How to handle the 5:00 a.m. wake-ups...

I know I've seen early morning wake-up issues posted before, so I just wanted to see how others' have handled this.

I wouldn't mind (THAT much) getting up at 5:00 if my boys were in good moods, happy to be awake, well-rested, etc. but they wake up tired and stay fairly grumpy until I put them down for a nap. Yesterday they were both napping by 7:20!! <_<

They go to bed at 6:30, Sullivan wakes usually 1 hour later and fusses/cries for 20 or so minutes, then goes back to sleep. They then sleep through until 5:00 a.m.. I've tried feeding them, thinking that they are hungry and will go back to sleep, but they stay awake. I've tried leaving them in their cribs to see if they'll fuss/cry and fall back asleep. But they really start screaming after 10 or so minutes.

I'm not sure what else to do. Is it just a phase? I vaguely remember my DS doing this.

I'm not complaining - I'm thrilled they are now STTN at 9.5 months old - but I'd like them (for their sake and mine) to wake up happy and ready to "Take On" their baby world every morning, instead of grumpy and rubbing their eyes within 10 minutes of waking up.

Thanks for any advice!!

 

mine do they same thing, but are happy and ready to go. i DO mind, theyre up every 3hours on the dot all night and im pooped. 5am was the wakeup call today, woohoo

 

My ds has decided that 530am is his wake-up time from now on, he has been doing this for a few weeks, so I basically leave him in the crib until 630am, and yes he is often a little growly by the time I get him, but I just figure that me getting out of bed at 530am is too early!!! I am hoping it is just a phase and that he will outgrow it soon and will wake up happy again soon.

Sorry I couldn't be more help, but just know that we are going through the same thing! Big hugs to us!

 

DS did that yesterday... after 20 minutes of fussing we gave him a bottle and put him back in bed, and he fussed another 45 minutes before falling back asleep... So next time we'll just let him fuss until 6.30am.

But yeah, mine need their nap 2.5 hour after they wake up anyway, whether it's the morning or the afternoon.

 

My DS used to wake up at 5am too and I used to feed him. I then realised he was waking from habit (he wouldnt eat the whole bottle) so the next time I gave him his dummy (i.e. pacifier) and he went through to 6.30am. Now both babies go 12 hours though DS is restless and wakes during the night (again, I use the dummy). Today he woke at 5:45am and I just kept giving him his dummy till he fell asleep again which he did.

I´ve read in the baby whisperer book that to avoid regular early morning wake ups, you should wake them an hour before they´re due to wake. You don´t wake them fully, just so they stir, and to do it 3 nights in a row. Apparently, this will stop the early wake ups. I haven´t ever done this but maybe its worth a try? Here´s what she says in the book:

"Parents are often shocked when I suggest the wake-to-sleep strategy for habitual night waking. Set your clock an hour earlier than your baby usually wakes and go into his/her room. Jostle him/her gently, rub his/her belly a bit, and stick a dummy in his/her mouth - all of which will help stir him/her to semi-consciousness. Then leave. S/He´ll fall back to sleep. This gives you the control, rather than your sitting around hoping that your baby´s habit will magically go away. (It won´t). By waking him/her an hour earlier, you´ll disrupt his/her pattern."

GL!

 

i may give this a try!! thanks!


QUOTE(Rach28 @ Oct 19 2008, 08:12 AM) [snapback]1032352[/snapback]
My DS used to wake up at 5am too and I used to feed him. I then realised he was waking from habit (he wouldnt eat the whole bottle) so the next time I gave him his dummy (i.e. pacifier) and he went through to 6.30am. Now both babies go 12 hours though DS is restless and wakes during the night (again, I use the dummy). Today he woke at 5:45am and I just kept giving him his dummy till he fell asleep again which he did.

I´ve read in the baby whisperer book that to avoid regular early morning wake ups, you should wake them an hour before they´re due to wake. You don´t wake them fully, just so they stir, and to do it 3 nights in a row. Apparently, this will stop the early wake ups. I haven´t ever done this but maybe its worth a try? Here´s what she says in the book:

"Parents are often shocked when I suggest the wake-to-sleep strategy for habitual night waking. Set your clock an hour earlier than your baby usually wakes and go into his/her room. Jostle him/her gently, rub his/her belly a bit, and stick a dummy in his/her mouth - all of which will help stir him/her to semi-consciousness. Then leave. S/He´ll fall back to sleep. This gives you the control, rather than your sitting around hoping that your baby´s habit will magically go away. (It won´t). By waking him/her an hour earlier, you´ll disrupt his/her pattern."

GL!

 

Ryan gets up at 5am every morning and it's been like this for about 2 months. It's killing me. They go to bed before 7 everynight so I think we're in the same boat. As much as I don't to get up at 4am, I'm thinking about trying the baby whisperer tip from pp. It's worth a try. They both used to get up at 6, but for Ryan it just kept getting earlier. This morning it was 4:55, but I let him lay there for another 20 mins until I could gain consciousness.

They used to nap around 8, but as they got older we're not onto a 9:30 naptime. We were doing three naps a day a lot longer than others b/c they were getting up so early. HTH!

 

Ours don't do this consistently, but seem to do it on the weekends. This morning they were both up at 5:10. We brought them to bed with us and they slept until 7:30!!! That's an hour and a half past their usual wake time. We wouldn't bring them to bed if it were happening every day, but when it happens once in a while it seems to work for us.

 

I think that the wake them first thing sounds like it would work but I think I remeber another member "NurseAndrea" tried this and it totally backfired and they stayed up!! YIKES!!

For anyone gutsy enough to try it; make sure to report back to us!!

Once a week, one of mine does this. I AM up anyway sitting out here online so I do go and get him. It's NEVER both so that stinks cuz I have to have them on the same schedule. To be honest tho; I go to bed soooo early (they do at 6 pm) so I'm cool with it.

I'm just curious on the waking early. I would NEVER do it!! Too risky! LOL. Incidentally, I do LOVE LOVE LOVE "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" and recommend it to all pg people!!

 

I started a new thread on my test of this theory - I will NEVER do it again! Didn't work for me at all!

 

Thanks for this update - I posted on your new thread. I definitely won't be trying this!

On a good note, mine slept straight through til 6:00 a.m. today - I was in SHOCK when my DH's alarm went off before the babies woke up. WOW! I slept from 10:30 - 6:00. I don't remember the last time I have had 7.5 hours of sleep straight - before I was pregnant for sure!

Thanks to everyone else who replied on this thread with suggestions/support/ideas!

 

One of our boys wakes up at 5 or 5:30 every morning. We quit going to get him and he just plays in his crib for the most part or will fuss a little. He has also started to go back to sleep some mornings. If he really gets to screaming he will usually wake his brother up and then we will go get both of them even if it's a little early. If that happened often though I would be inclined to leave them in there until 6 am (our wake up time) so as not to enforce a new bad habit.

 

My babies wake up between 4:30 and 5:00am we give them a couple of ounces and put them back to bed. They do fuss for a bit, but eventually go back to sleep until 7:30am. My babies end up needing to nap again at 9:30 or 10:00am. I will not get them up before 7:30am. I depend on their schedule! Mommy needs sleep too!!!

 

For us, this was a phase. Sarah never really did it, but Amy woke around 5:00 most of the time from about 9-14 months (IIRC). I tried various things including putting them to bed earlier, putting them to bed later, making her CIO until 6:00, going in and trying to soothe, etc. (I was too chicken to try that idea about waking her up right before she always woke.) Nothing seemed to make much difference, and she finally started sleeping later (a little) sometime around 15 months.

In the meantime, DH and I just alternated getting up with her. One parent would do the middle-of-the-night feeding (because she was still waking for a bottle at night too!), then get to sleep till 7. The other parent would sleep through the night feeding and then get up with her at 5, so that at least she wouldn't wake Sarah.

Then we would often put her down for a nap around 7, so she could get a little more sleep before we left for daycare at 8. Sometimes I'd put her down and she'd just scream for 20 minutes and then I'd get her up. but more often than not, she'd scream for a few minutes and then conk out for half an hour.

I worried about enforcing the early waking habit, but since nothing we did seemed to break the habit, we decided just to try to wait it out. And she did (contrary to the Baby Whisperer) eventually magically outgrow it.

 

QUOTE(isis @ Oct 20 2008, 04:25 AM) [snapback]1032975[/snapback]
I started a new thread on my test of this theory - I will NEVER do it again! Didn't work for me at all!


Oh no! I wouldn´t have had the guts to try this so good for you for trying it. Please can you post the thread you mention here as Im interested in reading about your experience. Im sorry it didnt work out. I love the baby whisperer book but haven´t used all her methods. I use it as a guide more than anything. If anyone else tries the wake-to-sleep method, please post your experiences!