8 month old waking at 5am - no success with controlled crying

[mousemole]

DS2 is a good sleeper in that he goes down no trouble at 7pm. he stirs occasionally in the night but then finds a dummy and goes back off. Trouble is he has started wakinga t 5am - somethimes with a pooh and sometimes not. I have tried controlled crying but he doesn't go back to sleep. If I go in and give him a bottle he will down it and then go back to sleep till 6.30/7. Thinking it is hunger I have started to give him some porridge jsut before bed but doesn't seem to make any difference. Anyone got any experience of this or any tips ? He is a very big baby - 23lbs with an insatiable appetite !

If he goes back to sleep with a bottle he must be hungry - is there a reason you don't want to give him one?

Does he go back to sleep at 5am with a dummy? And when you say he's awake, is he bawling his eyes out of just having a bit of a whinge (sp)?

My 11 month old has started waking a bit earlier (might be the slightly lighter mornings?) and I leave her for 5 mins and find she usually goes back off on her own. I'll probably be considered the spawn of the devil on MN for doing that, but hey I like my bed .

Tbh, I'd just go with it for a few nights, be prepared for the 5am feed if necessary but if he deson't seem that upset just leave him. He'll prob change his waking times again in a few nights on his own, that's babys for ya. Sorry not being much help!

Have you got a blackout blind? Might need one for the spring/summer anyway...

From what you have said it sounds like he is hungry. My dd is 8mths and I find that when she goes down at 7pm it is best to give her a dream feed at 10 or 11pm (just before I go to bed) this sees her through until about 7am. If I don't she does wake up very early hungry.

Puppy - no he doesnt go back off at 5 with just the dummy unfortunately which is why I think it is hunger.I was thinking of doing a dream feed again - droppped it when he was about 6 months old but maybe he needs it again. I dont mind him having a bottle at 5 but it does throw his whole day out routine wise. ( bash me over the head with a big stick if you like but I am big into routine !)

I'm afraid that the time babies awake in the morning comes and goes in vast, knackering phases. You have many months, if not years, of being awoken at 5am/6am.

It's just what they do, I'm afraid.

Eek, I found dream feed made dd2 even worse. She started waking at 2am and 3am and stuff cos it just disrupted her sleep and kind of made her unable to sleep for a big long stretch iuswim. I wouldn't do that for an eight month old if I were u, think it's more for tiny newborns if at all... I'd stick with feeding at 5am if he wakes and enjoy the fact he goes back to sleep for a bit longer.

Remember, the clocks go forward in a couple of weeks so you'll probably find the whole routine goes to pot and then settles back again... so maybe things will be different then... Good luck!!

I bet he makes up for it by being incredibly cute!!

Desiderata this is DS2 so well aware of sleep 'phases' ! The beauty of this board is that you can get help and tips from people who have experienced similar things isn't it.
Puppymonkey - good point about the clocks going forward, that will take it to 6 won't it ! When is that BTW ?
Dh works away Mon - Fri so gets a bit lonely at times - would be nice to have him here to moan at at 5am !!

Both my DS's woke at 5am at this age and nothing i did would make them sleep any longer, even a later bed tiem.
I used to go to bed at 9pm myself and make use of all that time in the morning doing the chores. Miserable time.
They still get up at 6.30 am now.

According to my calendar, British Summer Time begins on March 30th at 2am - when your ds will hopefully be fast asleep!!

Thanks PuppyMonkey - I will put that in the diary and look forward to it !

Me too!

Um, well good luck then.

hi mousemole, i had this problem with dd up until very recently - from around 7mo she was getting up at 5-6am everyday and i tried everything to stop her as it has been a nightmare all winter. but the good news is, she has recently dropped one of her daytime naps of her own accord, still goes down between 6-7pm, but now stays quietly in her cot dozing on and off until 7am! i'm so relieved we did one morning of letting her cry for a while earlier this week, just going in to reassure her, and combined with the other factors, that seems to have done the trick. for now anyway!

thanks jekylyyandhyde. I tried a dream feed at 9m last night and he was a nightmare - woke 3 times in the night when normally he wouldn't. I was hoping that would be the miracle cure ! Its probably stage but i depserately dont want to creat a habit by giving him a bottle at 5. Think I will up the food in the day and then try controlled crying again. Think it can take some time to work ?