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.

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.

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.

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..

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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!

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!

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.