion methods and sleep coaches and in the end we had advice from Millpond Sleep Clinic that worked. It was basically earlier bedtimes as she was overtired and making sure she could self settle not rocked to sleep. Good luck!

We co slept after the 4/5am wake up and DC would feed and snooze and we all got a bit more rest and sleep

Time! We gave milk which settled him back down most nights and then when he was 2, got him a gro clock and set the sun to come up at 6am. He was an early riser till he hit teen years. Once he was 4, we let him get up, say good morning to us and then go and get his own breakfast. I used to go to bed at 9pm myself every night I could.

Thanks all! I think it does sound like it’s one of those things that we just have to ride out! Early bedtime and making the most of the quiet time in the morning is a nice approach.

He won’t settle in our bed either, wouldn’t mind if we could have a nice snuggle and a couple more hours!

The only other one is waking them up so they go back into a sleep cycle like @RebeccaNoodles suggested. How does it work?

No that's not what we did! It was just earlier bedtimes as I said and making sure they can get themselves to sleep at bedtime without rocking etc.

This
Like jetlag it won't work overnight
Give it ten days

I'd try a later bedtime, also look at the timings of the first nap. I was told this can sometimes reinforce the early waking if its too early and they're catching up on lost sleep from the early waking.