What do you do if baby wakes too early in the morning?

@ Carey, oops. I didn't realize. My LO is actually 5 months old. I hope you are right, that the naps will improve as she gets older. I am not as concerned with her naps being 30-45 mins as I am about her waking up early and not getting a good night's rest. Plus as far as the naps are concerned, I am just looking for her to fall asleep on her own. If she can and her naps are STILL 30 - 40 mins, then so be it.

@ oi0io. I didn't cave in the first 4 days. Once she woke at 430 and I just picked her up for 30 seconds to calm her, and then she went back to sleep. Until this morning, I just went back in every 2-4 minutes (depending her crying volume/intensity) to tell her it's ok.. mommy loves her, and shushing. I don't think I even picked her up. I did notice improvement.

Thing is... CONSISTENCY. I wavered. When she didn't have her own room, I did bring her to our bed when she woke in the morning, so... it will take some time.

What happens at about 6 months that makes it easier for babies to sleep better?
 
my one is 6mths tomorrow...i would say her naps are definitely better! only 2-3 naps - a long one which is usually 2 hours, a short one normally 45-1hour and sometimes a 3rd nap which is only 30mins long. she did the 30-40mins naps before, but it does get better hang in there!

i find with my 2nd one, I am less "strict" in the sense that I am using the pacifier more to get my LO to fall asleep on her own "unassisted" meaning no parent / helper to soothe her. i do this because i tried all the ways mentioned above, but when I let her CIO she gets more awake and she ends up wanting to play rather than sleeping. also, i don't want to feed her at random times because i am working on reducing her number of meals but increasing the portion at each....anyhow, the pacifier has worked (touch wood) and it soothes her fast enough in the middle of the night. during the day i'm not one to set nap times - when she's tired I let her sleep for as long as she needs (or until her sister wakes her up) and it usually ends up being only 2-3 times as I mentioned above. for me, the advantages of using a pacifier outway the disadvantages...will eventually have to get her off the habit of using a pacifier, i'm hoping as she gets older she will have more activities and that will make her more exhausted and sleeping will come "naturally"

good luck!
 
It does get better as they get older. Yet as they get older, you may be dealing with other issues such as teething. When they are teething, they are cranky and in pain therefore naps and bedtime go down the drain. Plus sometimes they get diarrhea when they teeth so they may get a poopy diaper in the middle of the night. They will be more mobile too, as a result they would probably be stuck in some corner of the crib crying for help.
 
@ oi0io, the realities of it all! :)

Good to hear it does get better. Thing is, it keeps changing. Doesn't it? Last night, down to bed at 7...she took 30 mins to fall asleep last night. Maybe it was the late nap (she woke at 545). But then, other than getting her for her dreamfeed at 11pm, she slept til 710am!!!

Then she took an hour long nap mid morning! Who knows!

I wonder if she's so tired from the lack of sleep.. she makes up for it once in a while. I HAVE NO IDEA.

@oi0io - I do get nighttime poopy diapers even know. Her body can't decide when to poop :)
 
1sttimemom, i get the impression that you think too much.
even for adults, the sleeping requirements change: one day you feel tired and feel like a nap, the other day you stay up and can't fall asleep. all normal, imho

for our baby, we are pretty liberal and until now, it has changed quite frequently but he seldom cries and is a happy baby and getting better and better with his sleeping pattern
 
i think you should go with what your baby needs and you will find that the babies body will give you a pattern...it will change but i wouldn't worry too much - lack of sleep one day means the baby will sleep more the next day...I do that with sleep training as I do with eating. if he's hungry he'll eat, if not don't force it - if he's sleepy he'll sleep, if not don't worry. the body knows what it needs / doesn't need and we just read the signs and don't over analyze or else it can get very exhausting.
 
I agree with mums who said that baby's sleep pattern's changes all the time. The 6 month improvement in naps came, as a booking in sleeping tells us, because baby's brain matures and sleep in more consolidated periods. Mums who have babies who are great sleepers are truly very blessed. But I think most of us who respond here are not so lucky and experienced in dealing with poor sleepers.

I said in the last post that my son sleeps and nap better now. But he still refuses to nap or go to bed sometimes. Today, for example, was not a good day. He had several tantrums, as a result, nap time was tearful. It's so stressful. I guess, as some mums mentioned here, I should loosen up a bit and go more with his flow sometimes.

My son's nap was longer at around 6 months but his night sleep was a hit and miss. I was feeling quite helpless at times and really wanted to get professional help, like sleep fairy, to improve his sleep.


Teething was bad as he woke up often crying or refuse to go back to sleep after milk feed. The good thing was his teeth came quickly he only has about three molars left to come at 17 month. Then his night sleep was a lot better.

Good luck.
 
I know how you feel, 5am is my sons wake up time too! Sad thing is, I'm getting used to it! I'm not too worried as I have a 4yr old daughter and I know it will get better. As others have said, you think you have it all perfect and then a tooth, cough, cold or holiday comes along and throws everything out again. Don't be too hard on yourself. Do what works for you. At the moment I fetch him when he wakes up, put him in bed with me and if I'm lucky he will eventually fall back to sleep......normally just as my daughter wakes up!! Good Luck
 
Hi Carey and Sunrays,

Thanks for the kind words. Things have improved a little.. seems like I managed to get the message across that she should go back to sleep in the morning til about 630-730... Hope it sticks at least for a while. :) What am I saying!? Wonder Week 26 is coming soon... haha.. Plus, we live in Beijing now, and it's been cold, so I think that is affecting her sleeping too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

About this archive

This is an archive of over 20 years of GeoBaby and GeoSchools knowledge and discussions, kept online as a read-only reference.

Back
Top