Hello Ladies,
I have an almost 1 year old baby that for a week now, he's been waking up earlier than usual.
Our bedtime routine is 6:45 dinner, 7:20 bath and 8:00 crib. Then he'll wake up once or twice during the night, in which one of 2 I nurse him. Then by 7ish, he's awake, but lately, he's been waking up as early as 6:00am and screams and cries because he wants out of his crib. I try to leve him there as long as I can, hoping that he would fall asleep, but it doesnt work all the time, and when it does he wakes up within a few minutes. He sleeps in our room, because we dont have one for him, it's dark and I have a soothing rain machine playing.
Why is he doing this? Does he need a later bedtime?
Thank you
Are there toys in the crib to occupy him when he awakes early and have you considered a led night light. They usually put off less light than a regular night light, but use less electricity. Plug it close to his crib to that he can see to play and occupy himself. 8 is a good bedtime and the same time I put all of my children to bed regardless of age.
Hi M.,
My daughter is 17 months old and ever since she was about 10 months, she seems to go through periods of waking up early. She will do it for a week or two, then get back on her more normal routine. It is completely normal and the worst thing you can do (or so I have found) is to try to adjust the rest of his schedule. He'll work it all out. Babies are way more in tune with the natural rhythms of sunrise/sunset than we are and their little internal clocks do go through temporary and permanent changes. Hang in there...things will go back to normal soon. My daughter just went through a week of getting up at 4:30am but is back to her normal 6:30-7:00 wakeup call. :)
No, he doesn't need a later bedtime. My 5 children ages 1yo-9yo all go to bed at 8pm and wake up around 7:30am. I'm wondering how much your son naps during the day. Too little sleep during the day can result in poor sleep at night and cause them to wake early. On the other hand, too much napping during the day can also result in early waking because they have had enough sleep. The goal is to gradually move all sleep to the night time, so naps very gradually become shorter until they're gone. At 1 to 1 1/2 years old, my kids are always taking a 2 hour nap in the morning (10-noon) and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon (2-4). Right around 18mo the morning nap goes away, and they switch to taking a 3 hour nap after lunch. This afternoon nap gradually gets shorter (just because they start waking a little earlier) until finally it goes away close to 4yo. This amount of daily napping and about 11 hours of sleep at night is really what children need to be healthy and well rested so they're not fussy.
If your schedule already reflects a healthy amount of sleep, I would consider blackout curtains in his/your room to keep the sun from waking him. I would also cut out giving juice to drink and avoid all extra sugar during the day...too much sugar during the day can really affect night time sleep.
Also, at almost 1yo he really should be sleeping through the night. Because he's still waking 1-2 times, I question how well he's really sleeping. The only time I hear anything from my kids at night is when they have to pee...unless they're sick or something. If you'd like more help getting him to start sleeping through the night, you can contact me through my new site www.BetterMothers.com
Blessings,
Amy
My kids went through stages like this. It will probably pass. I don't think you should put him to bed any later than 8. I think that's the perfect bedtime for kids.
Try adjusting his bedtime. I had to do that with my 15 month old.
Goes to bed an hour later and stays asleep an hour later.
He was hungry earlier so I made sure he ate a lot before bed and I feed him first thing when he wakes up.
Make sure he has a little snack before bedtime (whatever you think is good: milk, nurse etc)
Oh and wet diapers were waking him up so I made sure I changed him RIGHT BEFORE bed and used some more absorpent (sp?) diapers.
Back on schedule now.
He's probably hungry and going through a growth spurt so I say get him up and feed him and try for a little later bedtime w/something to eat/drink milk right before bedtime.
And make sure he's super active throughout the day to make him tired for sleep at night.
He may be waking up hungry. Try a substantial snack after bath and see if that helps him sleep longer. It may also be that he just needs less sleep. If his daytime naps are longer than about an hour and a half, you could try making bed time later. However, if he's going to sleep just fine, I wouldn't mess with a good thing!
My daughter is an early riser & has been since about that age. I am sorry to say she has never "grown out of it" She is just a morning person. She is up at 5 am most mornings & 6 if I'm lucky. Of course now that she is 6 she can get herself some cereal & watch some cartoons, but at that young age it was a lot of early mornings for me! I finally surrendered got up & we would have breakfast & get ready for the day & then she would take a midday nap. Does your son nap? maybe just have to get up earlier & move his nap up...I am not a morning person but now I am lol!
My son wakes up several times between 1:30am and 9:30am. Sometimes he'll even sit straight up or crawl off the bed. Since we co-sleep I simply lay him back down and nurse him back to sleep. The quicker I get to him the better. I find nursing him back to sleep can delay his official wake-up time significantly. If you haven't already tried it - try nursing him to sleep while lying down next to him - it is now my preferred method of nursing.
