5am waking >.<

[SoupDragon]

DD is 7 months old and since the 4 month sleep regression has not been a good sleeper at night. She naps fine during the day - sleeps on me for an hour after she's been up 3 hours or so, then will nap again on me for an hour or so early/mid afternoon...sometimes she has a lunchtime nap as well but she's been gradually dropping to just the two naps.

We start her bedtime routine at 6, and have done since she was 12 weeks old...she's tired and ready for bed by then and uuuuuusually goes to sleep fairly easily. Sometimes it's a struggle, but usually only if I've let her nap too close to bedtime, which is less of a problem these days. She's usually asleep by 6.30-7.

She's restless through the evening - if she loses her dummy she cries til I go and replace it, and occasionally she'll wake upset for no apparent reason.

Then any time between 10pm-1am, she will want her first night feed, and she comes into bed with me as she won't settle after that in her cot. She has another feed around 3am-ish.

And then, just before 5am...PING, wide awake baby No hope of getting her back to sleep...she's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, giggling and chattering, and climbs all over us...no chance of keeping her quietly occupied til 6 when we get up.

So...is this early waking normal? When will she grow out of it? (I know, how long is a piece of string, right?) Can we do anything to help her sleep a bit longer? I hoped dropping a nap would help, but it hasn't, and keeping her up *any* later doesn't work either, it just turns her into a cranky mess of a baby :/ Would be grateful for other ideas though...me and DH really need some !

 

[lisaalove]

Do you have black out curtains? / is your room dark?
My son now 4 1/2 would still wake up at 5 am if we didn't have black out curtains in his room.

 

[angelwings7]

my 2 1/2 yr old still wakes up at 5am and he has black out blinds!

 

[SoupDragon]

We don't, actually...she has blackout curtains in her room, but we don't in ours. We have a big bay window and the curtains are thick and lined but don't block all the light out...hmm, I wonder if that would help...would need to find some quite cheap ones though as the window is a funny shape and don't want to spend a fortune if it doesn't work, lol. I will look into it, thank you

 

[AnonymousCAT]

Try garbage bags maybe to start?

 

[Tattoo]

my 2 1/2 yr old still wakes up at 5am and he has black out blinds!

This.

The Gro Anywhere blind might suit for your bay window, as it's on suction cups, so should adapt to any shape.

 

[lisaalove]

I know some people who use tinfoil so you could always try that
good luck!

 

[AK89]

I think if she's asleep by 7, she may have just had enough sleep. My LO is normally in bed between 7 and 8pm and then up between 5 and 6am. I think it's normal!

 

[DCS]

Unfortunately, some kids are just early risers, like my two. Don't think either have ever slept past 7.3, even that is rare. Usually they are up around 5/6. we tried everything with DS, early/ later bedtime, black out blinds, more naps, less naps, changing bedtimeroutine, everything. Nothing worked for us.
THats not to say it won't for you, bu everyone kept telling me he would grow out of it or to try something else and I figured my kid was broken. he just turned 4, and is still up day. We just go to bed earlier.
Good luck, hope the blackout curtains or something else helps.

 

[Leliana]

Yep going through the same! DS used to wake at 7.30 for his feed but it has started to get earlier and earlier. Today he woke at 4.50am!! Wide awake too like you say! It does get better. I keep telling myself that DD did the same. I could never imagine it getting better but she now sleeps in until almost 8am and has done since October. I can't remember the last time she woke before 6.30am so it must have got better ages ago.