Early Waking & Other Sleep Issues?

[EricaW]

Lately Dylan has been waking around 5am and not wanting to go back to sleep. I'm so not ok with that. I think part of the issue is Eric is up and getting ready for work at that time and it tends to wake him.

We've been trying not to use a feeding(bottle) to get him back to sleep but this is the time of day I have the hardest time with that. I know he has to be hungry. The last feeding he had was around 6:30pm. He's actually been doing great the past few days where we haven't been letting fall asleep with the bottle for naps and bedtime. And in the early morning he's still pretty fussyafter the bottle that he's technically not falling asleep with the bottle.

I have been going in and picking him up and just holding him in the glider without rocking. Somedays he'll fall back asleep and other days he'll just fuss and fuss. This morning I finally gave up and just stuck him back in his crib. He's been fussing for about 15 minutes in his crib after 30 minutes of holding but seems to be quieting down now.

Help! How do I get him to sleep longer in the mornings? I'd prefer that he didn't get up until about 7am but I'd take 6:30am.

[mcox]

Kaden almost always wakes up early. I just give him a bottle and change his diaper. After he drinks his bottle he will take his paci. Sometimes he will go back to sleep, sometimes not. Most of the time he will just play in his crib. I usually try to make him wait until 8am before getting him up.

[Karri]

How much solids does he eat and when?
How large is his last feeding at 6:30?
What time is his bedtime?

[MrsPeacefrog]

I would try to slip in a night feed if possible to help lengthen his sleeping time.

I think Karri's questions are spot on to be able to figure out the best plan of attack. :nod:

[EricaW]

How much solids does he eat and when?
How large is his last feeding at 6:30?
What time is his bedtime?

Dylan has 3 meals a day, but he doesn't seem to eat very much. At breakfast he'll almost finish a the amount of food in a typical stage 2 jar, then have a bottle of 4-6oz. Lunch is usually more of a battle, he'll eat less than at breakfast and follow up with 4oz about an hour later. He'll have a 4-6oz bottle in the afternoon. Dinner is usually decent again probably the amount in a typical stage 2 jar. He will sometimes take a bit of formula again after dinner 2oz or so but usually not even though I always offer. Then he has 4-6 oz before bed at 6:30pm.

His typical schedule is

6:30 - Wake (even if he awakens before this I try to keep him in his room)
7:00 - breakfast
8:30-9 - Morning nap for 1.5-2 hours
11:30 - lunch
1:00 - afternoon nap
2:30 - afternoon bottle
4:30-5 - dinner
6:30 - bedtime bottle
6:45-7 - bedtime

This can vary widely though and would be an example of a good day. His morning nap is fairly consistant at 1.5-2 hours but his afternoon nap is a crapshoot. Sometimes it is 1.5-2 hours other days he wakes up screaming after 30minutes. On days that he has a crappy afternoon nap I try to get him to take a third nap in the lat afternoon but it doesn't always work. If I'm desperate we'll take a nice long walk in the stroller and he will usually take a little nap there.

I'm really at a loss for what to do when he wakes at 5am. I know he's hungry but even if I feed him 5oz to tide him over until breakfast then breakfast usually doesn't go well even if I wait until 8am to feed him.

[MrsPeacefrog]

I would hesitate to say waking him up later in the evening for another bottle as I hate waking a sleeping child but if the early mornings are killing you, and you can't hold him for for a later bed time, then it's an option.

Hopefully others have some better ideas but that is something I have done to help have later sleep ins.

[Karri]

Is he getting cereal w/ those jars of food? (sorry for all the Q's).

Yeah - the dream feed is always an option. I did it for awhile to get my kids to sleep a bit later. I would do it right before I went to bed, but I didn't do a lot, b/c I didn't want them reliant on it. Maybe an oz or two. I think I did it for awhile until I was able to increase the amt of solids they ate during the day?

[EricaW]

Is he getting cereal w/ those jars of food? (sorry for all the Q's).


Yes, but total including the cereal is about the amount in a stage 2 jar. This morning for example he had about 2/3 of a jar of pears & mangoes (YUM!) and a bit over a tbsp of oatmeal (dry) mixed with a bit over a tbsp of formula. Then he had 4oz of formula immedately after eating and the rest of the 6oz bottle about an hour later.

Don't worry about all the questions. If you are helping, bring 'em on!

[EricaW]

Oh, I should add, this week we are trying to wean he from falling asleep with a bottle. We started Sunday & have been surprisingly successful. He protested Sunday at naptimes and bedtime but has now just been fussing a little. And last night he slept through without us having to get up. :up: He did stir a couple times and woke me but I gave him a minute or two and he must have fallen back asleep because I did. :lol:

[Jillian]

Is it possible he needs to move to one nap? Janelle did long before 1, and Kincaid started sleeping longer at night when he transitioned (though he was older...) to 1 nap instead of 2.

[EricaW]

Ugh! Bad night last night. I think we might be dealing with more than early waking. This is copied from my journal.



So sleeping through the night wasn't repeated. :( Dylan was up at 10:15pm hysterically crying. When I picked him up he was thrashing around so bad that I swore he was going to wiggle himself out of my arms and onto the floor. So after crying and thrashing about for a half hour, I changed his diaper, it was a little wet but not even close to being full, and gave him some motrin because I figured something had to be wrong. He finally got drowsy around 11:15pm and I was able to put him back in his crib with some crying and fussing but he fell back asleep.

Then he repeated this episode at 5:15am. I tried my hardest to calm him and get him to go back to sleep. At one point he was drowsy so I put him back in the crib just for him to escalate his crying again. Finally, around 6:15am I'd had enough put him in the crib, got myself together (contacts etc.) and went back in and got him up for the day. Even once I had him out of his room it took awhile to calm him.

I ended up feeding him breakfast at 6:45am. He had about half a jar of pears and mangoes and 3 tbsp of oatmeal mixed with 3 tbsp of formula. After that he polished off a 6oz bottle. With how much he ate/drank I'm pretty sure he's hungry at 5am. I'm so torn on if I should give him a bottle then or not.

Since he was up so early he went down for his morning nap at 7:50am. I was trying my hardest to keep him up until 8:30am but it was a no go.

I really need to figure out how to teach Dylan to sleep thorugh the night. I've always been a horrible sleeper and I don't want to pass that down to him.

I need to ask my mom how I slept as a baby. I know as a kid I slept horrible. I'd have a hard time falling asleep (still do) and I would sleep walk. I used to take showers and eat breakfast in my sleep when I was in high school. My mom caught me on more than one occasion with car keys in my hand heading out the door to get in the car, when I was dead asleep! Thankfully, I haven't done that in years. I will still wake up shouting and thrashing about occasionally though. Scares the shit out of Eric. :lol:

[EricaW]

Is it possible he needs to move to one nap? Janelle did long before 1, and Kincaid started sleeping longer at night when he transitioned (though he was older...) to 1 nap instead of 2.

I don't think so. If anything I would bet that he isn't getting enough sleep and he's overtired.

[Jillian]

I don't think so. If anything I would bet that he isn't getting enough sleep and he's overtired.


You know, neither of my kids actually got less sleep when they moved to one nap...it was like Caid took a 2 hour morning nap and a 2 hour afternoon nap and when he transitioned he took a 3 hour afternoon nap and slept about 2 hours longer at night, so he was actually getting more sleep.

[EricaW]

You know, neither of my kids actually got less sleep when they moved to one nap...it was like Caid took a 2 hour morning nap and a 2 hour afternoon nap and when he transitioned he took a 3 hour afternoon nap and slept about 2 hours longer at night, so he was actually getting more sleep.

Interesting. I might have to try that, although if he does go to one nap I prefer that it would be later in the day than 8am. :lol:

Keep the ideas coming, everyone! I'm willing to try just about anything.

[Jillian]

Interesting. I might have to try that, although if he does go to one nap I prefer that it would be later in the day than 8am. :lol:

Yea, definitely!

[EricaW]

Jillian - when you went to one nap a day, how did you time it? Did you push back the morning nap a bit and then not let him take an afternoon nap?

[MrsPeacefrog]

When I took all my kids to one nap a day I moved the morning nap to around 11ish and my kids all ended up sleeping longer for that one nap. I was going to suggest it but being 9 months I was iffy about it because it seems that this is more hunger related rather than sleep related. I personally would try the night time feed a few times first and if that doesn't change anything, then changing his daytime naps. But of course that is all up to what you are comfortable with.

Also his night time hystericals sound like teething or some other pain. Hopefully it won't last long :hug99:

[EricaW]

I was going to suggest it but being 9 months I was iffy about it because it seems that this is more hunger related rather than sleep related. I personally would try the night time feed a few times first and if that doesn't change anything, then changing his daytime naps. But of course that is all up to what you are comfortable with.

Also his night time hystericals sound like teething or some other pain. Hopefully it won't last long :hug99:

I think you are on to something here. Last night, he woke at 1:30am same scernario, crying and thrashing about. I gave him some motrin (I'm thinking teeth also) and when he calmed down set him in his crib. He cried and fussed then proceded to stand up and laugh at me. Adorable and infuriating at the same time! :giggle: He was wide awake.

So I took him out and held him again and the crying and thrashing started again. Finally, Eric came in after an hour and asked if I wanted to give him a bottle and I did. He gobbled down 4oz and promptly fell back asleep.

It's now 6:20am and he's up but I'm not going to get him until 6:30am. I can tell he's standing up on the side of the crib by the sounds it's making.

His naps yesterday were great. He went down for his morning nap at 7:50am and slept until 10am. His afternoon nap he went down at 12:45pm and slept until almost 3:30pm.

[magoo]

Has anyone suggested moving his bedtime back? I think that expecting him to sleep for 11.5 hours, while nice, isn't always realistic for some kids. If you want him to sleep until 6:30 a.m. why not try moving his bedtime closer to 7:30 or 8:00 instead of 7:00.

I think that at 9 months, dropping a nap would be hard - especially since he's consistently taking 2 naps, and with his morning nap coming so early. Some kids might be ready for it, but I think that closer to a year is more normal, and I remember reading once that a lot of kids aren't ready for it until 15 months. And, not all kids take a longer nap when they drop to just 1. It took Jacob about 9 months to nap for longer than an hour after her dropped to one nap.

Also, as much as it sucks, kids will often just go through a few months of waking up really early. I remember it happening with Anna when she was probably about a year old. It was dead winter, and she would be up at 5:00, and the sun wouldn't rise for 3 hours. It was depressing! :lol: It happened again not too long ago. It's happened with Jacob a couple of times. Both of my sister's kids did it. My friends kids have done it. Eventually, they just started sleeping later again. I guess that's not all to helpful, but just know that it's normal. :hug99:

[Trish]

Has anyone suggested moving his bedtime back? I think that expecting him to sleep for 11.5 hours, while nice, isn't always realistic for some kids. If you want him to sleep until 6:30 a.m. why not try moving his bedtime closer to 7:30 or 8:00 instead of 7:00.

I was going to suggest this, too :nod: Owen doesn't usually go to bed around 8:30 or 9 p.m. or even sometimes later (last night was almost 11 p.m.! :faint: and then he was up at 6 a.m. :rolleyes: - but this isn't about me, it's about you ;) ) so I think trying to get him to stay up later might help :dunno:

I'm just jealous that he was sleeping through the night at such a young age for you ;)

[Jillian]

Jillian - when you went to one nap a day, how did you time it? Did you push back the morning nap a bit and then not let him take an afternoon nap?


No, I moved up the afternoon nap and didn't let them take morning naps...with Janelle she just did it on her own, she just started refusing her morning nap altogether and would be tired earlier for her afternoon nap...but she was and is a horrid sleeper. With Caid he just was not taking a long enough afternoon nap anymore, and then he'd want to go to bed at 6pm (when dh got home at 6:15 so dh was never seeing him)...so I moved his afternoon nap up and started keeping him awake through the morning nap...after about 4 days to a week he was staying up till his afternoon nap with no issues all on his own.

[Michele]

Erica,

I think I'd try putting him to bed a little later, and/or the dreamfeed. It sounds to me like he is hungry, and 11 hours is a long time for them to go without food.

Anna has already given up her morning nap, but as Jillian said she isn't getting less sleep, she just takes a monster afternoon nap, so it all evens out. She's about the same age as Dylan and sleeps from about 7:30 or 8:00-6:30 but gets up at least once for a feed. I'm not sure she *needs* the feed in the middle of the night, but she doesn't nurse a lot during the day, mostly b/c of Jackson's schedule.

I think they also go through phases, they sleep more some nights, less some nights due to teeth, new things they are learning etc. I always felt with Jackson that as soon as we got a good routine down he would change it. He's 3.5 and there are some mornings when he is awake at 5:00 and there is nothing I can do about it. He also just started consistently sleeping through the night in the past 6 months or so.

[Jen]

I think keeping him awake a little later and maybe feeding him some rice or something just before bed might help. And if he's awake but not crying in the morning, I see no reason to get him from the crib right away. As long as he's safe I think you could rest a little longer if you are able.

The recent activity does sound like teething though. I know you said you had issues with your own sleeping but I wouldn't worry about that with him yet. You are setting a good foundation with the routines and letting him put himself to sleep.

It's true that the different phases can be frustrating. I remember thinking that about all my kids at times. Just when it would seem I had a good system and things worked well, they would switch it up on me. You just have to keep trying different things until you find something that works.

[MrsPeacefrog]

Just when it would seem I had a good system and things worked well, they would switch it up on me. You just have to keep trying different things until you find something that works.

I have to second this! :nod: They like to keep us guessing. Lucky they are cute, huh! :giggle:

[EricaW]

Just when it would seem I had a good system and things worked well, they would switch it up on me. You just have to keep trying different things until you find something that works.

You mean they don't follow standard operating procedures? :lol2:

I've thought about it and thought about it and I really think we need to bring back the bottle in the middle of the night. We've tried a good 5 days without and all days except one have been a disaster. I think for the next week or so we'll give him a bottle when he wakes in the middle of the night. Hopefully, this will eliminate the hour of crying & thrashing and have him sleep until at least 6am. Is it sad that if I get to sleep until 7am, I consider that sleeping in? :lol:

Oh and we'll see if a later bedtime works. He is still up at 7:15pm because he doesn't want to go to bed. All he wants to do is stand up in his crib. I'm so happy Eric usually handles bedtime. :giggle:

[EricaW]

Dylan slept better this weekend! :woot2:

Friday night he didn't want to go to sleep but finally did arouns 7:45pm. I think he was up once during the night, maybe around 1am, had his bottle and went right back to sleep. He was up for the day around 6:30am.

Sat night, he went down around 7pm and was up for the day around 5:15am. He did the same thing last night.

I think I really need to work on pushing his bedtime back to around 7:30-7:45pm. That way I could maybe get him to sleep until 6am.

[Jen]

Glad to hear things are getting better.
I wish they came with instructions that worked!
Don't worry, this will be over faster than you realize and you'll be missing that little baby that wakes you up at night. Well, he may be 10 by that time, but you'll miss it. :giggle: He sure is handsome!

[EricaW]

Well, night time sleep is decent but his naps were craptastic yesterday. After getting up at 5:15am, he was getting sleepy at 6:30am. No way was I going to let him do that, I made him stay up until almost 8am. He slept for a bit over an hour. Then he went down for his afternoon nap at 1pm. Silly mama that I am dropped a spoon onto our ceramic tile (read: very loud) while doing dishes and woke the poor guy up after a half hour. :silly:

Last night he slept well again, woke this morning at 4:45am. I was terrified that he would be up for the day. I gave him his bottle and thankfully he fell back asleep. It's now 6:10am (what am I doing up?) and he's still sleeping.

I honestly think when he wakes at 5:15am he's skipping his last sleep cycle or two. He's so wide awake that there is no way that he is going back to sleep. Not sure what to do here. :dunno:

We did decided to start moving his bedtime back by 5 minutes every 2 days until we hit 7:30pm and we'll see what happens from there.