Baby wakes up at 5am every morning...arrrghhh

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pinklotus

New member
I am not sure if this is a legitimate problem with my 7mth old baby waking up at 5am every morning for the past 2 mths . Is that normal?

Basically, she goes to bed around 730ishpm each night. Her last feed consist of solid food and a bottle of milk say around 160ml at 7pm. She does not get any mid night feed since she was 5 mths old. She sleeps thru most nights till morning.

During the day time - she naps only in total 2 hours max but mostly an 1.5 hours. And night sleep is around 9 hours. So in total she only gets a max of 11 hours sleep. Is that sufficient for 7 mth old?

How do I lengthen her night sleep? I have tried for weeks not getting going to her room ( she sleeps on her cot in a her own room) till 6am. She screams, cries ,etc etc. The room is dark enough ( there is black out curtain, night lamp and soft soft music in the background). She sleeps in the grobag since she was 2 months old. Not leaking thru her nappy although its soak).

I thot she may be hungry- so i started feeding her a bottle of milk in the morning at 5isham.. but she does not finish the bottle at all. I tried to pat her to sleep but she thinks its play time. So.. we have recently taken her out from her cot to sleep with us once she is awake. So that at least i can lie down in bed and she can just do the boogie woogie besides us.

So.. what can I do to help her ease back to sleep on her own? Or is that just her normal wake hours now? oh,,, she gets her morning nap around 9ish and that lasts from 30 mins to 45 mins.

Anyone has any tips and advice to share?

thanks!
panda- eyes mom.
 
it sounds like you are doing everything perfectly and that she might just be adjusting her own sleep schedule.

my son woke up at 5:45am on the dot around 7-8 months for about a month or two, then it moved to 6am-ish and now at 16 months he wakes up at 6:30am. I think it's totally natural and if she's sleeping through the night, you've got it good!! 11 hours is totally normal for that age and her day napping seems fine.

each baby is different and requires a different amount of sleep. as long as she's a happy camper when she wakes up then she's telling you, she's done and ready to start the day.

overtime she will adjust her sleep again so don't fret! i am sure she will wake up later on her own.
 
hi .. i have struggled with this recently as well. my 9 month old has been waking earlier and earlier for a few months now. He goes to bed at 7pm and then has been frequently waking at 5.30/5.50am (having previously slept til 7.15)
His daytime sleep isn't brilliant either. he has anything from 1.5hrs to 2.5hrs in total each day. Split between 2 or 3 naps depending how the day goes.
i also had tried everything you mention but this week - 2 nights ago - i tried putting him to bed earlier. 6.30pm. even though he didn't seem particularly tired - having just napped for 30mins from 4- 4.30pm!
well it worked. not a peep until 6.30am. Same again last night...bed at 6.40pm...not a peep until 6.50am!

the theory is that by 7.30pm they are too tired and fall into the deepest part of the sleep too early...or something like that. don't know! but try it.

I also try to make sure that the first nap of the day is not before 9am irrespective of waking time...if I can..sometimes he is just too tired and needs bed by 8am / 8.30....

good luck!
 
I have not figured out why, but am sure there's some medical explanation for it, but I have also found putting my children to bed for 15/30 mins earlier when they suddenly start to wake up earlier, actually made them sleep till later.
 
I have a toy that is attatched to the crib. The only time I use it is when my baby will wake up early and it seems to keep her calm and at least in the crib longer. My 7 month old goes to bed at 630ish but wakes up at least 4 times a night and still has a bottle at 4am but will go back to sleep until 730-8am. Have you tried using a toy?
 
hi megan

i have toys in the cot.. her favourite bear, a new leap frog toy and she has her security blanket with her! Today i put her to bed at 7ish.. she did not knock out totally till 7.30pm.. full feed of milk so she should not be hungry ( but who knows!).

pray pray pray that she will wake up at 6am! we tell her everynight to wake up just a little later.. will see what happens tomorrow.

thanks for the tips!
 
Both my babes have been early risers . My 10 monthold currently wakes up around 5:30, my 3 year old used to do the same until she was over 2 (she sleeps till about 6 now!). I did a lot of reading on the subject and the most advice I got was 'to a parents of early risers all we can offer is sympathy and that usually by school age they sleep in more." Some parents are just luckier (and less sleep deprived!) than others I guess. Funny thing is I'm used to it now :)
 
hi everyone

bubs woke up at 3am - cried for 1 min . i offered her a drink of water and she knocked off to bed. I belived she woke up at 6am . I am not sure if she did bc I did not hear her crying till she knocked off the baby monitor and it started beeping. It might just be a fluke today!but heck its a good start.

i do think she is an early riser.. i may have to resign to the fact that both hubby and i will be pretty much sleep deprived for a very, very, very long time.
 
Like WanFamily, we are used to our early riser. Our son wakes up at around 6:15am every morning, sometimes at 5:45am in which case we let him play in his crib until 6:15am. You just get used to it. I would much prefer a continuous sleep during the night so I cannot complain about his early morning wake-ups. My husband and I are just in bed at around 9:30pm....

As long as our son is happy and well rested when he wakes up and throughout the day, that's all the matters :)
 
same here, southside and wanfamily! totally agree and relate to that last post. my son goes to sleep at 645pm and on avg is up around 6am (on rare occasions 630, dare to dream!!) but i certainly cannot complain!

if it makes ya'll feel any better, i've read that early rising in babies/toddlers is a sign of superior intelligence (heehee, i'm not kidding). something about their brain activity getting going earlier than 'usual' and wanting up and out to do things and explore the world!
 
Yippee - good to know there are a few of us. So used to getting funny looks when I once in a blue moon I get to brag about having a 'lie in' until 6:10!!
 
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