early waking

[tracyM]

Alex has always been an early waker - we've tried all sorts to get him to 6am but it creeps back to 4am. He's bright and cheerful at that time, so it doesn't bother me too much.

I'm not a sleep person - 4 to 5 hours and I'm done, so I guess he gets it from me. The only problem is, my best 4 or 5 hours is 2am to 6am. Does anyone have any tips to adjust MY sleep time? No problem going to sleep, just don't feel I've had a proper nights sleep unless I sleep between 4 and 6, even if I go to bed at 8pm and get a full 8 hours before he wakes.

 

[emilia]

Can't be of much help.... I'm having probs myself!
Good luck though
Emilia xx

 

[Duds]

I have this prob also sometimes & can only really say you shouldnt adjust your sleep pattern you need to adjust his.
Its really hard but you apprantly need to go in and comfort them then leave them in the cot, if they cry again go back pick up til quiet then put back. Do this with mo lights on and not talking apart from the odd shh sleep time.

Yes - iv been watching the baby whisperer!!

 

[melhoney]

is the ligt coming in his room, in some way?
I found that Maheen used to wake up that early as well, since the day got longer because we have blinds in the rooms, so I bought some curtains and extendable rods to put them up (cheap this way!!! ) and Maheen is now sleeping till 6 or 70!!!

Otherwise, I agree with Duds, he need to get used to sleep longer and even if or a while it meansgetting up for you to comfort him, I would do what Duds said (That's what I did...)

Good luck
Mel xx

 

[Manda]

How about putting bubs to bed 2 hours later? this works for us

 

[tracyM]

thanks all

we've tried going to bed later, he still wakes up at the same time and ends up grumpy tired. He doesn't nap during the day as it is, so we can't reduce naps either.

i don't think it's the light - he's always woken at roughly the same time, even as a newborn in winter - as a newborn it was 3am so he is improving. He'll lay there happily for ages (i've left him until 7am), playing by himself, but he's a noisy little so-and-so and his singing and shouting wakes everyone up, it's better just me being awake than Stuart and the older kids.

I used to put him in our bed and half dose while he inspected the walls, hoping that he'd realise it wasn't waking up time, but he's too noisy and active for that now. Charlotte and Daniel were the same, but they were nice and quiet. I've only had 4 / 5 hours a night for years, so it's not lack of sleep that bothers me, I just wish I could tell my body to sleep well from 11pm - 4am instead of 1am - 6am

Emilia, if you can come up with a teleporting machine, I'll have Oscar all night, if you have Alex at 4am

 

[Manda]

A bottle of whiskey might work lol only kidding cant think of owt else sorry well except for you dinking the whiskey

 

[tracyM]

Funny you should say that. Whenever my mum had enough of my non-sleeping, she'd ship me off to my great grandmothers, who gave me a tot of whisky at bedtime

I went to sleep at 1am last night instead of going early to make up for getting up early and I feel surprisingly bright and breezy. I've got all my ironing done, cleaned the kitchen and the bathrooms and I'm going to do the hoovering in a mo to wake everyone else up

 

[emilia]

Emilia, if you can come up with a teleporting machine, I'll have Oscar all night, if you have Alex at 4am

I'm thinking..... I'm thinking - will get to work on it today!!! 4am waking suits just fine by the way!!
Oh.... I've got a wee pile of ironing too. Mind it I pack it in with Oscars' bits?

Emilia xx

 

[tracyM]

Send the ironing - I'm still ironing obsessed There's a place at the bottom of our road that does ironing and I keep thinking of swapping jobs. Stuart gets seriously worried when I stare in through the windows, envious of their posh ironing stations (they've got all sorts of dangly bits, and the irons rest on a water reservoir ) and rails full of coat hangers - I need help!!!

You've got the hardest bit with Oscar over and done with - he'll soon get the hang of it. Stay strong

 

[emilia]

We could be the future "Kim & Agie" from How clean is your house!!!
I have a thing for hoovering.....
Emilia xx

 

[Cloughie]

we've tried going to bed later, he still wakes up at the same time and ends up grumpy tired. He doesn't nap during the day as it is, so we can't reduce naps either.

This may be the problem! If a baby doesn't nap enough during the day he can be TOO tired when he goes to bed at night. When this happens they go into a really deep sleep very quickly, which results in an early waking. If I were you I would try and encourage him to have at least one nap during the day. As long as he's not having say more than 15 hours sleep in a 24-hour period, it should be OK.

Trust me, this really does work!! My own son always has a nap in the morning, but lately he has been very tired when we've been putting him to bed and we've had a few early mornings as a result. So yesterday I put him down for an extra nap in the afternoon. Bingo! I had to go and wake HIM up this morning, not the other way round!!

Do try it, it really does work!! My friends all try to combat early wakings with putting their babies to bed later, when actually it's the last thing they need, they need more sleep, not less! My son has always slept better than all of their sons, and I'm sure it's because of his daytime nap routine.

Good luck, let me know how you get on!

 

[tracyM]

That might be it. He is absolutely shattered when he does go to bed. He only has about 9 hours a day, but never seems tired, hyperbaby. He'll space out in the day to recharge, but doesn't have a proper sleep. I'll see if he can be persuaded to have a nap

 

[Rosebay]

I agree with Cloughie- more sleep in the day means more sleep at night within reason! I try and put Mel down for a nap at 9am (30-45 mins, he wakes himself up), up to 2 hours at lunchtime (generally he sleeps between 45 mins and 1 1/2 hours) and a sleep somewhere between 4 and 5pm depending on what he's already had that day but no more than about 3 hours in total and not after 5pm in case it messes with the 7pm bedtime. If he's overtired at 7pm he goes straight to sleep then wakes crying exactly 45 mins afterwards and takes ages to settle. If he's awake but sleepy it's ok. Babies are strange creatures!

+++

 

[Cloughie]

^^
Sounds like someone else has been following a few Gina Ford tips!

 

[Cloughie]

Did you try giving him a daytime nap, tracyM? Did it work??
*fingers crossed*

 

[tracyM]

Sort of - we're managing to get him to sleep rather than spacing in the day but so far he's going to sleep later at night and sleeping in a bit longer. Were taking it slowly, but it's heading in the right direction. Thank you

 

[Cloughie]

Glad to hear it, hope it continues.