Early Waking 11-Month Old

Hi K.,
It sounds like it's time to switch to one nap a day. My son started the process around this time. We started laying him down 15 minutes later then moved it back every few days until he was only taking one nap. It ended up being at 12 noon for about 4 long months and then we moved it back to 1 pm. He is now 2 1/2 and still takes a nap at 1.
Otherwise try putting him to bed 15-30 minutes earlier. I know this sounds backwards but it works.
S.

Have you tried just laying on the floor next to his crib? This is what I do when my son will wake up unexpectedly in the night. I do not get him out of his crib because that will wake him up even more. I just lay on the floor where he can hold my hand or I can rub his head or back. Sometimes he just likes knowing I am there. I turn on his sound machine and some soft music. This seems to help and he usually falls back to sleep easily within 5-15 minutes.
I started doing this when it was apparent nothing else was wrong. He didn't need a diaper change, fed, etc.
HTH,
A.

it could have something to do with the sun rising earlier now? I love summer, but I HATE that my 6 year old doesn't think its bed time because the sun hasn't gone down yet, or wants to wake up at 6 am because the sun is out!

So maybe some heavier curtains might help. It has helped me. Good luck on getting some rest! :)

I hate to say it -- but I think you have just got to deal with it for a while.

I have seen many other parents posting the same question and we ourselves have gone through it. We tried the bed earier suggestion -- it only made going to bed more challenging for us. We also tried less nap time and later bedtimes and honestly nothing really worked.

About a month ago I bought a Good Nights Night Light -- and it has worked WONDERS!!!!!!

I don't know if your son would be ready for it yet but basically the night light is on a timer (set by you) and is the "moon" when it is sleep time -- all night and then turns into the "sun" when it is time to get up. I wish we had bought this somewhere between 18 mo -- 24 mos with my son.

Good luck.

I agree with the previous posts, put him down for bed a half hour or even an hour earlier even though it seems counter-intuitive. My goes down at 7pm and sleeps until 6:30-7:30am (depends on the day and if he hears me up and about in the morning on weekdays). We went through similiar phases of him wanting to get up earlier, but we just don't go to him if he wakes up early and most times he just falls back asleep. I never go in his room before 6:30am.

It does sound like he does need to switch to a one nap a day. I put my son down for his nap around 1 or 2 and he will usually sleep for two hours. We then put him down for bed between 8 or 9 and no later then 9. He usually will not fuss and he sleeps for 11-12 hours. It is nice because my husband and I are not early risers either. Well that has changed because we just had a new born on the 7th and our first son is 16 months old and he has stayed on this routine for about 5 or 6 months now. Good luck.

K.,
I know this might sound odd, but when this happened to my daughter, our pediatrician told us to try putting her down to sleep earlier. We looked at him kind of funny, but he said her hyper activity in the evening was due to her being overtired. We started to move bedtime earlier, just a bit at a time, and we saw big improvements. I won't say she started sleeping in until 8 or 9 (dream), but she did start sleeping until 6:30-7:00. We are happy with this, seeing that she is waking up happy. Give it a try...he might just need the extra sleep.

Good luck!

I agree that he may be going to bed too late. My son who is now 18 months has been going to bed around 6:30 since he was 8 or 9 months old. He sleeps from 6:30/7:00 to between 6:30 and 7:30 in the morning. "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" is a great resource that explains this thought process.

We use the sleep book called Good Night, Sleep Tight by K. West. It works wonders and it is a gentle approach so you won't have to let him cry it out. But he should be taking a morning nap, starting at about 9, and then an afternoon nap starting around 1. And bedtime should be around 7. Being that he wakes up at the 45 minute mark that is his partial wakening. He just needs to learn how to put himself back to sleep. And the early rising is probably due to the fact that he is a little sleep deprived. Try putting him to bed earlier and then once that gets better you can work on the naptime training. But I can't recommend that book enough. It has worked great for out two kids. And it goes all the way up to age 5 so it is great for all the different developmental stages they have. Hope this helped some.

Hi K., my son who is now 18 months went through many of the same things you are going through. He was a horrible napper and liked to get up early! After a few different approaches, we found a routine that worked for us, if it helpful at all: My son moved to one nap a day around 11 months. He is awake through lunch (around 11:45) then takes his nap. Sometimes he only sleeps 45min, some days 2 hours(heaven!). After nap, he is up until bedtime, which is anytime from 6:30 and 7pm, and sleeps to 6-7am. If we wakes up early, we have some board books in his crib that he plays with or he will turn on and watch his fish aquarium that plays music.

I agree with the other post, try putting him down a half hour earlier at night. It sounds odd, but does work. I would also suggest consider modifying his nap schedule so he gets one quality nap during the day, rather than 2. Good luck!

As far as when he wakes, what is usually waking up for? Is he hungry or thirstyu wehen he wakes or is just waking to play or just to talk? If he is waking because he is hungry, then try putting a little bit of baby rice cereal in his bottle with the formula or breast milk that he is drinking. I had a daughter like this and she just would seem to be so hungry all the time and I started to do that for her and she started to sleep all night long till 7 or 7:30. And if he is thirsty maybe give him a sippy or something he can take to bed with him, with water in it. I hope this helps a little bit.

I remember when my kids were this age and we would put our baby to bed around 8:30 or 9:00. This helped them sleep until 7 or so.