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Original poster

Controlled crying and early waking

10 replies

leplan · 05/06/2010 07:36

I can't get up at 5am one more day before I go insane.

DS (16 months) is waking but he is clearly still exhausted as he's miserable. I'm not sure whether he might be hungry, have tummy ache or something or just not be able to get back to sleep. His room is pitch black.

Does controlled crying work? I have resorted to it in the evenings at one point and it did the trick but does it work if they've already had a big chunk of sleep?

I'll accept getting up at 6, even though I would prefer 7 (who am I kidding, I'd prefer 10 ) but 5 is still the middle of the night.

OP posts:
grapeandlemon · 05/06/2010 07:48

I don't think CC does anything for waking early, I thought it was just in the evenings to get them off to sleep, although I have never practiced it.
DD did this I just got up with her, it is so hard but it passed after a while. I didn't find any magic answers to it

Original poster
leplan · 05/06/2010 08:00

grape - I had a feeling you were going to say that.

I've been up for 3 hours already. I may cry.

OP posts:
rubyslippers · 05/06/2010 08:04

You need to do wake to sleep
If you search the archives on here there are some threads about it
It is a baby whisperer techniqiue and i used it on my one year old when he was waking at 5 am (was a while ago but it worked)
The base idea is that you wake them one hour be fire their usual wake up to disrupt their old sleep

llynnnn · 05/06/2010 08:06

I came on with a similar question leplan. I sympathise with you getting up at 5am. Its awful!!
dd2 has been getting up at 5am for a week now and its a killer! She is also up a couple of times a night, falls asleep on her milk every evening and her daytime naps are all over the place! What a mess!! I dont really know where to start to fix it. Think it all stems from her being ill with one thing after another this year and her sleep habits have gone to pot

I've tried controlled crying but she gets herself into such a state.
Sorry I can help just wanted to share your pain

Librashavinganotherbiscuit · 05/06/2010 08:11

leplan my DS (aged 13 months last summer) did this and I was going crazy, we tried wake to sleep and it didn't work, after about 2 months we tried CC it worked after 2 days. If you are going to do it you have to commit to at least 3 days and read up on how to do it properly. Saying that I would try the wake to sleep method first before CC.

llynnn I would start with the daytime naps, even if this means you have to cancel some activities for a few days to stay at home so she naps at right time. Don't forget whatever you try needs to be followed for at least 3 days to see if there is going to be any change.

Original poster
leplan · 05/06/2010 08:15

Glad to know I'm not alone. Wake to sleep terrifies me as DS is not good when woken up and gets hysterical. I certainly don't want that at 4am!

Daytime naps are all over the place here too, because he can't last until he normally has a post-lunch sleep, and then if he has a nap in the morning (however short) he won't have one in the afternoon so is shattered by bedtime.

He is so tired that he just wants carrying around all the time. A happy awake child wouldn't be quite so bad.

Harrumph.

OP posts:
Librashavinganotherbiscuit · 05/06/2010 08:24

I'm trying to remember what I did but I think last summer with 5am waking. DS was having an hour nap 9:30-10:30am in the morning and then an hour in the afternoon 2:00pm-3:00pm (with bed at 7pm) I changed this as he started sleeping later in the morning to one 2 hour nap 12-2pm (which he still has now aged 22months)

PuppyMonkey · 05/06/2010 08:35

Are you doing a 7pm bedtime? 7pm is a magic time, you know that don't you? I would put DD2 to be later sometimes, thinking she'd sleep later... no, up at 5am. But if I always did 7pm, she usually slept until 7am. Magic time, I tells yer.

Ineedsomesleep · 05/06/2010 08:37

We stopped DD getting up at 5am by cutting down on her daytime naps and giving her mor to eat in the day.

If she does wake at 5am now we put her a little light on, give her some milk and chuck a few books in her cot.

bippyhippy · 07/06/2010 11:51

I had the same problem with the early waking and had to adjust everything a bit but definitely got there in the end. Got some advice from www.Sleepytot.com and now my baby (also 16 months) sleeps like this:

wakes at 7:00am
nap at 10:15am
Wakes at 11:45am
nap at 3:00 until 3:45 (i have to wake him)
bed at 7:45 - asleep by 8

It totally works! Try it!

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