Baby wakes up everyday at 5am!!!!!

miriam228

miriam228

Registered User
Hi,

Have been reading some threads about above topic, and have some questions about this.

My 8 month old has been waking up everyday for the past month at around 5am (no later), crying. After several pats/rocks, she gets back to sleep and wakes up crying soon after. Then I would would BF her at around 6am. (Thought she may be teething? No, no new tooth, apart from the 2 lower ones.) Her last feed at night is at 10pm. Then sleeps through until 5am. Read several threads here that some babies go to bed at 7-7:30pm and sleep through the night until 5-6am!! Wow!!!! So jealous!!! How can they make their babies sleep for so long?? Can they really sleep for like 10 hrs stretch without waking up n the middle of the night???? Am thinking if I did that with my baby, would she wake up maybe at around 12-1am for a feed?!?!?! Surely sleeping earlier & more is a great thing for both mummy & baby, but how can you "force" your baby to sleep for so long?? What technique is there pls??

Is this just temporary? I read in an Australian magazine about babies sleep. It said that babies after 6 months old, their sleeping pattern will become like adults, "Deep sleep is before 12 midnight. 12-5 am is their dream sleep. After 5am is another deep sleep." What is a "dream sleep" pls?? So that means there really is some theory/myth about babies waking at 5am!

Can anyone offer any good advise/techniques to a very tired helper & mummy pls?!?!?! Thanks!!
 
Hi, my 9.5 month old is the same, wakes every day at around 5am. He will go back to sleep if I carry him and rock/pat him a bit but the point is I HAVE TO GET UP! I try not to feed him until at least 6:30am. But even if he is put back to sleep at 5am he will wake certainly by 7:30am. He goes to bed every night by 9:30 and his last feed is 11:30pm. This pattern has been in place since he's 6 months old. He is a pretty good sleeper unless he wakes at least once during the night, sometimes at 3am, sometimes at 5am.

Having said so, I am not that bothered and I don't really give it any attention althought I AM TIRED as I thought it's just a baby thing and babies do wake up some times during the night. Therefore, if anyone has any special technique I'd love to try.
 
Hi OX Jess,

Goes to bed at 9:30 pm and last feed at 11:30 pm?? So that means you take him out of bed at 11:30 pm to feed him whilst he's sleeping? Will they take the feed whilst they are asleep already??

(Sorry, I'm a first time mom!)
 
I've been following the Gina Ford schedule since my baby was very young, and it has worked really well. He sleeps from 8p.m. to 7:30/8a.m. with one feed at midnight. I think there are two things that you could look into:
1) How many hours does your baby sleep during the day? I think an 8-month-old only needs 14-15 hours of sleep a days. If she sleeps more during the night, she doesn't need that much sleep in the night.
2) How dark is your baby's nursery? It's very easy for older babies to wake up early in the morning even with just a glimpse of the light. My baby's nursery is very dark when I close the curtain even during the day.

Good luck!
 
Miriam,

Yes, most of the time he is still sleeping when I feed him at 11:30pm but I think sucking from a feeding bottle is babies' reflex. Of course when I pick him up and offer him the bottle, he may open his eyes and look at me then he will close his eyes and finish his milk. I won't put him straight into bed after the feed, instead I will sit him up for awhile and give some slight pats on his back for a couple of minutes.
 
Workingmom1975,

1) My baby does not sleep so much during the day time. She's a very light sleeper. From what my helper tells me, she can sleep consecutively for 2-3 hrs once. The rest of her naps are just like for an hour or so. She doesn't sleep that much, compared to other babies I read/know about.

2) Her nursery, is not dark at all. Her curtains are champagne colored. Would a pitch-dark room make her sleep longer??

Thanks ~
 
BTW, my baby becomes really sleepy from about 9pm. However, I won't let her sleep until she has her last feed at 10pm. I'm worried if she sleeps so early, she'll be up at 12-1am!!

Am I wrong to think like that???
 
Yes! Sleep begets sleep. Earlier your baby sleeps, later she will get up. Seriously!:) Why is that? Because more overtired a baby, less s/he sleeps. Yesterday, because my son was too excited during the day (a beach day) to take his full midday nap- I put him to bed at 6pm. He woke up at 6:30am.
 
Sounds so strange, Suv!! "Earlier your baby sleeps, later she will get up." That's really hard to believe!!!!

Must give it a try tonight!!!! Can't wait!!

Thanks!!!!!
 
:D yes, do give it a try- it does sound counter intuitive but it really works! Forgot to add- I also work with Gina Ford routine in general but I could never get my kid to sleep till 7am or 8am. Neither have I ever used blackout curtains. She does say though that around 5am, kids are in their lighter sleep pattern. And I have found that to be true with my baby- any sound and he wakes right up.
 
"BTW, my baby becomes really sleepy from about 9pm. However, I won't let her sleep until she has her last feed at 10pm. I'm worried if she sleeps so early, she'll be up at 12-1am!! "

Miriam,
I don't think you should KEEP your baby up till her last feed... Doesn't sound sensible and sounds pretty 'inhumane' to me indeed. If she shows any sign of sleepiness, let her sleep!! Don't worry about waking her for the last feed - she will take the feed, trust me. If she is in DEEP sleep and doesn't open her mouth, use your own way to wake her up a bit (slightly squeeze her hand, pat on her face, touch her lips...etc). If I didn't have to work full time, I would put my son to sleep earlier than 9:30. And, another important thing is: keep your baby's bed time regular, i.e. I turn off the light by 9pm and put some light music on, which is a message to my son that it is a time for bed. He knows he has to quiet down and soon get into sleepy mood and fall into sleep. Then, back to the topic of this thread: how can I make my baby sleep longer and not wake up every day at 5am? I have no answer really.
 
And, another problem with my son is that he has a pair of super-sensitive ears!!!!! A tiny bit of sound, whatever the sound of the toilet flush, close of a wardrobe door, etc. he will wake up! Me & my husband have to WHISHPER to each other whenever he is asleep! Arrgghhh!
 
I know it's so cruel to keep her awake when she's yawning and rubbing her eyes.....!!!

Will try tonight to let her sleep when she's sleepy and pick her up again around 10-10:30pm for her night feed.

Hope it'll work!!
 
9pm is so late for a bedtime . . .

By 7/8 months your baby SHOULD be able to sleep through the night without a feed and have all she/he needs to sustain themselves from their day feedings. Yes, it's easier said then done. When my son was in a crib, his bedtime was 7pm and he was up at 6am without a feed Occassionally, he would cry once in the night, but we would let him cry and he would put himself back to sleep.

Blackout curtains are key. From around 4 - 7, your baby goes into a light sleep . . . From 6 - 14 months, my son slept 30-45 mins in the morning, then 1.5 hours in the afternoon.

Miriam, can I ask you why you give her a nightfeed?
 
If your baby is 8 months old, she really should be able to get through the night without a feed, even one at 10pm. Completely agree with SUV, sleep begets sleep at this age. My four month old sleeps 4 to 4.5 hours during the day and for the last couple of weeks does 7 to 7 most nights with a dream feed at 10.30pm.
I would definitely recommend looking at some kind of sleep training book. Gina Ford is one. I personally have used Save Our Sleep by Tizzie Hall which worked for me and there are plenty of others that have been discussed on this site.
Also I think a lot of mums with early risers would suggest you treat 5am like you would if it was 3am. If you get them up and act like it is morning they won't learn to sleep longer.
 
Southside852,

Her last feed is at about 10pm, in hopes she can go to sleep on a full stomach and not wake up in the middle of the night. Is that considered a night feed? (Don't know what I should/shouldn't do...)

Then she'll start waking up at about 5am, helper pats/rocks her, then she'll go back to sleep again and at about 6~7am, she'll wake up again and I'll BF her before going to work. Then she'll often stay awake, helper changes her nappy, cleanses her face and gives her her bfast cereals at about 8-8:30am, then she'll go back to sleep again.
 
Miriam, one thing to consider, if your baby DOES go to bed an hour earlier, then in the morning, she may wake up earlier - however I'm sure that it would be easier to get her back to sleep at 4am than at 5am!! I know with my daughter, I'd rather her wake at 4am than at 6am - because at 4am, she's definitely going to go back to sleep but at 6am, that's it for the night.

I never really followed a schedule, I was more "baby led" (although with some gentle prodding, I wasn't COMPLETELY baby led) - if she's tired, put her down for a nap. If she's tired and it's close to her bed time, put her down for the night. A lot of things were trial and error, but I think it's easier to follow their natural body clock than to try and force them into a pattern that suits you...
 
Nicolejoy, just read a bit of your blog....

Deeply saddened and sorry about your situation!!!!

You have my best wishes and support!!!!!!

:)
 
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