WHY oh WHY the 4:45am wake-up???!!!

[Anonymous]

DC used to sleep until 6am. We have always put DC down at 6:30pm - I tried pushing it back to 7pm, 7:30pm, but nothing works. Poor baby wakes up so early and is still tired I'm convinced because she rubs her eyes and doesn't seem too thrilled to be up. She's 7 months old. Why this change all of a sudden?? Is she too old to dream feed? I'm scared to try it because she's a VERY light sleeper.

[Anonymous]

We're dealing with the same thing. Went from a 7:15-7:15 sleeper to a 7:45-5am sleeper. Someone suggested this morning that we make bedtime earlier. 6:45 it is for tonight. Can't hurt!

[Anonymous]

Please try and let me know if it works. I've tried to put her to bed at 6pm too, but it's like she's programmed to wake up at 4:45am sharp!

[Anonymous]

can you try black out shades?

Also maybe the birds are waking her up? (If you live in the suburbs)? Or some other noise that happens in the am.

[sybersus]

My 10-month-old wakes up at 5 a.m. to eat but then goes right back down to sleep until 6:30. Can you put your baby down again after eating?

[Anonymous]

THanks, PPs. I had thought about the birds. We have a white noise machine but maybe it's not loud enough? We hang blankets over the windows as make-shift blackout shades. I will try to feed her and put her back down. I haven't given that as much effort as I could have because when I tried it a few weeks ago, she wanted to play. She's a very alert kid and any stimulation (diaper change, being picked up) triggers the "play" in her and she's all smiles. Maybe I'll try to feed and immediately put her down a few times...and let her cry for a bit.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and all smiles with this baby doesn't mean she's not tired. Hard to explain if you don't know her...but only DH and I can tell that she's tired even if she's smiling.

[sybersus]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and all smiles with this baby doesn't mean she's not tired. Hard to explain if you don't know her...but only DH and I can tell that she's tired even if she's smiling.

No need to explain! My daughter is exactly the same.

[Anonymous]

10:42 here-- step one complete. He passed out at 6:50 without a peep. Let's hope that doesn't lead to a 4:30 wakeup!

(And it's hard to do dinner, bath and bottle in 45 minutes!)

[Anonymous]

Fiddle with the naps. Sometimes they are too long, too short or DC is sleeping too late in the afternoon (past 4:30) pm.

[Anonymous]

10:42 - OP here. I put DD down at 6pm (!). She took two 30 min naps today and was exhausted. I'll keep you posted tomorrow. Fingers crossed we make it to 6am at least.

[Anonymous]

likely a developmental thing - babies will wake up early morning after x hrs asleep to play, to just be up, sometimes (like mine!) to do tummytime - their brain is developing and they are wired to move or to be up as a result. you can do a lot to try to make things better but some of this falls under regression - there isn't much you can do as it's a phase. every kid is different so it's hard to know for sure but A LOT (according to the pediatrician) are like mine (and yours) good luck!

DD wakes up promptly at 4am. i've tried bedtime at 6, 6:30, 7, 730 - does not matter. she goes back to sleep from 5-6:30 then. at 4 months she used to wake up at 3am and be up for 1.5hrs!! there's nothing i could really do since she was not fussy as much as up and talking and just done with sleep for that time frame..

[Anonymous]

6 am wake
10 am, nap for up to 1.5 hours
2 pm, afternoon nap. Up to 2.5 hours, no later than 4:30
6:30-7ish bedtime

Make sure she is getting three full meals a day. She needs to adjust to consuming all of her calories during the day.

[Anonymous]

Bedtime is way too early. My first slept 12 hours at that age, my 2nd was only 10. We found a sweet spot bedtime around 8:15 where she'd sleep until 6:45! You'll have to do it gradually but you have nothing to lose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bedtime is way too early. My first slept 12 hours at that age, my 2nd was only 10. We found a sweet spot bedtime around 8:15 where she'd sleep until 6:45! You'll have to do it gradually but you have nothing to lose.

Research shows that an earlier bedtime actually leads to a later waking. This is certainly the case w/my daughter -- when she goes to bed after 7:30, she is a mess and wakes up more frequently during the night and earlier in the morning.