Please help me troubleshoot this sleep issue

[Anonymous]

My 18month old had been sleeping quite well for months 7 PM to around 6-6:30 AM. For the past few weeks, she has been waking up almost on the dot at 4:30 AM every morning. She will cry in her crib until I come in. As soon as I pick her up, she falls asleep in my arms but will wake up the second I try to put her back down in her crib. If I hold her, she will sleep until 7 AM. She was cutting a tooth a couple weeks ago, but the tooth is now fully emerged so it shouldn't be painful anymore. She doesn't have a poopy diaper. The room is pitch black with a sound machine. What is going on?? Is this just a phase? Has anyone experienced this as well and have any words of wisdom - thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 18month old had been sleeping quite well for months 7 PM to around 6-6:30 AM. For the past few weeks, she has been waking up almost on the dot at 4:30 AM every morning. She will cry in her crib until I come in. As soon as I pick her up, she falls asleep in my arms but will wake up the second I try to put her back down in her crib. If I hold her, she will sleep until 7 AM. She was cutting a tooth a couple weeks ago, but the tooth is now fully emerged so it shouldn't be painful anymore. She doesn't have a poopy diaper. The room is pitch black with a sound machine. What is going on?? Is this just a phase? Has anyone experienced this as well and have any words of wisdom - thank you!

adding that she has no issues going to bed independently. But when she wakes up at 4:30 AM, she will not fall back asleep unless I come pick her up. ugh!

[Anonymous]

What’s her nap and bed time schedule like? Does she spend any time happily awake in her crib?

[Anonymous]

She got used to you comforting her while she was cutting a tooth (which was natural!) and now needs you to complete her final sleep cycle.

Either cry it out, which is loud and long at this age, or find a way to sleep with her from 4:30-7, which introduces more bad habits. No easy way forward!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s her nap and bed time schedule like? Does she spend any time happily awake in her crib?

She has one nap at daycare from roughly from 1-3 PM. Apparently she naps well at daycare. Bedtime is 7 PM with no issues. I sometimes put her in her crib to contain her when I need to clean up her room, and she will happily play in there with a few toys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She got used to you comforting her while she was cutting a tooth (which was natural!) and now needs you to complete her final sleep cycle.

Either cry it out, which is loud and long at this age, or find a way to sleep with her from 4:30-7, which introduces more bad habits. No easy way forward!

For CIO - does that work for an early morning wakeups? I've only every tried it (successfully) at bedtime

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She got used to you comforting her while she was cutting a tooth (which was natural!) and now needs you to complete her final sleep cycle.

Either cry it out, which is loud and long at this age, or find a way to sleep with her from 4:30-7, which introduces more bad habits. No easy way forward!

For CIO - does that work for an early morning wakeups? I've only every tried it (successfully) at bedtime

DP. I assume it would work because she’s still tired. Have you tried an ok-to-wake clock?

[Anonymous]

Look up habitual waking. You can experiment “knocking” DC into their next sleep cycle early. So you set an alarm at 3:30 and gently startle or wake DD up. She’ll resettle and possibly sleep through the 4:30am wake up.

Yes it sucks to have to do that, but CIO and cosleeping indefinitely in the early AM suck too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She got used to you comforting her while she was cutting a tooth (which was natural!) and now needs you to complete her final sleep cycle.

Either cry it out, which is loud and long at this age, or find a way to sleep with her from 4:30-7, which introduces more bad habits. No easy way forward!

For CIO - does that work for an early morning wakeups? I've only every tried it (successfully) at bedtime

DP. I assume it would work because she’s still tired. Have you tried an ok-to-wake clock?

The kid is 18 mo old. No gimmicky clock is going to work.

Op - is she still groggy? How long do you rock her when she falls back asleep?
It could just be the natural end to 1 sleep cycle and having a bit of a tough time transitioning into the next one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She got used to you comforting her while she was cutting a tooth (which was natural!) and now needs you to complete her final sleep cycle.

Either cry it out, which is loud and long at this age, or find a way to sleep with her from 4:30-7, which introduces more bad habits. No easy way forward!

For CIO - does that work for an early morning wakeups? I've only every tried it (successfully) at bedtime

DP. I assume it would work because she’s still tired. Have you tried an ok-to-wake clock?

The kid is 18 mo old. No gimmicky clock is going to work.

Op - is she still groggy? How long do you rock her when she falls back asleep?
It could just be the natural end to 1 sleep cycle and having a bit of a tough time transitioning into the next one.

OP here. She’s definitely groggy because she falls asleep immediately when I pick her up and rock her in my arms. I’m at a loss at how to connect her sleep cycle to the next in the early AM. She seems to have no problem during the rest of the night- but there’s something about 4:30 AM on the dot that she can’t quite overcome.

[Anonymous]

Sippy cup of water? Just something for her to “do” that might encourage her to drift off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She got used to you comforting her while she was cutting a tooth (which was natural!) and now needs you to complete her final sleep cycle.

Either cry it out, which is loud and long at this age, or find a way to sleep with her from 4:30-7, which introduces more bad habits. No easy way forward!

For CIO - does that work for an early morning wakeups? I've only every tried it (successfully) at bedtime

DP. I assume it would work because she’s still tired. Have you tried an ok-to-wake clock?

The kid is 18 mo old. No gimmicky clock is going to work.

Op - is she still groggy? How long do you rock her when she falls back asleep?
It could just be the natural end to 1 sleep cycle and having a bit of a tough time transitioning into the next one.

OP here. She’s definitely groggy because she falls asleep immediately when I pick her up and rock her in my arms. I’m at a loss at how to connect her sleep cycle to the next in the early AM. She seems to have no problem during the rest of the night- but there’s something about 4:30 AM on the dot that she can’t quite overcome.

Taking Cara Babies said that’s the hardest one iirc.
I would just break the habit. They form these problems after one sick night, one weekend trip, whatever. It takes a few days to reset.