Early Waking

My twins are 13.5 months and their adjusted age is 11.5 months. My DS has always needed less sleep than my DD. She is a fantastic sleeper these days, him not so much. He wakes between 5 and 6am about 80% of the time, and the days he 'sleeps in' it is usually only until 6:30. Now and then he'll throw in a 7am wake-up just to keep me guessing. The 6:30 wake-ups aren't my favorite, but I can deal with them. I'm at a loss as to how to handle the earlier wake-ups? Another big issue is that he often wakes his twin sis and his older sis, so he's disrupting the entire family. His older sister is in an entirely different bedroom, with doors closed between, and a noise generator going...and he still wakes her.

We have tried CIO, but he just cries (loudly) for long periods of time (an hour or so) and never goes back to sleep. Not once. CIO works for other times during night and nap, just not the early morning. I think he's just not tired enough and I eventually have to get everyone up so I can't wait long enough. We have tried shortening his naps, and if we *really* shorten them he will sleep later, but he is sooo tired. I worry that its just not healthy for him to be that tired all the time. We have blackout shades in their room, and its *dark* in there, so I'm doubtful it is the sun waking him. He's not hungry when he wakes, just wants to play.

Here is the schedule we have been using until recently:
6:30 wake up (hopefully), DD sleeps until 7 or 7:30.
9:30 - 10:30ish nap
2:00 - 3:30ish nap
8 or 8:30 bedtime

Here is the schedule we are having to switch to due to my older DD going to school (afternoon K):
6:30 wake up (hopefully), DD sleeps until 7 or 7:30.
9:30 - 10 nap (just enough to take the edge off - they are tired)
12:30 - 2:30 nap (these times are firm since they are when I get back from drop off and when I go back for pick up)
8 or 8:30 bedtime

Should I just drop the morning nap altogether? I didn't do that with my older until she was much older, but I also didn't have this crazy schedule. If I drop it, how can I get them through until 12:30 when they are so tired? Is he just getting too much sleep? My pediatrician suggested putting him to bed later, but isn't 8/8:30 pretty late for babies already?

If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them! I'm at my wits end.

Thanks in advance!
Dawn

 

I would try 1 nap and an earlier bedtime. The problem is, they will probably fall asleep in the car on the way back. I'm not sure how that will work, unless it is a short enough ride that you could keep them entertained until you get back. I would try putting them down at 7-7:30pm. Good luck!

 

I would also give what Christie said a try. I don't think I would push bedtime any later then 8:30 at this age. :hug:

 

I have found that the earlier mine go to bed the later they would sleep. Mind you that only worked for a while. We're back to 5am wake ups this week which is what it was from about 4 months till 18 months.

 

EARLIER BEDTIME!!

At that age, my girls woke up at 430am for months and were going to bed at 730-8, when I started putting them to bed at 630 they started sleeping until 630-7am after about a week!
Now at almost 2yrs old, they go to bed 7-715 and sleep till 630-7am. If they go to bed a few minutes later, like 730-745 they are up before 6!

Good luck!

 

i would also suggest an earlier bed time. :good: GL!

 

Thanks so much for the responses everyone! I will try an earlier bedtime and see how it works. I think we'll try for 7pm. I know we won't see a change immediately, so how long should I wait to see if the new time works? A week?

Thanks again!!!

 

Another reason might be he's working on a new milestone. When Josh turned a year, he was waking up at 5:00 a.m. for a good month. He was a late crawler; he crawled for the first time on his birthday. From there he had to learn to pull himself up and cruise. Once he mastered those, he began to sleep until 6:30-7:00.

But I would also try putting them to bed no later than 7:00.

 

usually a week will give you a good idea if things are improving or not. GL!

 

Just an update, I put them down at 7pm last night and they went to sleep without too much fuss. I loved how it made the evening easier too, and not so much fussing. Now I realize that they were probably tired and that was why they started fussing every night before bed, but I just didn't put two and two together. This morning my DS woke at 6:15 and was happily babbling and playing instead of screaming. A definite step in the right direction! :banana:

Thanks everyone! I doubt that I would have tried putting them down earlier without so many suggestions that I do so...it seems so counter-intuitive. I'm looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.

 

It looks like you are already doing it, but I was going to suggest putting them down early also. My boys were waking at 5:30 and even though they didn't wake up hungry I started giving them a snack and milk before bed and then brushing their teeth. It has added an hour to their sleep, now they sleep until 6:30. Just another suggestion.

 

Look through the 2-4 Forum and you'll see that this is a constant topic. Not to scare you, but it didn't get better for us until after age 5. Jacob nearly killed us with the 5:30am wake-up time...for years! Nothing in the younger years worked for us. Shorter nap. Longer nap. Earlier bed time. Later bed time. It was only when he was age 4 that we started a star system. If he didn't wake Mommy and Daddy, he got a star. 10 stars earned a trip to the 5 and Dime. Now as we approach age 6, they still wake before 7am but generally leave us alone. Now the earlier waking will be useful when they start K next week.

 

I would say definitely an earlier bedtime. Mine are the same age and go to bed around 5:30-6pm. They get up at 7-7:30am. They are not cranky during the day b/c they are very well rested. Some days they take one nap, some two. I still use the HSHHC book as my tool.