7.5 Month Old Getting up Earlier and Earlier

It's the summer time. You're going to go through this every summer...I have three kids and YES it's obnoxious! Their little bodies feel the sun and think it's time to wake up.

~Sleepless in Massachusetts

I'm an Elizabeth Pantley fan too (no CIO). Here's what I do (I've posted this before and still very much believe in it, works for us, even this morning!):

I consider a 4-5-6 AM waking not a "real" waking. I do go in after a few minutes of hearing fussing and crying, and I seriously dedicate at least 20-30 minutes to nursing/rocking/quiet singing back to sleep. (Try offering water too.) I really commit to this time (it's only a couple of times a week now). No, I don't want to be up either, but our 18 mo old WILL go back to sleep again, usually for at least another hour or two but needs help at 5 AM. So my 5 AM time is well rewarded too. The more sleep the better! (Keep the bedtime the same, 12 hours is needed for a good night's sleep.)

I also totally agree with the poster who mentioned the dawn light and the noise of the birds. That's a huge waking factor right now for us too.

Sorry but the only thing that will probably work is the CIO (cry it out) method! But she may be waking earlier due to new milestones she is approaching as well. Happend with my son many times, especially when he was about to start crawling.
He did the same thing woke up all playful & happy.
I made a big mistake in not letting him CIO, we all payed the price. He would sleep all day awake all night! He would only sleep in his bed during the day @ night he wanted to be in the swing, bouncy seat or wanted to be held.
Finally by 5 months old I let him CIO and it worked wonders he sleeps awesome now. But once in a while we have issues, like last night he did not fall asleep until after 9 when normally he goes down no problem & is asleep by 8-8:30 the latest. When he started to walk which wasn't until 17 months (he is almost 19 months now), he went right to sleep but would wake in the middle of the night & be awake for 1-2 hrs.
I finally asked his doc what to do because my son doesn't cry. He is either rocking on all fours, playing, singing, talking, but it would be for like 2 hrs. I thought that it was abnormal but the doc said he is fine leave him until he is asleep. He is back on track again (except for last night).
It is all trial and error. But good luck, I understand not wanting to let them CIO at any age it is hard but sometimes it is the only thing you can do!
Could be a teething thing too! I swear it was for my son.

I have 2 children- a 2yr old and a 8m. The 2yr old goes to bed at 8:30 pm and wakes by 6am, she has done this since she was atleast six months. We have done everything to try to get her to sleep in........still 6am rise and shine sometimes earlier...... The 8 month does about the same. He goes to sleep at 7:30 except he wakes at 5am-sometimes with a feeding at 2am...... I am not sure what works.....I think everyone is different. If you find something that works let me know.

Well I'll start with just wishing you luck! The one thing I've learned as a parent is as soon as you get used to something your kid's doing, it will change! We've struggled with these such sleep issues from day one, and my son is almost 3! My 3 month old is a better sleeper at night (well, at least at the moment)! Our experience has been that the later he goes down, the worse he sleeps/earlier he gets up in the morning. For some kids, putting them down later means they sleep later, for others, it just messes them up. We've tried and continue to try all sorts of strategies. Each kid is different and I don't believe there is one tried & true method that will work for all. So, try whatever ideas appeal to you and good luck! Hang in there!!

My 8 month old has been getting up between 4:30am and 5:30am for the past 2-3 months. He had been sleeping until 6:30am or 7am. I've tried everything. So what do I do? Put him into bed with Mom and Dad and cuddle. He loves it and we love it. We are all getting our rest. Maybe we are creating bad patterns but he is only this little once and I am cherishing every minute. He doesn't get that much daytime sleep either. He takes about 3 cat naps so daytime sleep isn't a factor. If he takes a late nap and we put him to bed at 8pm he will sleep until 6am but he likes to go to bed at 7pm and I like to spend that time with my husband. Good luck and just enjoy!

My first instinct would be 2 things.

1) Its a growth spurt. If she is waking to be fed at 4 am and is really hungry then I definately would assume its a growth spurt. It is completely normal and common (stinks though).

2) Put her to bed later. It sounds like you have a great system in place that works for you and your baby. However, if you are putting her to bed at 7 pm and she wakes at 4 am, try putting her down closer to 8 pm. This can make a lot of difference.

I have a 17 mo that still wakes at 5 am to nurse, she's not hungry - its a habit & for comfort (I clearly did not do the CIO method nor have I weaned her yet - thats next!)! She will then go back to sleep until I wake her at 6:30 to get ready for daycare. But they go through all sorts of schedule changes the older they get, sometimes its an easy adjustment and sometimes we sit here scratching our heads for days trying to figure it all out.

Are her naps still consistent or have they changed as well? Definately try putting her to bed a half hour later though. See if that helps.

Is she about to do something new?

Every time my one year old has been on the brink of a new skill (e.g. rolling over, crawling, standing and now walking) he wakes up earlier. On average he wakes up at 6:15 give or take fifteen minutes but during these stages it has been as early as 4:30am. I haven't changed his bedtime (7:45-8pm)and within a week or two his wake up time has gone back to normal. The 4:30ish wake up call was rough and I did try to get him back to sleep in those cases but thankfully that was rare.

Good Luck!

I think it totally has to do with the time of year! My nine month old is doing the same thing. Have you tried dark curtains? It totally does the trick. Putting her to bed later will only mean less sleep because they usually wake up with the sun anyhow. Also, are you sure that she still needs the 4 am feeding or is she now just used to it? Good luck!

At 4:30, the birds are up and chirping, and at 5:30, the room is very bright from the rising son. Try a light-block window shade or curtain, or just hang a heavy cloth over the window. We used a remnant of something like naugahyde we found at the fabric store - even took it on vacation! We also use one of those air filters that takes the allergens out of the air - it provides "white noise" so you don't hear the birds. I'm betting it's the time change that's affecting her. Good luck!

Hi K.. I would love to see what you get for responses as my little girl is doing the same thing! She started around 6.5 months, and is now 7.5 mos.

From what I can gather - it is not uncommon for older babies to start to do this. It can often mean too much day sleep or too late of a bedtime.

I am not sure how much your little one is napping? Mine was taking 3 naps a day, so we cut out the third nap, and gave her an earlier bedtime. So she now sleeps 6:30p-5:30a. It is not ideal, but she sleeps through the night most nights, and no longer needs the 4am feed (yippee). Her 2 naps are usually 1.25 - 1.5 hrs each.

I also found that depending on when she wakes from her second nap is when I put her to bed (between 6:00-6:45pm). Too late of a bedtime always makes her get up earlier.

When mine woke for the day at 4:30am, I always gave her a super early bedtime - 5:45 or 6:00pm. YES, it did mean she would wake early (usually later than 5am, which is better than 4:30), but at least she was well rested and we could start working on spacing out her naps, and then getting her to bed later.

When you try something new you have to give it 3-5 days to see if it works. It took us about a week or so to get her off of the 4:30 am wakes, and now we are trying to combat the 5:30 ones! We tried a later bedtime last night and it did NOT work. But keeping at it.

But I hope this info helps by at least giving you a starting point.

Hi K.,

Last week, my 8.5 mo old also started waking at 4:30 am and wouldn't go back to sleep until I fed her, played with her, snuggled, then put her back in her bed (at 5:30). She'd then sleep until 9. I couldn't figure it out. The last 3 nights have been heaven. She has been going to sleep at 9 and not waking until 7:30. (She always sleeps best, and longer, when she goes to sleep between 9 and 10. We've tried earlier, but she just doesn't sleep as long, and wakes up very early, so we've stuck with bed time between 9 and 10.) What I did to get her back to her schedule is put her in her exer-saucer for a half hour (or as long as she wants) before bed time. She has fun, uses up her energy, then has one last bottle before bed, and she goes to sleep without a fuss. I've also learned that every cry she makes in the middle of the night doesn't mean that she's awake, so I give her a few minutes without bothering her, and she just stops crying and goes back to sleep (bad dreams maybe?). She also doesn' sleep well if the room isn't cool enough. Also remember that growth spurts aren't solely physical, but mental, and she may just be getting more aware of things and just wants to stay awake to "investigate" with her little eyes, rather than go to sleep. Try putting her to sleep later, maybe a half hour at a time until you find the perfect time when she'll sleep longer.

I have 3 girls (5,2, 8.5 mo) and they are all great sleepers. The older two go to sleep at 8:30 and sleep until 6:30 or 7. None of my girls woke up often to feed in the middle of the night when they were babies, and I just don't know if this is in their genes or something I'm doing. We tried co-sleeping, and picked them up every time they cried, but we found that this disturbed their sleep more, and then couldn't get them back to sleep on their own.

I hope you figure this out, and get some sleep. :o)

M.

Hi there! This can be hard..... you got one post to put your baby to bed earlier - another later.
I do agree with the point - how much day sleep is your little girl getting?
I have put my baby to bed later and it backfired - she got up earlier! But once she could handle more awake time, putting her to bed too early backfired. UGH.
So I would start with how much day sleep - more than 3 hours might be too much at 7.5 months.
Let us know how you make out!