Baby wakes up everyday at 5am!!!!!
- Thread starter miriam228
- Start date
The reason I give one last feed to my son at 11ish every night (except when he has dinner so late at 8:00am - but normally he has his dinner by 6:00) is because I want him to have two bottles of milk every day. I believe, despite how good he is fed on solid food (he is now fed 2-3 proper meals a day, cereal+yogurt for breakfast, one proper lunch and one proper dinner), a baby at his age still needs nutrition from milk. My son is a bit 'strange', he refuses milk except one at his waking hour and one when he is half asleep at night. I try to feed him one bottle in the afternoon but in vain. I think, every baby is different. I don't follow all the rules. I'd rather see what my baby needs and what I'm comfortable with.
Workingmom1975
Registered User
Miriam,
I am a first-time mom so only know what has worked for my baby so far. I am also a "working mom" so have tried hard to fit my baby's schedule into the whole family's since the beginning (otherwise it would have been more like "DH-led" instead of "baby led" after I came back to work). The key things I pay attention to are (mainly based on Gina Ford's method):
- A pitch-dark room with blackout curtains. My baby certainly started to wake up later after I changed it.
- Similar to Southside 852, my baby has a 30-min nap in the morning and 2-hour nap in the afternoon. He then gets close to 12 hours of sleep from 8p.m. to 8a.m.
- No nap after 4p.m. so that he's ready for bed at 8p.m.
- If my baby wakes up at 5a.m., my helper will leave him alone and give him plenty of time to resettle himself (sleep training). She'll only pats him if he starts to cry really loud and wakes up people in other rooms.
Hope it helps!
I am a first-time mom so only know what has worked for my baby so far. I am also a "working mom" so have tried hard to fit my baby's schedule into the whole family's since the beginning (otherwise it would have been more like "DH-led" instead of "baby led" after I came back to work). The key things I pay attention to are (mainly based on Gina Ford's method):
- A pitch-dark room with blackout curtains. My baby certainly started to wake up later after I changed it.
- Similar to Southside 852, my baby has a 30-min nap in the morning and 2-hour nap in the afternoon. He then gets close to 12 hours of sleep from 8p.m. to 8a.m.
- No nap after 4p.m. so that he's ready for bed at 8p.m.
- If my baby wakes up at 5a.m., my helper will leave him alone and give him plenty of time to resettle himself (sleep training). She'll only pats him if he starts to cry really loud and wakes up people in other rooms.
Hope it helps!
I remember my son going through these phases as well. He is over 2 years now and sleeps 12 hrs at night; goes to bed at 7pmish and wakes up at 7amish. What is important is that your little ones nap time is not too long and not too late in the day. No napping after 4pm anymore and no more than 2hrs. When my son woke up early in the mornings, I would make my getting up dependant on his type of crying, but usually a few minutes later, like 5mins, he would resettle and go back to sleep himself. But it sounds like your little one got in a habit of waking up at 5am already and it takes a while for him to adapt to a new pattern again. Also he got used to you rocking him back to sleep, so he can't resettle himself anymore. If it was me, I would let him cry. Slowly extend the time, start with like a few minutes until you go in and then increase to 5 mins, then increase to 7mins, etc.
Good luck!
Good luck!
miriam228
Registered User
Workingmom1975, lucky you, to have a baby with such a good sleeping pattern!!
Noticed one thing you mentioned: "- No nap after 4p.m. so that he's ready for bed at 8p.m." So, I should deliberately keep her up?? Would that be too cruel/make her overtired, causing to sleep less?
Mine has a nap from about 5/6pm (after her "dinner") until about 7pm..... So that may be the cause....?? Once my helper let her sleep from 7pm and she woke at 11pm, WIDE AWAKE until 2am!!!!!!!!!
Noticed one thing you mentioned: "- No nap after 4p.m. so that he's ready for bed at 8p.m." So, I should deliberately keep her up?? Would that be too cruel/make her overtired, causing to sleep less?
Mine has a nap from about 5/6pm (after her "dinner") until about 7pm..... So that may be the cause....?? Once my helper let her sleep from 7pm and she woke at 11pm, WIDE AWAKE until 2am!!!!!!!!!
miriam228
Registered User
Tini, yes, my LO is being rocked back to sleep when she awakes. My mom & helper would not allow her to cry back to sleep on her own, no matter how much I prefer her to sleep on her own ....
Luckily last night, she slept through the night and woke up at 0630 this morning!
Luckily last night, she slept through the night and woke up at 0630 this morning!
miriam228
Registered User
One more thing. She has her short naps in the morning, and SOMETIMES longer naps in the afternoon, for about 2 hours. If no afternoon nap, she will become very tired after her bath followed by dinner, at about 5-6pm. Then normally, she would start to yawn at about 8-9pm.
Last night, she was very awake and alert at night, until she had her bedtime feed at 10pm. Then slept through the night until 0630 this morning.....
Last night, she was very awake and alert at night, until she had her bedtime feed at 10pm. Then slept through the night until 0630 this morning.....
Workingmom1975
Registered User
Hi Miriam,
Glad to know that your baby slept well last night! To answer your question, overtireness is something my baby rarely experiences coz I really care about this. I always encourage my baby to sleep 1.5-2 hours in the early afternoon (e.g., 1:30-3:30p.m.), which gives him enough energy to last to 8p.m. without being too tired. That's what I meant by no nap after 4p.m.
Therefore, if you want your baby to go to bed at 9/10p.m., you probably wanna make sure that she gets a good nap in the afternoon but no after 5/6p.m.
Glad to know that your baby slept well last night! To answer your question, overtireness is something my baby rarely experiences coz I really care about this. I always encourage my baby to sleep 1.5-2 hours in the early afternoon (e.g., 1:30-3:30p.m.), which gives him enough energy to last to 8p.m. without being too tired. That's what I meant by no nap after 4p.m.
Therefore, if you want your baby to go to bed at 9/10p.m., you probably wanna make sure that she gets a good nap in the afternoon but no after 5/6p.m.
southside852
Registered User
our son naps no later than 3pm and for no longer than 2 hours. We start our dinner at 5:30pm and he's in bed reading stories at 7pm. We've had this routine since 4 months old.
When our son took 2 naps a day, his first was at 9am for about 45 minutes then another one at 1pm - 2:30pm.
When our son took 2 naps a day, his first was at 9am for about 45 minutes then another one at 1pm - 2:30pm.
southside852
Registered User
3 months still might be early to impose a strict routine so let your baby lead you. If what you are doing is working for you and your family, then by all means stick with it! Why change, what doesn't need to be I think this forum is just used to just gather information and research and then you make an informed decision. Take only what you want....
For our son, I think it's all about the timing of the naps. By 12 months, my son could stay up for about 4-5 hours straight. So his afternoon nap would be from about 1pm - 2:30/3pm.
In the earlier days (i.e. 6 - 12 months), our son slept from 8:30/9 - 9:30/10am, then the same afternoon nap. He ran around outside in the afternoon, playdates. I guess the key for our son was not have any downtime so he couldn't get bored. If I felt like he was getting tired early, then I would just start our bedtime routine at 5pm and he was asleep by 6:30pm.
Personally, I believe 8pm is way too late for a baby to be put to bed.....
I think this forum is just used to just gather information and research and then you make an informed decision. Take only what you want....For our son, I think it's all about the timing of the naps. By 12 months, my son could stay up for about 4-5 hours straight. So his afternoon nap would be from about 1pm - 2:30/3pm.
In the earlier days (i.e. 6 - 12 months), our son slept from 8:30/9 - 9:30/10am, then the same afternoon nap. He ran around outside in the afternoon, playdates. I guess the key for our son was not have any downtime so he couldn't get bored. If I felt like he was getting tired early, then I would just start our bedtime routine at 5pm and he was asleep by 6:30pm.
Personally, I believe 8pm is way too late for a baby to be put to bed.....
Workingmom1975
Registered User
Hi Babane76,
My baby is 6-month-old already so he can stay awake from 4-8p.m. However, when he was 3-month-old, he usually napped for 15-30 minutes between 5-6p.m. so that he wouldn't be overtired by 8p.m.
My baby is 6-month-old already so he can stay awake from 4-8p.m. However, when he was 3-month-old, he usually napped for 15-30 minutes between 5-6p.m. so that he wouldn't be overtired by 8p.m.
Hi Banane76,
Agree with what the others have said. At your baby's age, most babies still need an afternoon nap to get them through. But if you are aiming for a 7ish bedtime I would not let her sleep past 5.30pm. Most babies will be able to go without this nap between 4 and 6 months. My four month old still does it every day but I have to walk her in her pram and she doesn't always do a full 40 mins any more.
Agree with what the others have said. At your baby's age, most babies still need an afternoon nap to get them through. But if you are aiming for a 7ish bedtime I would not let her sleep past 5.30pm. Most babies will be able to go without this nap between 4 and 6 months. My four month old still does it every day but I have to walk her in her pram and she doesn't always do a full 40 mins any more.
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