16 Month Old Waking at 4:30M Every Morning

A. Hi, I will tell you what my mom recomended long time ago to me, she had 5 of us. She told me to have stroler in the house,clean wheels, comfy one, once child is having hadt time sleeping for any resons put him in the stroler for whole nite,roll him, rock him whatever it takes to keep whole family at peace including working Mom. Ihad three my youngest is 2, I still use her advice. After child is better go to usual rutine.
Sencirely A..If you need more ditails call me.###-###-####.

Here's the best resource I've found for infant/child sleep issues. Check out www.sleepsense.net.

Dana Obleman is a sleep specialist and has a blog (with videos!) where she answers numerous sleep questions for moms with various problems.

Check it out--I refer this site to everyone I know. I've even taken advantage of the online, chatline where you can get answers to your questions with a sleepsense consultant. It's been a lot of help for me. Good luck.

You have had so many great responses. I hope that if it is teething, he will resume his normal sleep pattern after the teeth come in. Our daughter- when teething got more than one double ear infection. She had no fever, no runny nose and never pulled at her ears. The only indication that there was a problem is that she would wake up in the middle of the night. I finally brought her to the Dr. where we discovered the problem.

Hi A.,
I wish I had different things to say, but you may have a baby that needs less sleep or is an early waker. Both of my boys start the day at between 4 and 5:00. They go to bed at 8 or later and only the 2 year old takes a nap at all. My 3.5 year old seems to be totally fine with this little sleep. I have embraced it, sort of, and we have a bit of quality time in the early mornings. As a working mom, the time is precious to me and it really is quality time when we play, snuggle, read, etc. BUT it is also hard for me to get any decent sleep. Soon he may be able to play more independently, so you will actually be able to do things during the time as well. In addition to quality time, I also get a lot of work/projects done in the early hours. Good luck!

This 2 helped me a lot.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-much-sleep-does-your-chil...

http://www.babycenter.com/404_how-can-i-change-my-toddler...

Hope they can help you too.

I'm dealing with the same issue right now. I'm betting for your son it's because of the teething. Once his teeth come through, he should stop waking up. But if it continues, it's likely because he's gotten used that "mommy time" in the middle of the night. I would suggest getting some teething gel, and trying to put him back to bed, whether he wants to or not. You don't want him getting used to being up :).

Hi A.,
I recommend reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth for age appropriate sleep needs and schedules. With this said, I would move his bedtime much earlier to 6:30-7pm and try moving his nap to 12:30-1pm. Dr. Weissbluth, an expert in the field of sleep (check his credentials out), states the most common reason for too early a wake up is too late a bedtime. By going to bed too late and attending to him at night, it is causing him fragmented sleep which isn't as restorative which causes him to become constantly overtired. I would immediately move his nap and bedtime earlier by an hour then if he wakes in the early morning hours, wait 5-15 mins before responding to see if he puts himself back to sleep. When you do respond, try to soothe him without picking him up or talking. Remember, it can take 1-2 weeks of consistency to change a habit and this is just a habit he has developed. By responding with rocking and/or breastfeeding you are inadvertently reinforcing this habit. I have found that one of the hardest things to do as a mother is to distinguish between needs and wants. Your son NEEDS to learn to go back to sleep on his own but WANTS attention from you. The extreme action would be to let him cry it out. It does work faster but is harder on the parents! As to the teething, the discomfort is really not as bad as many believe. (check out my profile for my experience in the dental field) Try giving him some Tylenol or Motrin before bed. If you want more info on Dr. Weissbluth's methods, email me. I firmly believe that alot of problems can be corrected with healthy sleep.
Sincerely,
L.

Hi My daughter did the same thing. She is now 2 and she will sleep until 5:30 sometimes 6:00. If I am really lucky 6:30. But when she was 16 months and younger she would wake up 4:30 -5:00. I tried to bring her to bed with us but she was wide awake and ready to eat and start her day. I also tried getting her down for bed anywere from 8:00 to 9:00 pm but she would wake up even earlier. So I have now found if I put her to bed at 6:30 - 7:00 she wakes up around that time and naps around 12 or 1 for 2 hours.
If I find she is waking during the night I will let her cry, unless she is using her scared cry then I go get her and bring her to our bed to sleep.

Hope this helps,

My 2 1/2 y/o is doing the same thing around 5 AM. I usually put on a cartoon for her and she sits next to me & watches it so we can get at least a 1/2 hour more sleep. She is also teething (don't know if it is related).

Does your baby take a pacifier? Our daughter is also 16 months old and her molars are coming in. She had a couple nights where she woke up around the same time (between 4 and 5 am) and was a bit fussy. We just gave her a pacifier, and it seemed to calm her down. If your son doesn't take a pacifier, perhaps you could try rubbing some teething gel on his gums, or giving him some homeopathic drops to soothe the pain. I wouldn't suggest taking him out of his crib though, as that will only wake him up more. I'd leave him in the crib, don't turn the light on, don't pick him up at all. Just comfort him while he's laying down. Hopefully the teeth will come in soon and he'll be back to sleeping through the night!

Hi A. -
I am also a 43 year old mom and my baby is almost 16 months. For awhile she was waking every day at 5 or 5:30, and the only thing I could do to make her happy was to take her to our bed. Sometimes she would go back to sleep there and sometimes not, it was becoming a frustrating habit. So one morning at 5 when she woke up, I just went in and told her it was still night night time and laid her back down. Of course she cried and stood back up again, I went back and repeated the action every 5 - 10 minutes. By 5:30 she had gone back to sleep and has been sleeping til 7 now every morning! I am not sure why this works but it really did! So anyways, you may want to try this method and see what happens. This also worked for us on bedtime, she now goes to bed with no fussing and sleeps all night. Good luck!

If he is teething, give him some hylands teething tablets. they will soothe the problem naturally, and if you keep things low key, he may go right back to sleep.

Good luck.

You've gotten lots of good suggestions so far. I'd also try getting your little guy to bed a little earlier. He may be too tired and unable to rest once he's woken by the teething. My 16 month old goes down between 7 and 7:30.
Good luck!