Babe waking too early!

[thebirdgirl]

My 5.5 month old wakes for the morning between 4:45 and 5:30. She also wakes several times between midnight and her wakeup, sometimes every hour. She is exclusively BF. She goes to bed around 7 and starts out the night in her pack and play (in our room) then comes into bed with us at her first waking (midnight-2am). She naps 3-4 times during the day, for 40 minutes at a time. 

We've tried pushing her bedtime back (she used to go to bed at 5:30pm) and I've tried putting her back into her pack and play in the  morning but she will start to cry being in there awake after a while. I've been staying in the dark room with her until 6am then taking her downstairs into bright light. 

I've been getting a lot of pressure from friends, family, etc to move her into her own bedroom and not get into a "bad habit" of having her in our room or in bed with us. I love her close to us and I feel much better rested when she stays in our bed, vs. returning her to her pack after each wake up. 

So, my questions are: is it normal for her to be waking so much at night at her age, how can I get her to sleep a little later in the morning (especially with daylight savings coming up!), and I guess I just need some postive words about our decision to keep her with us. I feel like she is only going to be little for a short while, and I am going to put her needs above our full nights' sleep (I don't need as much as I used to anyway!)

[wehrli]

ack! I hadn't thought about daylight savings time and DS schedule.... gah!

as far as the frequency of night wakings, DS wakes every 2-3 hrs but sometimes every hour... and he won't sleep outside of our bed. period. so I consider you lucky! as far as pressure from others, well, we lie. no one (aside from like minded folk, who are few and far between for us) knows our real family bedtime situation. we have a crib in his room and they have no reason to see what's in our room if they are over. I think you are doing just fine.

you are right, she's only this little for such a short time... try and enjoy it, don't over think it.
(sometimes easier said than done, I know )

as far as sleeping a little later... hmmm... a later bedtime? I read somewhere that 6month old babies should get 3-4 hrs of naps in 3-4 naps/day. once I read this, I got DS on a "schedule" where he naps after being awake after only two hours, unless he sleeps less than an hour; then he goes down after only an hour and a half. his last nap is usually around 5 or 6pm with a bedtime of 7:30 or 8p. he always sleeps for 11 hours a night (with many wakings). so with this "schedule" I will try and push everything forward little bits at a time to adjust in preparation for DLS, I guess. FX that it work for me....

good luck in getting DD to sleep later!

[penstamon]

OP, our situation has become quite similar to yours unfortunately.  DS2, now just over 5 mo,  used to sleep from 7p-3 or 4, then up every 2 hrs until 6 or 7a.  Now he goes down at 7p but is up anywhere from 9-11 for the first time, then every 1-2 hours after.  Most nights he has a 2 hour wake up in the wee hours to practice skills or fuss.  Then he is up for the day between 5:30-6.  No one is getting enough sleep!  He takes 3-4 naps usually after 1.5 to 3 hours of wake time.  I have tried less naps, more naps, earlier/later bedtime and nothing works.  The worst part is that he wont sleep next to me in bed but he likes to fall asleep ON me and can't stay asleep on me.  We use a co-sleeper and I transfer him to it after every nursing although it generally means 1/2 hour of patting & rocking.

DH is pushing to move him to his own room and let him cio.  DS1 woke every hour or more until he was about 17 mo or so, so DH is done with the night wakings.  However, I agree that it is only a short time that they are babies and I would rather do what's best for them.  Plus I don't want him farther away because I would just worry.  And cio is just cruel imo.

The bottom line is that I know DS2 is going through some major developmental stuff- when he is up at night he is on his hand and knees rocking, rolling around and he is practicing his new consonants and other vocalizations.  He is much more social during the day and engaged in play.  DS1's sleep was always worse while he was working through a milestone too.  I just hope this period will pass quickly and not be as prolonged as my first DS.

Good luck mama!