Early waking at 10 months old

[Rachel320]

Hi all,

Looking for support/advice here. My 10 month LO is (and always has) waking around 5am every morning and I just can’t find a solution to stretch her out to even 6am.

It doesn’t matter how much or little she naps during the day, how late or early she goes to bed, how much food she’s eaten etc - every scenerio she’ll still wake around 5am.

Every other mum I speak to whose baby is this age is sleeping much later by this point. The only pro of my LOs sleep is that if she’s in her own environment then she will at least usually sleep through to this early time, unless she’s lost her dummy/teething/unwell.

Daylight savings happens March 25th which I am SO excited for because that should improve things, but it’s still a while away.

Any advice for a very tired mama!?

 

[Zephram]

I can’t really help as I never found a solution to this with my kids. They have both been early risers in phases throughout their life. I just wanted to say this is a normal phase for many kids and that it will pass at some point! Try not to stress about it, it’s unlikely there’s something you could do to fix it and it’s not something you’re doing that’s causing it - just ride it out and know you’re not alone!

My DS1 has woken between 5-6am his entire life - he is 5 now! It doesn’t matter when he goes to bed or what else we do, this is just when his body wakes for the day. DS2 also usually wakes between 5-6am though is usually closer to 6 than DS1. I used to get really down when people would talk about their kids sleeping till 730am - mine have never done that a day in their lives!

But hey, one day they will be teenagers and we won’t be able to get them out of bed, so enjoy it while it lasts.

(Like I said, not much help, but it will pass in time!)

 

[MindUtopia]

When mine when through these phases, we co-slept and even when she wouldn't go back to sleep in bed with me, I made the space safe (with cot/bed guard to one side) and let her just roll around and play and snuggle next to me. I could at least sort of doze with one eye open for a little bit longer. It also helps if you have a partner and you can share the early mornings - one of you is awake to keep an eye on her, even if you all stay in bed and the other gets to sleep and you trade off the next day. That's what we did and it meant it was at least manageable. It's good to figure out now as unfortunately you'll keep going through these phases. Mine still went through waking up at 5am phases until probably 4.5 (so far, so good, not since then!).

 

[Zephram]

Just wanted to add that if she’s sleeping through then that’s a massive bonus - mine never slept through either.

 

[cupcake.]

My DD used to wake at about 5am as well and I think she was about the same age when she did.

However I didn‘t get her up when she woke. I made it a ‚rule‘ to start the day no earlier than 6am. I never let her cry, I always went in, lay her back down told her to go back to sleep. At first, and i don‘t remember how long that took, i would be doing that over and over until 6am when I did start the day..
Gradually she didn‘t cry anymore but would still be awake, chatting to herself, but still I did not get her up earlier than 6am. It took a while but I guess eventually her rhythm changed and she realized nothing fun happened so early haha She gradually started to fall back asleep and now sleeps until 7am most days, sometimes even longer, occasionally it‘s more like 6:30 but always very reasonable times.

It did take a good while and for the longest time even though we didn‘t really get up, i was still awake obviously. But the consistency paid off.
I also when I do start the day make it a point to immediately turn on the lights and open all the blinds and curtains to make sure it‘s light as day so to speak. That also has got to do with hormones signaling day and nighttime so I avoid dim lights except for bedtime ritual. It‘s either light ie day or dark ie night.

Maybe that would help you as well?

 

[jessmke]

My DD used to wake at about 5am as well and I think she was about the same age when she did.

However I didn‘t get her up when she woke. I made it a ‚rule‘ to start the day no earlier than 6am. I never let her cry, I always went in, lay her back down told her to go back to sleep. At first, and i don‘t remember how long that took, i would be doing that over and over until 6am when I did start the day..
Gradually she didn‘t cry anymore but would still be awake, chatting to herself, but still I did not get her up earlier than 6am. It took a while but I guess eventually her rhythm changed and she realized nothing fun happened so early haha She gradually started to fall back asleep and now sleeps until 7am most days, sometimes even longer, occasionally it‘s more like 6:30 but always very reasonable times.

It did take a good while and for the longest time even though we didn‘t really get up, i was still awake obviously. But the consistency paid off.
I also when I do start the day make it a point to immediately turn on the lights and open all the blinds and curtains to make sure it‘s light as day so to speak. That also has got to do with hormones signaling day and nighttime so I avoid dim lights except for bedtime ritual. It‘s either light ie day or dark ie night.

Maybe that would help you as well?

This is exactly what I do with my DS. He liked to wake up anytime between 4:30-5:30 am, and there's no way in hell I am getting up that early! I would get up and feed him and then put him back down in his crib. He would roll around and suck on his fingers and chat to himself, then he'd cry and I'd go back in and settle him and put him back down in the crib. Rinse. Repeat. He'd eventually go back to sleep after about an hour or an hour and a half. It went on for maybe 2 months, and now he sleep until 7am-ish on most days. If he does wake around 6:30 I put on his mobile crib projector thingy and let him watch that until 7 am when my toddler gets up and we all start the day.

 

[Teri7489]

My daughter went through stages of those early waking and i done what pp's have said, I didn't get her up until a certain time. (Each waking phase was different so had to change the time I would allow her to get up). Eventually she leant that it was boring to be left in the cot so she might as well stay asleep and she did just that. It took a little while but was better listening to her shuffling about while getting more rest, than accepting that she was getting up at 5/6am every day x

 

[noon_child]

My LO used to sleep till 6 BUT she woke three times a night, so if he's sleeping through maybe it evens out as about the same amount of sleep overall so he doesn't need more than that?