Help. I have a 16 month old who has always been on a schedule since I adopted him at 4 months. He starting sleeping through the night at/around 6 months and even slept until 6:30 or 7 am until around 11 months. And he also used to take two 1-1/2 - 2 hour naps/day with no problem. But ever since around 12 or 13 months, he started waking up at 4:30-5:0 a.m consistently. He also started refusing to take a 2nd nap. So, now he gets up at 5 am and only takes one nap in the am. I re-read Dr. Weissbluth's book and started putting him to bed at 6 pm rather than 7. This helped for a week or so, and he started waking up at 6 am. But then it went right back to 5 or 5:15. I know he is teething. And he might be going through growing pains. He is also eating like a horse so it seems hard to believe he is hungry in the am, although he seems starving. Maybe he is just an early riser, but I am exhausted getting up at 5 am each day and also I think he gets over-tired since he takes only one nap from around 9:30-11. I also don't see how to push his naps later since he is only taking one nap and getting up so early. His caregiver and I try each and every day for two, but he just won't go down. Any suggestions would be very helpful. Many thanks
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I will try pushing his bedtime later and giving a snack. I tried a later bedtime before and it didn't seem to make a difference. I put him at 7, 8, 8:30 and he still woke up at 5 am. Then I read Dr. W's book again who said to put him down earlier (counter intuitive I know) That was a few months so, so I will try it again. Today, he woke up at 5 am and I didn't go in. He cried for 45 min straight. It has been like this for the last few weeks. I have not been going in until 6 am, but he still wakes up at 5 am and cries (sometimes screams) until 6. It is excruciating to say the least. And there are so many opinions on what to do or not. But I will take some of your advice, give it a go and let you know. Many thanks!
I also agree: Don't run to him at 5 am when he gets up. Let him play in his crib and soon he'll realize you're not coming, and doze off. He is waking up daily at 5 because he knows you will come to him; it's a habit. Break the habit. It may take 3-4 days of crying/fussing, but babies learn fast. Good luck!!!
Dr. Weissbluth's book addresses this - unless he has a 'need' at 5 AM, there really is no reason to go to him. Our baby started doing this, waking first at 5:45 then backing it up almost all the way to 4:45. He wasn't hungry, hurt, poopy, etc; he just wanted us to get up and play with him. It was hard, but we decided not to go to him until 6:00 at the earliest. Much to our surprise, he'd cry and fuss for about 10-15 minutes and then go to sleep...until around 7:00! It took about 3-4 days of not running to him and the problem was solved.
Wow.... I'm not an early riser. Forgive me but I cannot comprehend putting anyone to bed at 6pm or 7pm and expecting them to not wake up around 4am or 5am. I know babies and toddlers need a certain amount of sleep but needing and doing it are two different things. Some babies are not going to follow our schedules not matter how hard we try.
Instead of 7pm try 9pm for bedtime. I know you may think this is late but if you don't like rising so early in the morning, putting your baby down later may give you the rest you need as well. You'r no good to yourself, your child or your job without proper rest.
I let my toddler stay up until 9pm and she sleeps until 8 or 9 the next morning. Her naps have been a challenge from time to time but when she doesn't nap, she sleeps a lot more at night.
Good luck~~
M
Hello S., I have a 16 month old boy too. He only takes 1 nap a day as well. His schedule is a bit different than the one you are living with. Right now I put Austin to bed between 9pm and 11pm. He usually wakes up 1 time through the night but I don't go to him. He fusses for a short time and puts himself back to sleep. He will then sleep until between 8am and 11am. Then I get him up. Depending on what time he got up, his nap is between 12pm and 2pm. That's it. I don't know how we do it but we do. I take cues from him. If he's tired, I lay him down. If he isn't tired, he stays up. I do have some trouble getting him to go to sleep lately but I've been letting him cry some when I know that nothing is wrong and he will settle down and go to sleep. He also has an aquarium hanging on his crib and he will turn that on when he wakes up. I know there are times when Austin will wake up really early (he'll hear my husband leave for work or something). I hear him wake up and talk to himself but I'm quiet and I don't go in there. Again he puts himself back to sleep. I do share a snack with him later in the night. Like an hour or so before bed. One of our favorite snacks to share is Light and Fit Yogurt. Perhaps you just need a late night snack to share so he won't be starving in the am. That's about all the advice I can offer. I know it probably isn't very helpful but it's what we do. If I can be of any further help or answer any questions about our routine, please send me a message. Shannon
PS. I'm kinda curious about the work that you put down. What exactly do you do? Sounds like it could be interesting.
At about 16 months my son went from one nap to 2. After we realized he wasn't gonna sleep twice we tried to keep him awake until later for his one nap. Now, he usually takes a 3 hour nap around 2 and goes to bed at 9pm. He usually wakes anywhere between 7-9am. When he wakes up earlier than we want I will sometimes go turn the TV on for him. And he will usually go back to sleep. It works for us!
Hi S.,
Congratulations on your adoption.
My daughter was also a 4 to 5 am baby. My son was sleeping until 7am by 3 months, she slept until 5 am for ever and ever.
But my husband broke her of the 5 am waking.
It was torture to me, but it worked.
Basically, he didn't pick her up.
She cried and eventually drifted off.
I couldn't believe that it worked.
Now that she's 17 months, and this has been going strong for over 6 months, my son is 6 months and that's when my hubby took over her in the AM.
Basically since he didn't pick her up, she drifted, cried at first, then learned it was futile and went back to sleep.
She now goes down at 7:30 to 8pm. Awakes between 730am and 830am ;) and naps from 12:30 or 1 to 2:20 to 3:30pm
Love it!
M ;)
Hi S.,
My boy is just 10 months, but I had a similar situation, and I just started giving him a little snack before bed and I pushed his bedtime to an hour later. It used to be 7 and now it's closer to 8. Also, when he did wake up, around 4 am or so, I just let him fuss. It took about 30 minutes and he fell back asleep until 7am. It only took that one night of me letting him cry and he sleeps great now, usually until 6 or 7. It's amazing how quickly babies will learn. I would really try a later bedtime and maybe a light snack before bed. Good luck!
Hi S.,
Congrats on your son! I'm a fellow int'l adoptive mom but my son is from Korea.
Mine also wakes up at 5am - and it's exhausting! Lately, I'll just kiss him and put him back down like I would if it was the middle of the night. He'll stay quiet for an extra half an hour or so after that so I can get bit more rest.
I don't put him down for his nap until 1pm, but some days he will be so tired that I put him down at 12:30. Basically, I do my best to keep him occupied throughout the morning so that he can make it to that afternoon nap.
He also goes to bed at 7pm.
So, try to see if he'll go back down for a bit in the morning or try to push his nap to the early afternoon.
Best of luck!!!!
M.
