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Original poster

Competitive early waking thread

290 replies

artifarti · 25/06/2009 13:57

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?

OP posts:
HerHonesty · 10/07/2009 12:42

so lovely dh comes home from week away with work and insists i sleep in spare room with ear plugs to get some sleep. normally earplugs fall out with me after half an hour or so so i thought yeah right like i wont wake up but nice thought.

now. new earplugs. i slept through, woke briefly at 5.20 thinking... i cant hear her, again at 6 am still no noise and then 6.45 am by which time i think by god we have cracked it!!! interspersed with " must get on to mumsnet to tell them" further interspersed with slight concern that she might not be alive..

so at 7 i get up and find husband dozing having been up at 11, 12, 1, 2 and the 5.30 usall routine, but daughter is so knackered with teething pain that she has conked herself out again...

oh well, at least i got a decent nights sleep!

MrsJamin · 10/07/2009 13:04

wow your DH is lovely, herhonesty!

HerHonesty · 10/07/2009 14:46

yes he is good!! i am very lucky. although i am on my own for most of the week, by time he gets home i am a mess!

IwishIcouldmoonwalk · 10/07/2009 16:44

Bah melmog! Hope it's a bit better tonight. And maybe earplugs are the future herhonesty?

By the way, after being averagemum, then underaveragemum and in a fit of joy at thinking I had the sleeping thing cracked aboveaveragemum (which is a crap name because I'm too embarrassed to post on any other threads in case I sound too smug!) I'm now.... IwishIcouldmoonwalk (which is true).

melmog · 10/07/2009 17:35

I like your style Iwish!

I'm thinking in investing in some earplugs. After all, what's the worst that could happen???

When my Dad and stepmum looked after my dc on our first weekend away for THREE YEARS, both girls slept really well. Dad said he thought he heard the little one so went to have a look, she was awake so he said 'go back to sleep' and she rolled over and smiled then shut her eyes.

I'm sure I respond or get dh to respond too early. I bet if I couldn't hear them they'd get bored and go back to sleep.

I'm too scared to try it! Someone else do it tonight and tell me how it went?

Original poster
artifarti · 10/07/2009 17:51

Well, we are setting off for the wedding at 7am tomorrow to get there in time so you can guarantee that this will be the morning DS sleeps until well past six. Actually, scrub that, he so won't!

melmog After months of having the monitor pratically attched to my head, I have now turned it down to minus seven and am gradually moving it towards the other end of the room, with a view to eventually putting it outside of the room on its lowest setting! Not quite at the earplugs stage yet then!

OP posts:
MrsJamin · 10/07/2009 19:12

I do ignore for at least 30-45 mins, melmog, until he is actually crying than 'bababa'. He does not get bored and goes back to sleep! I hope for that every day and it never happens. I just get up because I'm bored and have been awake myself for so long I'm hungry for breakfast myself.

artifarti - do you really have a big enough house that you couldn't hear your DS without a monitor?

Original poster
artifarti · 10/07/2009 20:02

MrsJamin - absolutely, yes. It is only because the butler is on annual leave at the moment that I have to get up at all! (No - we just have very thick internal walls, the bedrooms are all on slightly different levels and we can't leave the bedroom doors open as then the flamin' cat wakes us all before the child!) And TBH I probably would hear him if he really went for it but he's my PFB hence the gradually moving the monitor away...

I have also been steadfastly ignoring DS until 6am (unless really upset) for three months. The books all tell me that within a week he will have learned to sleep longer. PAH!

OP posts:
13lucky · 10/07/2009 20:46

Ah ha, artifarti, those books that tell you to ignore the baby till 6am for a few nights and then they'll get it!!!! I'm still chuckling at that one...I suppose 'a few' is a relative term. 3.11am for us this morning, although I went in after the babbling had turned into crying and managed to settle him back to sleep. Am seriously shattered as then had my dd1's 3rd birthday party today. Ds has very red cheeks so am telling myself it's teething and maybe it'll be better next week...then I'll be able to bid you farewell and sail off into the sunset! Yeah right, see you in the morning, I guess!
artifarti - good luck with the wedding

melmog · 11/07/2009 06:50

Artifarti Hope you have fun today and tonight is not too much of a nightmare! I only used a monitor for the first few weeks as dd was SO loud. I hate them, you can hear every snuffle and when you can't you end up worrying there's something wrong!

MrsJamin 3.11 am. There are no words. Really hope it was better for you this morning.

I was up from 01.30 til about 03.00 with dd2. I asked to dh to go in and pupd but he'd had a few too many. Of course when I try it it just enrages her. After 10 mins of serious screaming and crying I gave up and brought her downstairs where she promptly fell asleep on me. The SECOND I stood up to take her back to bed she woke and cried again. Aaaaaaarrgghhh.

Finally got her into bed and she slept til 05.45 so in a way you could say she slept in late!! Dh is doing it tonight. I'm hiding the wine.

HerHonesty · 11/07/2009 11:20

my 5am waker niece did the same when she came to stay with me, slept until 8am. i said oh its nice sleeping in isnt it sasha, and she said oh yes its lovely... so why dont you sleep in at home i said.. she looked at me like i was bonkers and just said..."that would be silly".

sort of thought it was sweet at the time, till i had my own little monster!

MrsJamin · 11/07/2009 11:45

3.11 wasn't me, melmog, it was 13lucky. Bad for her though, goodness me. We had 5.20 this morning - pretty standard.

melmog · 11/07/2009 11:58

Oh yes, oops! . The early starts must be getting to my baby brain.

13lucky · 11/07/2009 13:39

Well, there was one cry out at 1.15am this morning at which point I was ready to explode...but he resettled himself in 10 mins without me needing to get out of bed. Proper wake up was 5.01am but managed to amuse himself until about 6.15am (not particularly quietly though I must say so we were all awake but at least I didn't have to get out of bed at 5.01am!)

melmog · 11/07/2009 14:59

Sounds like a vast improvement 13Lucky. Long may it continue!

HerHonesty · 11/07/2009 20:57

13lucky thats the point we have sort of got to. noisy, but not unhappy. after a few days i am starting to be able to doze through it. yes its nice just being able to rest yourself for a few minutes before beginning the daily schlep again.

turtle23 · 12/07/2009 05:49

How angry would you be...after four(I think) days of 615/630 we were both woken by "D"H coming home at 445 this morning. I am so angry and so tired.

HerHonesty · 12/07/2009 14:33

omg i would have shot him!

GwarchodwrPlant · 12/07/2009 14:36

Just dropping by to gloat- 6am this morning. Ha! I didn't know myself! Luxurious it was! I had a hangover too!

melmog · 12/07/2009 14:41

Turtle, I hope you dh (is he still d?) has made it up to you by looking after you all day, cooking you a roast dinner and washing up after it. If not, yes, shooting sounds appropriate.

BTW it was 04.45 for both girls this morning but joy of joys, it wasn't my turn.

turtle23 · 12/07/2009 18:31

Ha! He hasn't even apologised. Nevermind, we will get back on track tonight. I hope.

MrsJamin · 13/07/2009 06:54

4.55am. we seem to be going backwards again. DS has bags under his eyes at breakfast. It's going to be a long morning!

melmog · 13/07/2009 06:59

Yup, 5am here and it was my turn. Going to go for a drive with a book and a pillow so when girls fall asleep (by 9am I bet) I can have a little doze.

Do you think it will get better in the Autumn or are we just kidding ourselves??

OrangeKnickers · 13/07/2009 09:04

4.40 and 5am. Am in bits.

MrsJamin - like you, my ds looks tired in the mornings. Which is crazy - he obviously needs the extra sleep he isn't getting. My mum sayd we should just get him in bed with us, but he won't keep still.

gah!

turle - you are very forgiving of your dh. I am impressed he has the energy to be out till 4am.

VietnameseCobbler · 13/07/2009 09:08

Hi guys,
I had this for years with ds1 and only now at age 10.10 is he sleeping past 6 30.
we put out foot down when after years of being allowed to get up and put the tv on it was creeping back to pre 6am.
he was putting the telly on from age 3 I think.
I can save youtime trying things out;its just the way they are born. He iS though very good at going to bed - even now says " im off I am tired" and heads off at 8pm which is pretty mature imo.
I do recommend a clock though as soon as they understand a digital read out, the other thing that was good was a plan cheap clock and you paint secotions of it in diffo colours.
sothe section between 4 adn 5 was painted red "red means stay in bed" 5- 6 was orange "play in my room" and 6- 7 was green go downstairs. You repeat this mantra to them
We managed ot buy one but they dont make them any more and you coudl as easily fashion your own.

GOOD LUCK!