Baby up @ 4 a.m. Too Early?

Don't feed her and put her back to sleep. My 5 month old does this. I either leave her, if she's screaming, then I feed her if it's close to 5, but them after, I just give her a toy and leave the room. 99.9% she goes back to sleep until 7. The biggest thing is to not talk to her or engage in anything that would wake her up more.

Rather than putting your daughter to bed an hour later, I'd try an hour earlier. It seems counter-intuitive, but research and Dr. Weissbluth's book show that it works. My own experience and my friends' say so too :) Also, instead of getting her up to have a bottle of water, you could try leaving a sippy cup (if she takes one) of water in the crib when she goes to sleep. That way, she can learn to reach for it and satisfy herself overnight without waking you. That trick helped me with my son and some unnecessary early wakings. Good luck!

Hi L.,

I wouldn't wake her up - you may create a bigger issue than now!;)
My son did the same thing until he was about a year or so - every morning up at 4-4:40 because it was one of his feedings. Even when I stopped feeding him, he was hard to break of this schedule. We finally just would check on him when he woke up, then let him put himself back to sleep. They change so often (though it probably doesn't seem like it now) - give it a little more time & she'll grow out of it. In the meantime, see if you can get to sleep a little earlier or get whatever rest where you can find it. Hard when your working (I was too at the time - I SO feel your pain) - but hang it there, truly it won't last forever.

Hi L.- I was in the same boat with my now 8 1/2 month old. I woke beween 4 and 5 every morning and fed him and he went back to bed. I have 3 little girls who needed to have breakfast, make the school bus etc. so I went with that feeding because then he woke up around 7:45 and I could really focus on him. He has now given up the feeding on his own and is waking around 7 happy. I can focus on him because the girls are done with school so the schedule is changed a bit.
Long story short, she probable doesn't NEED the feeding and you can let her cry it out but she will also probably give it up soon, the choice is up to you!
B.

Yes I would definitely consider 4AM "the middle of the night". The Ferber book has a good explanation of this early waking - basically your baby's last sleep cycle is becoming detached from the rest of her sleep. I would encourage her to sleep until 6 AM and not 4 AM. Let her fuss for 5-10 minutes before going in (or sending your husband in!) and she may figure it out herself. When you/hubby do go in I would just remind her that it's time for sleeping, tuck her in, and leave again. My son at this age would put on a mighty show (LOUD!) when I did this, but within 2 minutes of me leaving the room he was back asleep.

Hi L.,

My son, now 15 months, does this too. He usually goes to sleep around 6:30 or 7 pm and wakes around 5 or 5:30 (on really good days he sleeps till 6). But more than occasionally, he wakes at 4 or 4:30 am. I have tried to get him to go back to sleep or let him cry for a little while and fall back asleep, but it really doesn't work. He will continue to cry, and by "cry" I mean scream, until I go get him and give him his morning bottle (I know, another issue that he is 15 months old and still having a morning bottle). So if it is 4 or later, I usually just get up for the day because I would be up anyway listening to him scream. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do, I'm just telling you what I do. I would love to get that extra hour of sleep too, but sometimes it's just not in the cards.

Good luck!
L.

Hi there, I agree that it may just be a habit and that she probably does not need the 4 am feeding. Try and give her water instead. It will fill her tummy and satisfy her thirst but it will go through her system much quicker so she would wake up closer to her normal 6 am wake-up time. It has been very hot and she might just need the liquid not the food. As soon as she does not need the water for hydration or figures out she is not getting milk any more she wil probably stop waking up. I hope this helps.

Wow, I was just going to post with the same question. My son used to take the bottle at that time too and go back to sleep, but now he wont' take a bottle OR go back to sleep! I have ABSOLUTELY no idea what to do, CIO doesn't work for my son...So i'm just here to empathize!

I, personally, feel that 4AM is way too early for an awake time for a baby. I understand it is tough though since you work. So, spending time trying to get her back to bed may not be an option since it will cut into your time to get ready in the morning. But, I would try to get him to sleep longer. Especially since you will have issues at time change times, where he will be getting up at 3AM. If you can't get him to sleep or play in his crib for a while, I wouldn't feed him until a time you feel is appropriate for him to wake up for the morning. His body will get used to eating at a certain time, so any feedings you give him you need to be sure you want him eating at that time for a long time to come. Good luck!

Hi L.,

What about maybe putting her down an hour later? For our son, letting him cry it out never worked (22 lbs at 8 months). Missing a meal was just not in his game plan. =) So when he was waking up just a little too early for us, we just put him down a little later. Since my husband and I were awake anyway it was easier just to have our son up with us at night rather than having to peel ourselves out of bed in the middle of the night for a feeding. It seemed like it didn't matter what time we put him to bed, he would just go for a certain amount of hours.

Good luck to you!
L.