any tips on getting babies to sleep past 5:30am

My DS (9 weeks) goes to sleep around 9:30 and is up around 5:30. I cannot get him back down after his 5:30am feeding. I change (he is almost always woken up by a BM), reswaddle (miracle blanket), feed bottle (which he usually does not eat very much of), and try to lay him back in his crib (usually already asleep). They second I lay him down he starts grunting and groaning and trying to break out of his swaddle. Usually by this time it is 6am and DD is rousing (she is usually up around 3am as well) and I end up playing "hopping cribs" until 7am when we finally come downstairs. The minute I put DS in his swing at 7am downstairs he is out again until 8:30. DD takes a bottle and then goes down in the pack in play until 8:30ish. She is not much of a sleeper and only takes 45minute naps where DS takes 3 hours naps.

My questions are:

1. How do I know if he does not like being swaddled anymore. I know we HAVE to swaddle them at night but they are more tired and ready for bed and don't resist the swaddle as much as they do in the morning. Has anyone experience this? I think he keeps himself up struggling against his miracle blanket in the early morning.

2. Is 5:30/6am a normal wake up time for babies of this age? Should I stop trying to push them to 7am?

3. DS takes really long naps during the day (in his swing). He usually takes two, three hour naps as well as twon hour long naps. When he is awake his very busy, talking and smiling and playing, but he sleeps a lot! Should I keep his daytime naps shorter?

4. I know you are not supposed to do CIO for awhile; however, does that mean no fussing around or crying at all? I am sooo confused. Sometimes I think I too quick to get them and they are just grunting and fussing from gas or BM and they are not really ready to get up....I am always so afraid they are going to wake eachother up thought because getting them both back to sleep in their cribs at 5:30am at the same time is almost impossible for me.

THANKS!

 

1. Just curious, why do you have to swaddle them at night? Warmth? I would put him in a warmer pair of jammies and see how he does unswaddled. My babies didn't like to be swaddled after about the first 6 weeks.

2. I think that is fairly normal for some babies. Mine were always up around 630, and still are now.

3. I would let him sleep as much as he wants at this point. When they start developing better nighttime sleep habits, and the longer naps start effecting that, maybe then you can scale the naps back a little.

4. Babies will fuss and cry no matter what. As long as you are doing everything you can to make them comfy, a little crying won't hurt. Hopefully, they will get used to each others cries and learn to sleep through them. My babies have for the most part.

:hug99:

 

I don't anything about swaddling - I never did swaddle my babies.
As for the 5:30am wake up time - that is GREAT, IMHO! If they are only 9 weeks and sleeping from 9:30-5:30 - count yourself as lucky! I was hoping for that at 6 months!!! ha ha

 

About swaddling - you don't have to if you don't want to or they don't like it. You could try warmer pjs, as a pp suggested. Or you could put them in sleep sacks. Some sleep sacks leave the arms free, others have an adjustable swaddle feature where you can wrap the arms tightly, loosely, or just wrap the torso and leave arms free - lots of room to experiment.

About CIO - I wouldn't let a 9 wk old scream and scream. But some grunting/groaning/quiet fussing is ok, as long as you're sure their needs are met (clean diaper, warm enough, fed). Just trust your instinct. Forget about the books, nobody knows better than you if your babies REALLY need you or are just whining.

If DS falls asleep the minute you put him in the swing in the am, maybe you should just do that at 5:30 am and see if it works?

 

QUOTE
How did you know yours were ready to lose the swaddle?

Thanks again for always replying and all of your help!



You are welcome! They started breaking out and really struggling against it when I would swaddle them, so I quit.

 

Mine woke up between 5:30 and 6:00 for a long time, but they went to bed earlier than yours do too. Now they go to bed around 7 p.m. and wake up between 6-6:30.
I think that is a normal time for them to wake up. I think yours are still figuring out their night time sleep - it has only been a little while since your DS has been sleeping long at night, I would give it a little more time. Mine became longer/better sleepers over the course of a week or two.
From the schedules of other TS members I have read, the ones that go to sleep around 8/9 pm (AND are good sleepers, like my girls and hopefully your DS) tend to wake up around 7 or 8 a.m.
I think mine would do that if we put them to bed a little later, but I am not sure. It could also be a daylight/birds chirping kind of thing.

I think if the swaddling works for him at night, KEEP doing it!!! Why mess with success?
I transitioned them to sleep sacks around 10 weeks, but one of mine had to be swaddled again after a while because she woke herself up a lot.
We went back to the swaddle several times over the first six months, and I have in fact just weaned her off of her swaddle blanket again.
The other one was fine in the sleep sack from about 10 weeks on.

Sometimes when one of mine wakes up too early in the morning or from a nap, I pop them right in the swing, they often fall asleep again quickly for up to an hour or more.

Now that mine are teething, I am also doing the hopping from crib to crib, and hate it when one wakes the other. So last night I picked the crying one up and moved her to the guest room with me and let her sleep in the pack n play. It worked - the other one didn't wake up, so there was minimal disruption for all of us. Can you temporarily move him/crib to another room or PNP?

That way you can wait it out a little if he is just grunting, and you don't have to run in there so he doesn't wake your daughter.

I wouldn't cut down on his daytime naps either, everything I've read said that babies who sleep better during the day, sleep better at night. The exception is if he is sleeping for more than 4 hours at a time during the day. And it sounds as though he sleeps better than your daughter, so I would let him carry on!

Sounds like you are slowly on the path to sanity. I am crossing my fingers for you that both of your babies sleep through the night regularly soon. Sounds as though DS is well on his way.

 

QUOTE
As for the 5:30am wake up time - that is GREAT, IMHO! If they are only 9 weeks and sleeping from 9:30-5:30 - count yourself as lucky!


Ditto.

My guys HATED to be swaddled. So we quit it pretty early on, and they slept in sleepers. They were so much more comfortable that way.

 

I swaddled my guys for the exact same reasons and was petrified that they would sleep poorly when we stopped. They really surprised me when we stopped at about 16 weeks. I say try it one night and see what happens. If he starts waking up and really crying you can always swaddle him back up. You might be surprised.

We wake every single day at 6:30am (6:28am to be exact...how they do that I will never know). I think it's great that he is sleeping til 5:30am although I'm sure you would prefer a more "reasonable" wake time. I'd try to feed him in a dark room and no noise and see if he'll go back down. Then maybe one day you'll be able to cut out that bottle.

HOpe that helps! Shannon