It's 3 AM- YES I know where my child is! HE'S AWAKE.

[expat-mama]

DS has been waking earlier and earlier for the day! WHY? why why why?

He started weeks ago at his usual 7 am and has progressed to 3:30 AM today.

I don't understand why this is happening. Nothing has changed- usual bedtime and bedtime routine. Usual crappy sleep and consistent night wakings (slightly better in the last couple of weeks).

HOW do I get him to wake up at a reasonable hour?

I'm going insane. I'm really starting to resent my sweet little crappy sleeper sometimes.

[maydaymom10]

Hang in there mama. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of advice, but I've been there. I'm also the mama of a crappy sleeper who's turned to not only waking up multiple time during the night, but is also waking early (although not at 3:30)

One idea... if you don't co-sleep, will he go back to sleep if you bring him to bed and nurse him? DS sleeps in his own room, but during bad week(s) when he won't sleep, I usually go back to co-sleeping so we can both get some sleep. Once he's sleeping well again, I transition him back to his crib. However, he always begins the night in his bed.

Hope you figure something out. Sending happy sleep vibes your way!

[D_McG]

I always ignore my kids at that hour. They can nurse (if they're at that age) or snuggle. But no playing, no lights on, no talking, nothing. How are you handling it at the moment?

[expat-mama]

It's gotten slightly better. Now DS is up at 4 or 4:30 and I nurse him until 5 or 5:30. But once he is full and done nursing he is totally awake. So I have been getting up before dawn for a while now. It SUCKS.

Biggest thing that sucks about it is that to be able to be awake for DS I have to down a cup or two of coffee...then DS gets tired again around 7 or 7:30 so he goes down for a nap and I'm wired and awake. Ugh.

[Ginger Bean]

What time does he go to bed? Maybe now that he's getting older, he needs less sleep?

Almost everything I read says babies need early bedtimes and earlier bedtimes actually help them sleep later. I don't know where this all comes from... probably Weissbluth. Anyway, this does not work for my son who's 7 months old!

If I set an early bedtime, he either wakes earlier (like 4:30-5am), or he gets up in the middle of the night and stays awake for more than an hour, or he's restless and wakes EVERY HOUR. His sleep always adds up to about 10 hours, no matter what. So I started putting him down between 8-9pm. He gets up at 6-6:30am.

I think Ferber says babies don't sleep well because they spend "too much time in bed." He suggests later bedtimes and restricting the time spent in bed to 9-10 hours, instead of the 12 Weissbluth demands.

Sorry for bringing up these dudes. I'm not talking about sleep training in any form, just what their research at their sleep clinics have led them to suggest in terms of bedtimes/schedules. It's interesting that they contradict each other. I only mention it because I used to feel guilty for putting my son down so late (like it was for my own convenience or something), but now I realize even the experts don't know what they're talking about, so I just do it.

[expat-mama]

That's really interesting! I too have found that most of the stuff I read says that earlier bedtimes help them sleep later. A while back, we changed DS bedtime from 8 pm to 7 pm because the last hour he was up (from 7-8) was always a period of meltdown and fussiness and when we changed it his bedtime routine was more pleasant and he went right down. I guess it was a few weeks after that he started waking up way too early.

I guess we could experiment with pushing his bedtime later again, he is older now after all.

Right now DS is in bed by 7-7:30 and waking around 4:30-5:30. I'd be ecstatic if he'd sleep till 6:30.  He also takes at least 2 naps of around 1-2 hrs each- sometimes 3 (shorter) naps a day. It DOES seem like a lot of time in bed, but I thought babies are supposed to sleep this much?

Hmm. Sleeping too much? Is it possible?

[Ginger Bean]

Originally Posted by expat-mama 

That's really interesting! I too have found that most of the stuff I read says that earlier bedtimes help them sleep later. A while back, we changed DS bedtime from 8 pm to 7 pm because the last hour he was up (from 7-8) was always a period of meltdown and fussiness and when we changed it his bedtime routine was more pleasant and he went right down. I guess it was a few weeks after that he started waking up way too early.

Yeah, I had that problem too. It was like a rush to get his pajamas on and him in bed before he had a meltdown.

Now that he's older, your son may be able to stay up a little longer, especially in that period before bedtime.

Sometimes my son has a catnap around 5pm to get him through. We always have his bath two hours before bedtime, in case of the meltdown. You're right that it's much more pleasant when they aren't fussy! But after his bath, he will stay up in his pajamas and listen to his dad read aloud to us, or have quiet play in dim light. Then he goes to bed after 8pm. He's not fussy usually, just really relaxed.
 

By the way, I'm so jealous of your son's naps. :) My son used to nap well, but now seems to be going through separation anxiety and will not nap for more than 30 minutes. It's driving me crazy.