Help! Early Wake-Up

[apmama07]

The short story is this: DD (32 mos) has always been a high-needs baby and a terrible sleeper, but we have finally managed to successfully night wean now that I am 7 weeks pregnant and my supply has plummeted. It was a fairly painless process and I feel that she was ready, and after 2.5 years of waking every 1-3 hours, she's now sleeping through most nights from 7-8 until 4-5 without waking!! Let me just say that I am not complaining, this is heavenly and I never thought we'd actually get here.

But now we have an early-morning issue and with 1st trimester exhaustion and hormonal crankiness it's really making life miserable for both of us. She's waking between 4 and 5:30, every morning, wanting to nurse. We've been doing "when the sun comes up" so nursing her around 5:30 or a bit later. No problem with that. Once upon a time, she would go back to sleep for a couple of hours at that point. But for some reason now, she's wide awake at that point, sometimes after nursing for a long time (pacifying, really - there's barely any milk).

Because of the pregnancy I'm usually not able to doze while nursing (this was a big reason we night weaned!) anymore, so between coaxing her to wait until the sun comes up, then nursing, then she won't even try to go back to sleep....I'm pretty much up from 4:30/5. This results in a very cranky nasty mama sometimes and a whiny still-tired child. Not the kind of mornings we want.

I'm hoping someone here has some similar experience or pearls of wisdom....something that I haven't tried yet to get her to sleep later or at least let me doze a little. I've tried encouraging a snack/water (we keep crackers and a sippy bedside), suggesting she could get up and play quietly/look at books, even tried nursing her earlier (4:30) this morning in hopes she'd go back to sleep then. It's been nearly 3 weeks since we started night weaning - will she adjust on her own at some point if I just hang in there?

[pauletoy]

If the current situation is not working for you, then it maybe time to gently set more limits. Why not have a sippy or cup of water beside the bed and offer her a drink of that when she wakes at 4:30. Make a BIG deal about it being her cup. Then be firm about her not nursing until it is time to wake up (a time that is acceptable to you). You could start by putting her off for 15 - 30 minutes, then gradually increase until you are not nursing until your desired wake up time. If you give in even once, you will undo all the work you have done. Maybe when she knows she can't nurse until later in the morning, she will stop waking so early.

You could also set an alarm clock and tell her she can nurse when the alarm clock goes off. Again, gradually increase the time until you get to the wake up time you want.

I would not keep her up later in hopes that she would sleep later. That usually backfires and you end up with a tired and cranky babe and mom. If anything, try put her to be a few minutes early.

Hope you are getting some more sleep soon.

Just wanted to add, I re-read your post. I noticed you have already tried the sippy beside the bed. I would like to gently suggest being more consistent. If you are going to have the sippy beside the bed, then you need to follow through with only giving her that if she wakes early.

Now, if you are not comfortable with setting more limits, then you could just wait it out and maybe she will lose interest as your supply decreases even more.