The Sleep Stand off Between Mommy and the 7 Month Old

Updated on April 28, 2008
J.V. asks from Kokomo, IN
5 answers

Hi Mamas! Could use a little sage advice here. Little background is that I have an almost 7 month old son that I am breastfeeding. LOVE IT! He is very mellow, even tempered kid. He has two naps during the day, and sleeps well with them. Here is the problem. My little bundle went from going to sleep at 7pm and sleeping until 2- 3am waking only to nurse, then sleeping again until almost 8am. Recently he's gotten this wild hair that we are going to wake up at 5am. I went with it for a few days thinking it was a growth spurt. Yeah.... it's not. He's just WIDE AWAKE at 5am. I have changed NOTHING about his routine. For the most part I'm a SAHM with a 2 1/2year old and this little guy. So, my desire to wake up that early is just.... not there. So far I've attempted to nurse him, bundle him, paci and back to bed. I've tried rocking him and not making eye contact. If I can settle him, it might last 15 minutes. I've even gotten so desperate as to let him work it out and cry for 10 minutes. That just escalates the problem. So I quit that plan quickly. His older brother is a polar opposite child. My man slept through the night ( 7pm-7:30 or 8 am)at 2 months and didn't look back except for bad teething nights. So, I don't have a clue how to handle this one. Any Mommies out there been through this or have any nuggets of wisdom? Thanks so much!

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So What Happened?

Thanks to all of my helpful Moms out there. I am doing a couple of things. My Mom recommended putting construction paper over the window at night to prevent the daylight from creeping in at 5am. That worked nicely. I also got the book Mi R recommended. I have never been a fan of the cry it out method until I read this. Great point, you don't seem to be as bothered by your child protesting about eating healthy foods, sharing or wearing a bicycle helmet for safety. Why would you not do the same about insisting he learn to soothe himself into sleep that he needs to be healthy? DANG!! It is brutal, but hopefully worth it. My man took an hour to cry himself to sleep. It nearly killed me. But he soothed himself which is something he hasn't done by himself so far. Maybe this will ooze into our 5am wakeup call as well. Thanks for the great tips. You Mamas ROCK!!

More Answers

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M.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

J.,

Are you feeding him at 2 or 3 am and then he wakes up again at 5?
My daughter was a 5am-er for a long time, it was horrible for me.
We took a trip to my moms house and she advice not to pick her up or feed her, let her cry and go back to sleep. After a few very torturous days of this, she never woke up that early again - well, for a long time, after she did it again, same things, we didn't tend to her as if, it's not time to be awake. No she sleep until 7 or 7:30.
My son also went through a 6am phase - he's 9 1/2 months and I'd walk in, give him the paci and he'd go back to sleep, if he didn't, we let him cry and go back to sleep.

I always hated the crying but I just couldn't function without my sleep either ....

I actually woke up at 5a.m. for a long time after she stopped doing it, it's just "resetting" your internal clock..

2 moms found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Cincinnati on

My nugget of wisdom would be to read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. He addresses the issue of the 'new early riser', which is what seems to be the issue with your baby.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.W.

answers from Cincinnati on

I feel for you! As hard as this sounds, try keeping him up in the morning, skipping his morning nap. Put him down as usual for his afternoon nap. Then put him down as usual for bed. He will be so tired, that he will sleep in the next morning. He might be ready to give up that morning nap. I know it sounds early, but it is the only thing that I could do to get my son to sleep through the night.

1 mom found this helpful
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L.C.

answers from Dayton on

I hate 5 AM. Me and 5AM are not friends. We don't talk and I don't seek out his company. I wonder how long your son's naps are. That might be the first thing I would look at. If he is sleeping too soundly during the day, I might either move up his nap times or eliminate one and go to just one a day. We always called them "power naps." Each child is different, which in my opinion is a blessing. They each have individual hurdles to jump, but they all each have individual things you are crazy about. I would manipulate naps and then bedtimes so that he sleeps more soundly at night.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.C.

answers from Fort Wayne on

It could be a growth spurt. My dd went through phases like that. It was AWFUL! I hate getting up that early! You may want to try black out shades in his bedroom. Since the sun is coming up earlier now, he may think it's wake up time.

1 mom found this helpful
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