Waking for the day at 4AM - help!

[I Fly]

So my 10 month old was having a difficult time falling asleep in recent months, which I thought was related to over-tiredness. I started tweaking his sleeping a couple of weeks ago after reading the "No Cry Sleep Solution."

Before the changes, he was sleeping 9 hours at night and about 4 hours during the day (2-3 naps). I was putting him down at about 7:30PM, he was falling asleep around 8:30PM; he would wake for the day about 5:30AM. It was that hour of battle getting him down that was wearing me out. He was also waking every 25-50 minutes for a nurse until we all went to bed together at 10:30PM. (We solved the frequent waking by putting a heavy cover over him - he was either cold or just likes the weight on him.)

So things have been improving. It has gotten MUCH easier to put him down at bedtime, since we moved bedtime up to 6:30PM. I've put him down early like that for about a week. Most of those nights, he has woken in the middle of the night ready to play! (He NEVER did this before changing the bedtime.) Its taken me an hour of laying him down and nursing to get him to settle back to sleep. If he wakes after 4AM, we usually call it good and get up for the day. On those mornings, he has gone down for an early nap from 6-8AM, so I'm not convinced he was really ready to wake.

So what do I do? Keep the early bedtime? Will he quit waking in the middle of the night? I'm so confused. It makes so much sense to have his bedtime earlier - since he is tired, but not too tired right at that time. However, now I've messed up the morning. :confused:

Any ideas? Stick with it a bit longer?

[pageta]

I don't know if I'm much help, but when ds wants to talk and look around at 4 a.m., after a couple unsuccessful attempts to get him to go back to sleep (including nursing), I just take him to his crib and then close both bedrooms doors (his and ours). I go back to sleep and he can be awake and talk as long as he wants - he is in a safe place so I do not worry about him. I've had to do that probably a half dozen times or so, and ever time, when I've gotten up a couple hours later, ds has been sound asleep in the middle of his crib.

On the other hand, if he is up after 5:30 and ready for the day, I get up with him because then he takes longer naps. I'm a WAHM and usually a good nap day is when he takes two or three half hour naps (seriously). When he gets up earlier, he'll take a two hour nap later on, which is a special treat for me.

I will also say that ds sets his own bedtime, which for him is usually between 6 and 7.

I guess I am one who refuses to struggle over sleep issues. When he's ready to go to sleep, I help him go to sleep (nurse, walk in the sling). If I've misread his cue and he's not going to sleep within a couple minutes, I figure he's not tired so I quit trying to get him to go to sleep and we do something else (play, etc.). When he wants to be awake, he can be awake. I just make sure he's safe and secure.

I guess my advice is watch for cues and you should be able to figure out the ideal nap time and bed time for your little one. You may need an earlier nap or a later nap in order to avoid the crankiness in the evening without having to make bedtime so early that morning comes way too soon. Invest some time in observing him and you'll figure it out. Good luck!

[I Fly]

Well, still needing advice . . .

This morning he woke at 3:30AM. I changed him, then left him in "his room." He sleeps with us, but has a futon for napping, a changing table, toys, closet, etc in another room. As soon as I closed the door, he started crying. So I cat-napped on the futon (he played with toys) until 4:30 when he was clearly ready for a "nap." He then slept until 6:30 on his futon; I went back to bed with dh.

I think with his napping this afternoon (a bit later than usual), he'll go down around 7PM. I am hoping this means he'll sleep until 5AM at least.

The "No Cry Sleep Solution" says that babies his age, and all around his age need 11 or so hours of sleep at night. Do any of the rest of you have to do a pre-dawn play hour in order to get that 11 hours? How much sleep do your little ones (approx 9-12 months) get in a 24 hour period? I don't really care if my ds only needs 9 hours of sleep at night - but my "reading" of his cues is that he needs to go down between 6-7PM and that he likes to wake around 5:30AM. That is longer than 9 hours! :scratch Am I destined to do this 4AM playdate with my son for the next couple months?