Monday, July 2, 2007
Early bird
NJ has turned into quite the early bird. He used to wake up 6:30/7:00am but these days, he is waking up for the day at 5:00/5:30. He used to wake up at 4/5 and I'd nurse him on one side, and he'd sleep until 6:30 or so and I'd top him off and start the day. These days, even if I nurse him on one side at 4/5, he wakes up at 5/5:30 still. The only thing different these days is that he is on solids 2x a day and his bedtime has gradually shifted little by little from 7:30 to 8:00. There is a biiiig difference between the 6:30 and 5:30! Any suggestions to keep him asleep a little longer?
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7 comments:
Hey Kyung! What does he do when he wakes up? Does he talk or cry? Kathryn went through a phase where she'd wake up at like 6 and talk to herself for half an hour or so, then go back to sleep until her normal wake-up time (8). I would just leave her in her crib since I knew that she should sleep from 8-8. Every now and then she will wake up a little early but is happy to play on her own until I get her. If she wakes up earlier than 7, though, and is crying, I suspect something other than hunger is wrong (as this is rare), so I'd check on her in that case (dirty diaper, teeth coming in, or stuck in a strange position have caused this). I take care of the issue and put her back in with her Lovey until it's time to get up, unless she's really, really awake. You might try giving NJ a chance to fall back asleep before getting him if he's up real early.
Rachel woke up this morning at 5:30 too. Usually I can nurse her if she's hungry and then re-position or just re-position w/ lovey/pacifier. But, she went through about 2-3 weeks of what you've described (when she was the same age as NJ)....then it got better - so far w/ only a few hiccups here and there. Also, the later I put her to bed, generally, the earlier she wakes up. Last night, she didn't get to sleep until a little after 8PM due to church (and her bedtime is usually by 7:30...sometimes 7)....then she woke up at 5:30....and would not go back to sleep. What I've noticed is that the less sleep she gets, the less likely she is to sleep more...weird, but I've found it's the case. I guess it makes sense too b/c I've noticed it for me too....the less I sleep, the harder it it is to get to sleep. All you can do is just keep trying to get him to squeak out until as close to 7 (or his normal wake-up time) as possible. Sometimes that means I just let her talk to herself from 6:30 to 7 AM as long as she's not crying. It's a tough time b/c at that time in the AM, if they become too alert, it's just too hard to get them to sleep....even if I avoid eye contact - she still squeals and kicks her legs....w/ her pacifier in her mouth.
Oh, one other thing. If he wakes up at 4/5 to feed, try nursing both sides....see if that makes a difference. I did that a few weeks ago, and then I started going back to just one side and then eventually she wasn't waking up at the 4/5 mark. W/ the 5:30 mark, it's usually just a tough time for her to transition into her last 1.5 hours of sleep....last part of her sleep cycle. I do what I can, but sometimes, nothing works except letting her get up for the day, and trying to hold off nursing until as close to 7 as possible.
thanks gals. he cries when he wakes up at 4/5 (hungry i guess) but around 5:30ish, he just babbles or whines here and there. i'll try leaving him in there a little longer and see what happens.
jill- i noticed that he wakes earlier the later he goes to bed as well. but he just won't go to sleep around 7/7:30 anymore. i'll try waking him early from his last nap today and see what happens.
Rachel has nights here and there that she fights sleep at night too...but I'd prob recommend to just keep doing what you were doing...eventually they seem to go back (from my meager 7 mo of experience). Sometimes w/ Rachel she's overtired, or it's her teeth, or it's a gas bubble, or she just needs a smidge more love, etc...or it's a combo. So, it takes a little detective work and a lot of patience. For instance, tonight, we had to go back in 3 separate times over the course of about 45 min. When Ben went in the second time, he got a burp out of her. I said that if we had to go back in a 3rd time, I'd give her Tylenol since it seemed like when she was nursing at 7, she was overtired and possibly her teeth were bothering her. I hate to give medicine if I'm not sure, so I waited it out. I'll probably be up early b/c of waiting it out since she didn't seem to eat a whole lot. Oh well. You can't win every time. But, sure enough, she cried again after Ben went in, so I gave her tylenol....which she happens to love - sad:) Then I rocked her to sleep....yeah, I know, it's a no-no, but I didn't want to go back in a 4th time. It's not that bad to do every now and then:) Plus, she's kinda snuggly too:)
According to all the sleep books that I read when Chloe was under 1 yr old, the pediatricians say that moving the bedtime earlier actually makes the babies sleep longer. It seems so counterintuitive, but it worked for us. I do know what you mean by early riser though. We dealt with the same issue, and one thing we did especially with the earlier sunrise and later sunsets of summer was to make Chloe's room as dark as possible so that the sun wasn't waking her up.
sorry Kyung my H is the same thing right now and he's happy to wake up at 5:30 sharp like a clock. I just brought him to my bed, turn on baby Einstein (he'd sit there with cushions around him to prevent him from crawling), and I'd close my eyes with a finger on him to make sure he's next to me. :) lazy mommy! that won't last long tho, after 20 minutes the movie is finished, I have to take him downstairs to start the day together. Julia has a good point about the longer daylight. It's so crazy that tehre's light at 9pm, so the early dawn might have woken him.
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