calling all fellow parents of early risers - i hardly dare say i, but i THINK this wake-to-sleep thing MAY work...! <<crosses fingers>>

[Tutter]

ds2 (1yo next week!) has always been an early riser - just as his brother was

generally it's between 4:50 and 5:10

we tried everything - blackouts, white noise, cc, milk, later bedtime, earlier bedtime, shorter naps in day, earlier naps in day

etc etc

the last two nights we have set the alarm for 4am and have gone in and gently roused him

he's gone straight back off each time

yday morning he woke at 5:25

this morning 5:45

so, not exactly miraculous, but a huge improvement

(but how sad that i should view 5:45 as a good time to start the day )

[fortheloveofmike]

I have a 2 year old ds who wakes at 5.12 every morning... its been months and months of it. Going to start wts as have had enough now!!
Guess we'll see how we go
Will do it for 7 days as it's gonna be a hard habit to break he's been doing it for so long... wish me luck!!

[Solo]

Reviving this thread for those in need.

[Devilforasideboard]

It's fine to use an old thread like this. Maybe you're waking him too late? With DS I've had more success waking him at 3.30ish when he's in a deeper sleep so I guess more likely to go back to sleep. The thing that seems to have helped most though is giving him a pillow...

[jynxx]

Thanks for that. I am new to Mumsnet in the past 2-3 days so apologies if i am using it incorrectly, i thought it was ok to use an old thread.

Any (useful) comments/advice welcome.

[jynxx]

Day 6
4.20 WTS..but when I got to his room, he was already stirring a bit so I thought maybe he has started to re organise his sleepcycle because of the whole process. I crept in amd touched his arm when he was still again and he immediately snatched his arm away and turned over..so I beat a hasty retreat. .5.10am...awake and screaming.

I am broken.

What next???

[jynxx]

Hi there, I am resurrecting this thread out of sheer desperation. Is there anyone out there doing WTS at the moment? Or who have done it and want to advise!?!Solo, if you are out there, you are my hero, my inspiration at 4.20am every morning. It will work!!! If there is nobody out there, at least it's therapeutic to write it all down!

My 21 month old boy was a bad sleeper, waking 4-6 times per night until I weaned him at 6 or 7 months. Then he started sleeping til about 5 or t.30. It was like heaven. But now, a year on, I am wondering will he ever sleep past 6am on a regular basis. He mostly wakes at anything from 5.20 until 5.50am, but it has been 4.44am and the other night, 4.40am. So I started WTS after reading this thread, or at least as much as I could of it.

So far, I am on Day 5 and losing faith. It should be working by now, right? I am setting the alarm for 4.20am every day.

Day 1: 4.20am - roused him a bit (heart in my mouth in case he woke!!), he slept until about 6.10am
Day 2: 4.20am WTS again, slept until 6.15am (Yayy, I thought, this is working!!)
Day 3: Phone alarm didn't work, I woke at 4.50am by chance, did WTS, he woke at 5.38am. Hmmm.
Day 4: 4.20am WTS again, 4.40 am, he is up, standing in his cot, screaming. He wakes the 1year old baby next door and they keep each other awake for the next hour and a half. Having chatted to my neighbour, they thought their boy had woken ours, they seemed to both start at exactly the same time...who knows, maybe he was still in the shallow stage of sleep after I had roused him and the teething baby next door woke him up.
Day 5: 4.20am again, WTS, I barely touched him, afraid of a repeat performance. Maybe I didn't do it enough. He slept until 5.50am and I managed to get him to lie in his cot (me on the floor beside him) until 6am.

So where are the 7am and 8am sleep ins?! I guess it doesn''t work for everyone? I said I would do 7 days, so I will stick with it.

Anyone there?

[workingonitagain]

hi everyon i have an 18 month old ds2 who for about 4 month+ has been waking between 5 20-5 35. i tried to disturb him at 4 30 for about 4 nights but the latest he slept to was 5 55 which is still better than what it was but it's not if considering i can't go back to sleep after 4 30 but i can do it for short period so i tried again for about 4 nights and he never went further than 5 30 this time so wondering if there are some children who this technique doesn't work for or i have to do it for longer? the only thing that worries me that all the stories i hear the children have had a longer sleep when they are disturbed then they may fall back into the old routine once stopped it but mine doesn't sleep in even when i disturb him. he has chicken pox so i gave it up for a few days and he is back to 5 25 again. ds1 who is 3 sleeps til 6 30-7 and im expecting dc3 so wondering what kind of a disaster it's going to be putting the 2 in one room ???
one more thing when he wakes up at 5 30 he is very awake and then happily goes till 12 30 for his nap of an hr 30 min then goes to bed with ds1 around 7 30-7 45 so i don't think he is very tired from the early waking. maybe he just doesn't need that much sleep ? i know i do

[HubbaHubbaHubbaInHoobLand]

Can i just give maybe a little bit of hope. my lo who was always such a great sleeper until seven am suddenly started waking at 05:30 am for the day from about 5 - 6 months of age. I tried everything and whether its the routine i adjusted for him or maybe down to a possible growth stage he was going through but has now ended we have our 07:00 am wake ups back. He is now nearly 8 months old.

I bumped into a friend today who also said that their lo went through this stage briefly of waking really early (not sure what age exactly but around about the same age as my lo when he was going through this).

I just wanted to share this with you to give you some hope that they can change. If you want to know what routine i did i can post it on here to see if it helps at all with your early wakers.

[KLou111]

Giving up for the moment. Ds has started not going to sleep on his own at 7, goes off within half hour, and waking around 12/1am for an hour or so, and still up at 6ish.

[KLou111]

And happy Easter x

[KLou111]

Well, last night was either a complete success.........or a complete failure.

I set my phone alarm for 4.30, straight into DS. He was upside down, so I turned the phone screen off (which I used for light), felt for him and flipped him right way up. Couldn't get his dummy in, but he moaned, turned over and went straight off hurrah!!

He woke, I looked at my phone and it was 6.38!!!!! The LATEST FOR 8 WEEKS!!!

Anyway, I just so happened to look at my watch, and it was 5.38!
My fecking phone had pushed itself on a hour!! So therefore, I woke him at 3.30! Am totally gutted, so I don't know if it would've worked or not. What a waste of a night, arrrrgh!!

[UntamedShrew]

And thank you!

[UntamedShrew]

Same here so that sounds worth a try

[KLou111]

An hour before their usual waking time, I'd try it. I'm awake in anticipation of him waking anyway!

[UntamedShrew]

When/ what time are you supposed to do it?

I'd like (love!!!) her to sleep til 7 as that's when the DSs wake up but age currently wakes at 5.30. Sigh.

I told DH about this but he pooh poohed it saying the parents are so tired after setting alarms for 4am or so that they feel like they've had a lie in by 5.30am

Please help me prove him wrong... and get my sanity back

[KLou111]

Thanks omama, I was just scared I hadn't woke him enough, then he woke too much!
So, when he stirred and moved his mouth when I went to put dummy in, do you think that was enough (he did turn from his side to his back on his own).
Thanks

[omama]

Klou the key is not to wake him, all u need is to do enough to make him stir slightly, so tug his cover gently & he may sigh or roll over, that is enough to rouse him from one sleep cycle & start another, hopefully sleeping past the time at which he'd usually wake. Hth.x

[KLou111]

*tickled his feet

[KLou111]

Well, I think I did it wrong! I woke ds up a bit too much!
I went in at 4.25, and he was fast asleep. I moved him back onto his pillow, didn't even know I was the. Stroked cheek, said his name, nada! Went to put his dummy in and he clamped his mouth shut, so I though ah, he's waking. Dummy in, fast asleep. I thought hmmmm, I don't think I woke him properly so I opened his sleeping bag, and tickled his sleep and he fully opened his eyes and shut them again.
Well, I thought that was successful......until I tried to leave.......waaaaaaa!!
Thing is, he's in a bed, so until he goes back off, I have to stay as he'll keep climbing out. I finally got to leave at 5.25, he was gone by about 5.10, but I just wanted to make sure. He didn't cry again after the first time, just kept sitting up and reaching for me.
I left my dressing gown with him, and he woke at 6.15, BUT he didn't cry. He got up and shuffled across the landing in his bag to our room. So at least we woke to a happy little man this morning, that was a bonus.
Will keep at it for the next few nights, but I woke wake him next time hopefully!

[UntamedShrew]

Please report back. I am desperate interested to hear how it goes. Good luck!!

[DialMforMummy]

I am in the same boat. DS2 (11mo) regularly wakes up between 5.15 and 5.45am and then wakes DS1 (2.5y). Once awake, DS1 starts to yelp making it difficult for DS2 to settle.
Normally, I leave DS2 so he can have a chance to get back to sleep, it does involve leaving him to cry. It does sound harsh but since we have been doing that there has been a noticeable improvement as there has been fewer early awakenings.
They both go to bed at about 7pm. This situation is a pain because DS1 was a great sleeper, usually doing 7 to 7.
How long will this last??

[CarlyRose80]

Will this work on any age baby? Mines 4 months and in a bad habit of waking at 5am for want of nothing. Thinking about giving this a go if the clock change tomorrow doesn't help?

[KLou111]

Have just found this thread, have read through the whole thing and I must say, Solo you are an inspiration lol!

My ds is 19mo and has always been a fantastic sleeper (7-7/8/9 from 4 mo).
For the last 2 months he has woken at 5-6 and it is killing us. We've dropped his daytime nap from 2 hours to 20 mins, but he still wakes early! I am at my wits end so will definitely be giving this a try. I don't sleep very well anyway as I always think he is going to wake up! So am usually awake by 4. I am just so tired to a point I cry when he wakes up!
Hubby and I have no time on our own as I'm normally asleep by 8.30, and sex? Forget it!!
Will let you know how I get on :)