1 Year Old Waking up Ravenous at 5Am!!

Hi S. S. In my experience as a mom (26 years) and a daycare provider for (13) a one year old should not need to eat at 5:00 AM. You said he eats dinner at 5:00 that may be a little early, my daycare parents are not even off from work that early, At a year old my toddlers had 3 meals a day (with family) and at least 3 snacks a day. I would try moving his dinner back a little, and see if that helps, at one I can almost bet that after a couple 5 am feedings it will become more about habit than hunger, and if he is hungry at 5, he won't die and he will be hungry at 6. Hope this helps. J.

My son would either wake up starving between 1-2am or between 4-5am.

I fed him, changed him, and put him back to bed, and went back to sleep. Sometimes a warm bottle of milk would suffice... other times he needed a full meal.

BTW... try feeding him every 3 hours during the day if you're not already. So see if you can do dinner at 4 and then again at 630.

Sounds like he's in a bit of a growth spurt. Can you leave him fussing until 5:30am (a little more reasonable) or is he crying? Maybe you can try holding him off for a little bit when he does wake up, occupy him with a book/puzzle. Its tricky, if they are hungry you want to feed them. I wake up hungry too, so I can relate. Maybe another high calorie snack before his bottle before bed may help!

My son was an early riser, and I'm not. What I did for him was put a snack in a shoe box at the end of his crib after he went to sleep.When he woke up, he knew to look for it, and it kept him quiet for awhile so I could sleep. I remember using graham crackers alot, and a bottle of milk, juice or water. You could use goldfish, pretzels, raisins, whatever her likes. Worked like a charm!

I have a one year old too and I've read they should be sleeping 13-15 hours in a 24 hour period. It sounds like your baby is NOT sleeping adequately during the day to be so tired by 7. My baby goes to sleep around 8, sometimes later if he's had a late afternoon nap only waking around 5-6 p.m. I would personally NEVER wake at 5 a.m. The few times that's happend in my house, I'd breastfeed and put my baby back in his crib and go back to bed. There's no way I'm getting up at that hour and I know he's exhausted too, but waking for some reason. In your case, I would focus and making sure your baby gets adequate naps- mine is the same age and is still napping 2-3 hours in the morning, then again 2 hours in the afternoon in addition to sleeping from 8ish to 6:30-7, almost 11 hours at night. They way you say it- "sometimes he's so tired he'll go back to bed at 7 am and other times, he's up for the day". You make it sound like it's up to the baby. But YOU are the parent and help them by preempting overtiredness and putting your baby down when you think he needs a nap. My baby would NEVER last the whole day, but I don't wait for him to tell me! I know when he's tired, and I put him in his crib EVERY time. Of course he'll cry for a few seconds, but he'll be knocked out within a minute since he's tired. You need to put your baby in his crib, probably within 3 hours of waking for his morning nap, then again in the afternoon. Just put him in his crib and see if he sleeps. He may cry for a bit, but will probably sleep if he's tired. They pretty much need to sleep every 3-4 hours at this age. Good luck!

Protein for dinner and again just before bed. Dinner should be mostly protein based, limit the carbs such as potatoes or crackers - things like sweet potatoes and broccoli are better than other veggies.

Feed him. Give him some milk.
He is at a growth spurt.
Nothing wrong with that.
When in a growth spurt... babies/kids eat tons and frequently... and intake needs to keep up with them, so they grow/develop.
It is not a "habit"... it is a growth intake need... and he is growing.
He is at an age, where tons of growth is occurring and developmentally as well. It is normal.
He is giving you "cues".... as to this.
And yes, their sleep also reflects a growth spurt, too.

Both my kids did that too, and still do. They grow like weeds.

all the best,
Susan

I would call your pediatrician and let them now what is happening and see what he/she recommends. Your comment that his stomch is firm and protruding is different, I don't remember my daughter's being that way. Babys, toddlers and children go thru growth spurts where they seem to have days where they eat a lot more than normal happens, I didnt know this until I spoke to our pediat, and friends, it may be this but ck it out. Good Luck

Some babies are just early risers...my son is almost a year and has gotten up from 4:00-5:30am since he was born. Didnt start sleeping all night till 9 months. Maybe hes a morning person!

Try giving him a snack at 5 then dinner later so he stays up longer.

My 18 month old gets a bottle in the crib if she is up before 7 or 7:30. I'm not a morning person and this gets her to rest or sleep usually to 8:30 or 9 ( I often leave her in the crib until I am out of the shower). This may not be ideal for you but it works for us (and if you are breast feeding you may have to do it differently). You could try a later bedtime depending what works in your house. My kids (4 and 18 months) go to bed between 8 and 8:30 but we are not early risers since I am home with them.