Competitive early waking thread

[artifarti]

Aaaarrgh! Between 5 and 5.30 since April. Every bleedin' morning. Nothing works. He laughs in the face of blackout blinds and curtains. I hate the Teletubbies even more now.

Can't wait for the Season of Mist and Mellow Fruitfulness and really dark mornings in the hope it changes (it has to change, surely?!)

It's not just me is it?

Hello everyone? How's it going with the dawn-calls? Better, I hope, from the thread silence. Any 6am milestones? Any 7am miracles?! Bedtime is a bit later here and we are often making it to 5.45 but also teething and so some 5am-and-screaming nasties, as this morning. It was actually quite dark when I got up which made me think how hard it will be if this continues into winter...

I am back to work p/t in a fortnight and DS is settling brilliantly at his CM. Although a big part of me is sad, another bit of me thinks it will be easier going to work than 14.5 hour days with a nearly-toddler!

Hello!!!

I've been quiet for a bit on here as I didn't want to tempt fate. We've been having after 6 o clock starts consistently for a week now! The record is 6.45. I don't know what to tell you, we changed nothing!!

Maybe it's just down to the shite weather?

I'm just enjoying it and assuming it won't last.

Good luck on starting back at work! I'm off to try and get a weekend or evening job to pay for our holiday. Feel like a teenager!

That's what I worry about MrsJamin. We had 4.15am this morning and after an hour of going in, resettling, etc etc, he was so distraught that I gave in and gave him a bottle at 5.15am...but I really don't want to be getting back into that habit.

His room was also pitch black so I've no hope of it improving when the mornings aren't light...I don't think that makes one jot of difference to my ds!

Well done to melmog and artifarti...melmog, how old is your dd? Just wondering if I can hold out some hope for mine (but he's nearly 10 months)...

13lucky mine are just 3 and 16 months. The little one has been the problematic one, waking between 4 and 5 for ages. The only thing it may have been was her molars coming through. I may be wrong though and I'm sure it won't last.

Whenever we've been through stages like this we've given in and given milk, assuming it's a growth spurt and they're hungry. Or calpol if they're teething.

I know it's a terrible habit to get into but if it saves your sanity and gives you an extra hour or so it's worth it.

It won't last for ever though, I'm sure.

Morning ladies! Wonderful news on any success stories. None here I'm afraid. We've had one 6am! But many, many more 5ams, this morning 4.55. Just when I think I see some kind of logic to it he just defies me! Ho hum.

I'm going back to work p/t in September artifarti. Ds will be going to nursery 3 afternoons a week. I'm hoping it will be so exhausting he'll decide to add another 30mins to his night sleep. It's got to change sometime, hasn't it? For what it's worth, I apparently was exactly the same - up at 5am for ages once I'd started sleeping through (my mum can't be more specific unfortunately). Then I stopped...nothing she did!

Morning Iwish.

Can your Mum remember how long this phase lasted?

Just as I thought, it didn't last! Back to 04.15 here today.

I was kind of expecting it though as she was grizzly all day yesterday and she has more teeth coming through.

It's payback for starting to relax!

Hello all

Not sure we're much of a success story! Iwish - I'm sure our boys are long-lost twins! 4.55 here this morning too! He always stirs at that time and at the moment he's teething so it's 50:50 as to whether he goes back until 5.45 or not. How does your DS nap during the day? I'm back to work the week after next and so I will report back...

melmog - oh poo, I thought you'd cracked it...

Spoken to two more friends this week who are also seeing the wrong side of 6am every morning, which gives me small comfort.

[Oh my goodness there's a man in his pants watering the plants next door...distracted...]

3.30 difficult not to get angry and into despair about this- it's been nearly 7 months without sleeping til 7. I even gave him a whole banana at 5.15 in the hope that it was just hunger keeping him awake. bleurgh. here rolls on the rainy tired and tantrummy day...

Will be sending you strength and energy mrsjamin, and am just in the process of making a HUGE pot of coffee! Oh bugger melmog, you were a gleaming beacon of hope for a while there...

I've come to the same conclusion arti! At the moment naps are one hour in the morning (8-til-9 if up at 5am) and one hour after lunch (usually 1-2pm ish). What about your lovely boy?

sorry, melmog, didn't answer your question. No, she can't remember! (just 'ages!). BUT it DID stop at some point, and the good news is that I never had any problems sleeping / going to sleep as a toddler, I just sort of had it cracked. I'm crossing my fingers my boy will be the same!

MrsJamin - that is rubbish, poor you. And these rainy days without playgroups are a trial, aren't they? 14 hours of housebound baby/toddler stretching before us. Sigh.

Iwish - he would nap all morning if I let him but I let him have 30-45 minutes, usually between 9 and 10. Then after lunch anything from 1-2.5 hours. As usual, with my DS, no pattern.

MrsJamin, I'm for you.

The weather and everything being shut for the school hllidays just makes it worse.

I know what you mean, at 6am I was very grumpy as I'd been up nearly 2 hours and both dds were crying and horrid through tiredness. We're in for a long, boring day too. A car jouney wouyld send them both off but I'm too tired to go anywhere nice. Can't face a grotty car park in the rain!

It will end.

When they are teenagers we will be fed up that they won't get up in the morning! Bring it on.

Just saw this advice on another thread:

"I recruited the help of a sleep consultant in the end and she gave similar advice except that she said if they wake after 5 but before 6, then you shouldn't go in because after 10 hours in bed, if they see a parent they assume it's morning. So she said to just leave until going to get the baby at 6am if he's been crying, otherwise wake him at 6.30am after 11.5 hours sleep. And then go in and say "good morning, good boy etc" and draw the curtains.

So we had about 1 morning of on and off crying for the hour. 2 mornings of the odd grizzle and now occasionally I can hear him shuffling around the cot from about 5.45 but he seems to be happy. And he's still happy and content in the daytime. So my DS responded quickly but I think it can take longer than 3 mornings."

3 MORNINGS?! I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR OVER THREE MONTHS HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The thing with DS is that, unless, he's teething, he's not crying, he's quite happy and raring to go.

Hi guys, not been on for a few days but things here are pretty rubbish and I ended up bursting into tears at the doctors yesterday (he probably thinks I'm a complete loon!). I just need some sleep really and I find it blo*dy hard when my 3-year old (who sleeps brilliantly) is raring to go all day long (and no pre-school because of the holidays!). The thing is ds is such a super star in the daytime but the nights are getting me down! My mum had them last night for me because she's a star but I'm already dreading tonight!!! It's nice (but not for you guys) to know it's not just me! I do think ds is teething but then again, I've been saying that for months! We've had some really bad nights this last week. Not just the usual early waking, but more wakings in the night and then I've been eventually giving in after an hour or longer and giving him milk which settles him but I don't want him to get in this habit. Sorry for the rant...just needed to get it out! x

Oh, 13 lucky. You're definately not on your own. There's a reason why they used to use sleep deprivation as a form of torture.

Your Mum sounds like a star. Do you think she'd manage another night? Maybe if you had a couple of unbroken nights it'd help?

Thanks melmog. My mum is great..I love her to bits. I'll be fine too - I've just had a quick power nap but am really supposed to be working today! I'm going to head over and pick the children up now but mum is having them again on Saturday night so at least I know I've got that to look forward to! I'm holding out for the fact that maybe he's waking up more becasue of teething and if that is the case, then hopefully one day it'll improve!! I have to hold on to some hope...! Thanks for the support. x

A record morning here. But before you get all it was record BAD. Awake crying at 4.18 (earliest ever for us) and after much cuddles, Calpol and 45 minutes of comfort feeding (from a boy who can barely be bothered to feed twice a day for 10 mins usually) back to sleep at 5.55. Then awake again at 6.35. Couldn't help thinking of all the babies that wouldn't even be awake for the first time, let alone the second. Sigh.

Still, at least he is settling in at the CMs this morning so I can go back to bed for an hour...

for you artifarti. I guess if you're giving calpol this could be a bit of a teething/sickness blip?

good plan re: going back to bed, I was just relieved I wasn't working yesterday so I could nap at lunchtime.

There was something in the air: 4.35am this morning for us. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

We had a record bad one too. He woke every half an hour between 10.30pm and 12.30am but I put the music on on the monitor as soon as I heard him and he resettled. But then woke at 3am screaming and screaming and needed re-settling. Then he slept 4am till 6am. Aaaggghhhhhhh!!!

Oh dear, not good for any of us then.

Definitely teeth. The day got worse, culminating in me having to go and pick him up from CMs as he wouldn't nap and so got worked up into an over-tired/toothy-pain lather. Cue me feeling like just about the worst mummy ever.

He has slept a grand total of 45 minutes since 6.35am and so has gone to bed a)early; b)over-tired; and c)in pain. Don't think I need Mystic Meg to tell me that tomorrow morning isn't going to be pretty...

Sending better luck to the rest of you.

hello all, sorry indeed to hear your tales of woe. We have had a few night time wakings plus, 5am. One morning after I attempted to have a life and go out with work he woke up at FOUR THIRTY AM. I went to bed at 12 and was not impressed. I got him back in bed, rubbed his back and thought he'd gone off but suddenly 'PING' the eyes are open, he gets up, rolls out of bed and runs into the living roon and jumps on the sofa. DEMON CHILD.

Luckily I did 4.30-5.15 then DH took over. It was my day off so we both had a nap at 1-3. Bliss.

But how do I shift the nap to the evening? Ds is now 2.

Long and self absorbed. Sorry.

Arti, Iwish 13lucky - I feel your pain.

I've only got one and I go to bed at 8.30pm to cope. It does make me feel like a) a failure and b) how will I cope with another?

To those going back to work, yes work is easier than being home with a toddler. Once they get a bit older and start properly talking then it's nice too being at home (if you get a nap obv!).

Have a good weekend all. Here's to sunny days and 6am.

i thought i was alone my little one awake during the night 2 - 3 times and then upo at 5:30 on the dot, and thats it for the day, well unless you count 20min cat naps here and there

How is everyone? I hope the teeth are through / less painful and we've had some good mornings.

hello hashmi, you must be exhausted!