My son is almost 6 months old. Over the past few weeks he’s been getting up earlier and earlier in the morning. He was waking up at 5:30, then 5:00 and now he wakes up around 4:00. I thought it might be that it gets light earlier now, but his room is pretty dark, and it’s not light out at 4AM! He entertains himself in his crib for a half an hour or so until we get him up. He takes 3 naps a day (vary from 1/2 hour to 2 1/2 hours) and generally goes to bed around 7:30. On the days when he falls asleep as early at 6 or as late as 8:30 he’s still up around the same time.
What can we do to get him to sleep later? We haven’t started him on solid food yet, but he doesn’t seem to be waking because he’s hungry.
The best I can recommend is, the book that saved my marriage, _Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child_ by Marc Weissbluth MD. There is a section on how to deal with early wakings.
Hi J.,
I've done a LOT of reading on the subject of sleep. Somebody else mentioned "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", which is a great book for resolving these type of issues as they come up. Also, Dr. Richard Ferber's book "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" is another good one. Not necessarily for the sleep training technique, but the information about babies sleep needs/patterns/problems.
I would recommend putting your baby to bed earlier. It sounds counterintuitive, but it will work. At six months, my daughter was going to bed anywhere between 6:30 and 7:00, and waking up at 7:30. Now, at 9 months old, she goes down at 7:00, wakes once for a feeding, and sleeps until 7:30. Because her sleep routine is so solid, it affords us flexibility if we need to keep her up later because of a special happening.
We, too, went through a period of time when my baby was waking up at a God awful hour. I have a 7:00 rule - nobody gets out of bed until it's 7:00. On those days when she woke up that early, I would treat it like a night feeding. I would keep the blinds shut, light off, feed her silently, and put her back in her crib. Most of the time, she would go back to sleep. Otherwise, she would talk to herself in her crib until I went in (after 7:00!) to get her.
Sleep is such a hot button for most parents. In the end, you have to make decisions that are right for you and your family. Good luck!!
V.
I think it is just a phase. My baby did this right around the same time, and it took a month or so and she was able to train herself to sleep longer... Now she sleeps from 8:30pm to about 8am every day! What I did was just get up with her and feed her, and then as soon as she seemed tired again, lay her down. Your son will eventually figure it out... It may just take a few weeks.
It is around 6 months that he can probably go down to 2 naps (although I think my daughter stayed at 3 naps for longer)... According to babycenter, a 6 month old should be getting about 11 hours of sleep per night, and having 2 naps for a total of 3 1/4 hours of sleep during the day - grand total of 14 1/4 hours per day. Here is the link for this info: http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-much-sleep-does-your-chil...
Maybe evaluate how much sleep he is getting and when, and try to rearrange his schedule a little bit. Good luck!
It sounds as if your son is getting most of his sleep out during the day with three naps. I understand he needs that third nap since he is up so early. Chances are he is getting up at 4 am then back to sleep before 7 then napping at 10 and probably around 1 or 2 right? I would start moving his naps and bedtimes ahead by a half hour until you can cut out that early morning nap. If you are putting him to bed at 6 and he gets up at 4, that is 8 hours. If you put him to bed at 8, he should sleep until at least 6 with maybe waking up once for feeding. You might just need to work a schedule out with his going to bed at 8 getting up at 6, going down for a nap at 10 and again at 2. It won't take long for him to get into that habit and then he will start sleeping through the night since he will be really tired by 8.
good luck.
J.
Why don't you try puting him to bed at 8:30 or 9:00. Putting him to bed at 7:30 he is getting 8 and a half hours of sleep he is ready to get up for the day. some babys don't need as much sleep as others, and you did say he is getting naps during the day
This happened to my daughter just as she was turning 4 months old...first 5:30, then 5:00...then 4:30. She didn't seem to cry for food, either. We had her 4 month check up a week or two later and that's when her pediatrician suggested we start solids. It hadn't even occurred to us that she might have been hungry. That worked and she started sleeping until 6-7 am a few days after that. I would suggest discussing this with your pediatrician at your son's 6 month check up.
Good luck,
L.
My little one did the same thing starting around 5 and 1/2 months. Some nights I would breastfeed her and she would doze back off, other nights she wouldn't. We were putting her to bed around 6pm and she would get up around 4-5am. For her it was just a phase-she is going to bed later now and sleeping until 6:30-7:30am most days (she is almost 7 months). We even got room darkening shades and that made no difference at all.
Your 6 month-old is probably teething. Can you sneak in at 3am and put some orajel on his gums?
He'll probably always be an early riser. But you should most definitly get him on a TWO nap a day schedule. Three may be too much. Also, are there birds outside his room waking him up at 4? Maybe need a fan in his room to block out those pesky morning sounds :) Good luck. I have a 4 year old who sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. I also have a 23 month old who is up before the birds. She always has been and probably always will be...
You can give him a bottle of formula (or nurse him) and he'll probably go back to sleep or just roll with it until he shifts times again (which is bound to happen eventually). If he will play quietly in his crib, try leaving him there longer. Some kids are so content they will play in the crib for more than an hour before starting to fuss.
SAHM of seven
Hi J., My son is almost two and he still wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30. It sounds as though you have tried all the right things. I would look at how many hours he is sleeping in a 24 hour period and if he is within normal hours, he is probably well rested by that point and ready to start the day. Babies don't always adapt to our schedules. Be thankful you have a good sleeper otherwise. Once he drops his third nap he may sleep a little longer for you. Just think if he continues this you will not have to fight with him to get up for school when he is older!
Hey J.!
I LOVED the book (as already mentioned) called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth. It is written by a doctor so it's someone with a medical background, but offers flexibility in his suggestions to fit what you want to do with your child. Several of my friends read it with their kids, and they swear by it, too. Best wishes!
Hi J.,
I know it sounds crazy, but more is better. Sleeping is a habit and once they form this habit the better they sleep. The later you put them to bed, the earlier they seem to get up. Usually the earlier you put them to bed, the later they will sleep. I know it doesn't sound right, but that is usually the way it works.
That is why I don't understand parents who say, "My two or three year old doesn't need a nap." because they are having trouble getting them to sleep at night. It really doesn't work that way...usually children and adults need more sleep the more sleep they get, and besides, if adults can take naps and still go to bed at night, why do parents think toddlers don't need naps? The problem is..most children give their parents a hard time about bedtime at sometime in their life, and a lot of parents just take the easy way out and quit giving them naps, so that they are so tired in the evening that they go to sleep easier. You will have a lot happier child if you follow through with naptime and a good bed time. Be a good parent..be consistent and follow through.
C.
I have two daughters and both have went/are going through the same thing. My six month old has just recently started this exact same behaviour...goes to bed at 8pm, wakes at 2 for a feeding and then is up again at 4am babbling and laughing whatnot. It is most definitely because of teething. My first child did the same thing and when the tooth broke through, she went back to her normal sleeping 11 hours through the night. Problem is, my first daughter teethed for about a week...my current 6 month old has been going through this for 3 weeks. It's exhausting...cutting down on naps during the day does not work...she still wakes up at 2 and 4am. I'm going to try putting her to bed later....like 9 or 9:30pm. I've heard that doesn't make a difference either...but worth a try if I do it every night consistently...she might get accostumed to it. Solid foods also won't make a difference...mine has been on solid foods for a month. That's why I say it's the teething. He has probably got a tooth that will soon break through.
My baby girl is the same way. She is 18 months, although it is no longer 4 am, it was for a while - now it is between 5-6:30. Just like your little guy, it doesn't matter if we put her down at 6:30 pm (this has been her bedtime since 7 months), or keep her up till 8 or 9 pm, she still wakes up that early, and it almost seems to work in reverse, if she goes to bed later, she wakes up earlier!!! Also, if she doesn't nap well, usually we have a difficult night that night, too. More sleep seems to make more/better sleep, whereas less/worse sleep, is another vicious cycle in the opposite direction!
We read the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and it has lots of great ideas for getting your child the amount of sleep they need. Another thing is if he is entertaining himself in the crib until you get him up - don't get him up, let him play till he falls back asleep, if he will. It may take a little bit of crying for the first few days, but believe me, it is a good thing for the babies to learn to put themselves back to sleep!
This morning she got up at 5:30 and played in her crib for an hour, until we got up, and she is already napping at 9 am...we may get a 2-3 hour nap this morning, and then possibly another shorter one this afternoon, and probably still have a 10-12 hour night, if we put her down at 6:30. Babies need lots more sleep than adults, check out the book, it has lots of great advice!
HTH
Jessie
I agree that early bedtimes help them sleep later - sleep begets sleep. And Healthy Sleep Habits is a really good book to have on hand.
At the same time, I would say that maybe 2 naps would be enough, and would help him sleep a little later.
When my son started waking up early, I systematically would put him back down, whispering that "it's still nighttime, you have to sleep still.". Sometimes he'd cry and I'd have to do it 5 times in a row, but I just kept it up. And very quickly he started sleeping in later, because he *did* need the sleep - his body clock just needed to figure it out.
An alternative to going in and putting him down over and over again is letting him cry it out cold turkey. I didn't have the heart to do it, but I did let him CIO for naps at 6 months, and I can tell you that it does not cause them to become moody, depressed babies who think their mommies have abandonned them. They generally just sleep better afterwords. And love us just the same. So if you wanted to try it this way, it's another option for you!
