4 Am Time to Get Up!!!! HELP!!!!!

Hello S.. I am mom to two daughters (ages 7 and almost 3) and remember these times when they were tiny. I highly recommend the book "No Cry Sleep Solution for Babies" by Elizabeth Pantley. It has lots and lots of compassionate ideas.

S., my girls did it up until she was about 3 years old, but luckily I had a farm, so we went together early morning to milk cows and so on... If they are up, they are up. They will have a nap later in the morning, when you can catch up with him. I'd change my own schedule, adjusting to him... this is momhood for us , and as you are SAHM, it is possible. It will change, though. Have a good day, dear ones!

I am not sure how a five mos old thinks it is time to get up, hee hee. I would think maybe it is growth spurt or teething which can totally change up their sleeping habits. I would maybe comfort him as he is awfully young to let him cry it out, try to keep it quiet and dark, rock him a bit and lay him back down. Maybe even try teething tablets (with Dr permission). See if his gums are red or swollen that is the first sign teeth are coming in a few months or on the way.
Neither of my kids at 5 mos could be up long and always went back to sleep but sometimes needed extra comfort and snuggles when going through this time. Teething tablets were my life saver, they are natural and worked like a charm on my son!!!!!

My son did this when he was teething. What I did was get up with him, but I didn't turn on the lights or turn on the TV. Instead I would administer some teething tincture from the health food store and then play some lullabies or read books or simply sit while he played until he was ready to go back to bed. He outgrew it after a few weeks and then went through this again at 8 months.

I recommend against Babywise. It was written by a religious fanatic who was excommunicated from his Church for his radical ideas. Some more compassionate and realistic books you might try are The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley, Sweet Dreams by Dr. Paul Fleiss, or anything by Dr William Sears.

Hi S.. This exact thing happened to me with my now 6 and 2 year olds when they were about 6 months old. With my 6 y/o I tried everything and finally tried letting her cry it out. The problem was that I would go in and check on her so she would just cry longer. I was up at 4 am for a few months before I just let her cry and cry. It was horrible the first night, I think she cried for 2 and a half hours, but by the fourth night it was done. She has slept until 7 ever since. My two y/o was much easier becuase I never made the mistake of going into the room. I did leave a little crack and would peek in without her seeing me. Both times it took three straight nights/mornings of cryinging but then it was over. The sooner you do it the better, that way you can get some rest. Good luck!

How is he napping during the day? A sleep deprived baby sleeps worse. Keeping him up more is NOT a good idea. Look for his sleepy signs i.e. rubbing eyes, pulling ears, fussiness etc. and put him down to bed as soon as you notice he may be tired (day and night). Try putting him down a half hour earlier than usual at night. The quicker you put a sleepy baby down, the less sleep deprived they are and the better they sleep. Try reading a book about sleep and infants. Author Jodi Mindell is excellent. Just Google her and look at the books that come up.
GOOD LUCK. Follow your instincts. YOU CAN DO IT and BABY CAN HANDLE IT!

I have had this problem with most of mine at one point or another and am currently in the same position with my 17 months old, although he wakes between 5-6 am. I can assure you that they do out grow it, it just seems like forever when it is happening, One thing I do is bring them close or to bed with me I make sure that the room is dark, and lay them with me it allows me a little extra sleep, and if he fusses I just rub his back or tummy to let him know that I am there and if they are real young I say "sshhh it's still nig-night time" . My son know just lays thier until I am ready. SOmetimes he won't have it, so I'll gate us up in the living room where he has toys and I'll doze on the couch while he plays. I can say thank-fully he is getting much better and I have even had a few days where he sleeps until 8:00.....Yippee! They do out grow it I just haven't found a way to stop that internal clock, so I just make the best of it! I don't know if I helped but you are not alone!

I just wanted to say that I feel you rpain. My daughter is 6 1/2 months old. I made the mistake of letting her sleep in the bed with us until about a mth ago. I know I was wrong b/c I have a 6y/o as well but this is my baby...and my last one at that. At any rate, we are working on the wee hour thing. I'm not sure which of us is in worse shape. Peyton sleeps from 6am-9am/2pm-4pm/ dozes around 7pm from 15-20 mins/ dozes another 15-20 mins around 9 or 10 pm and then is ever so wide awake until 2 in the morning! She will sleep until 4-4:30 and then the cycle starts all over again. Part of my problem tho is that when I try to lay her down she wakes the instant she touches her bed. I hate it but I have to jsut let her cry it out and fall back to sleep. I am trying to just roll with it because everyone says she will eventually get on a schedule and she will learn to sleep alone...if I leave her alone. One can only hope. Best of luck and hopefully we will both get some peace and some sleep. :)

Hi Jen,

I was in your shoes about 7 months ago. Up until my daughter was seven months, she would wake at 1am and 4am to feed and go through times where she thought 4am was the start of the day. How are your son's naps? Sleep can beget sleep. When my daughter was not sleeping through the night, she also never napped more than 30-45 minutes during the day. My friend gave me the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth, M.D and it truly changed my life. I was so skeptical at first because I did not think that I could set a sleep schedule for my daughter. However, I started a bed/naptime routine - putting her in a sleep sack, having calming music playing from her Ocean Wonders crib toy, reading her a book and placing her in bed. I also started the bedtime routine about a half hour before I wanted her to go to sleep - 9am, 1pm & 6:30pm. She cried at first when I put her down to sleep. However, it did not last that long and now, I put her down to sleep at her scheduled naptimes and she happily goes to sleep (no crying)and she naps for about 1 -1 1/2 hours during the day and sleeps a full 12 hours at night (6:30pm-6:30am). Also, she is a MUCH happier child because she is well rested. Before, she would get fussy for no reason. But, now she is the happiest little girl and hardly ever gets fussy. Establishing a sleep schedule is the BEST thing I ever did for myself, my family and my daycare provider. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. I rave about "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth, M.D and cannot recommend the book enough. It is a well written book and will convince you to step in and help your child learn healthy sleep habits.

D.

A great resource I used to help put my 5 month old now 6 month old on a good sleeping schedule is a book called Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child.

this is about the time that babies change their sleeping habits and require a little less sleep and naps than before. i would suggest keeping him up and active for an additional hour before putting him to bed. actually at about 5-6 months, i started keeping my boys up until 11 pm and then they would sleep all the way through the night (no wake-ups at all) until 10 am or so. it really helped me to be able to get some things done in the mornings and i appreciated the 'alone' time. :) i also started feeding them mashed bananas right before bed which helped to keep their tummies full. i know it is hard right now, but one thing that moms are good at is adjusting. :) it will get better.
D.

My youngest just got out of the same habit as yours. I agree with the girls saying he needs more sleep in general. Don't keep him up more, it will just make it worse. We also used the book Babywise and both of my kids have always slept great. Any time we had a little problem, following the book's advice and advice from other Babywise moms would fix it. What I've been told is that they usually take 3-5 days to get into a new routine. So that's how long you may have to let him cry it out. If he has a good consistent routine during the day, his nights will follow.

S., my advice goes with both of the ladies below, teething tablets! those are great!!!!! amazing stuff!! also, if he doesn't go back to sleep, he might want to get up with the other two,mine needed to know 'everything! my hubby gets up at 5am, so my son woke up and wanted to stay up, NO! If he wouldn't go back to sleep, in bed with me for a hour or so, or if that didnt work, like the other lady said, Pen them up in the living room with the toys, or i put baby eintsein dvds on! now they are cheap, but i had maybe 1or 2, and they would play over and over till about 8 or 9am, obviously i fed him and changed his diaper, but you need your 'nap' time as well.

i was 22 at the time. its tough no matter what age you are! your body will go on 'auto piolt here soon. lol. take care, i hope it helps, and you get it all worked out!

Have you tried swaddleing him ( i think I spelled that wrong) anyhoo...if he doesn't turn over yet, he might sleep more sound bundled up. DO you use a binky? That helped my girl sleep all night and I was nursing. Good luck.

My son is 13 months old and is still up multiple times. and on most days up no later than five rearin to go. I work full time, so it has been trying. I talked to multiple docs and did lots of research. The truth is that he is healthy (as I imagine your son is) and is doing normal baby things like teething and growing and it is uncomfortable. Since your son seems to sleep well otherwise, I'd assume the same. It will pass, keep that in mind, just give him lots of love and patience!!! It helps me to know that he doesnt mean to make me tired, he just needs my love. That's what it's all about. GOOD LUCK!

I had this problem, too. As it turned out, she was not sleeping well because she was overtired. (You know how when you get super tired, you get wound up and can't get to sleep? Babies have the same trouble.) I started putting her to bed earlier (6pm) and she slept great until 6am or 7am. I use a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." I don't agree with all the methods in the book, but it's the most informative book on baby sleep needs/habits that I've come across...and the only one clearly based on research. It has helped me a lot.

Hi. I am going through the exact same thing! Ugh, so frustrating! I don't want to be up at 4am either! What we have been doing is getting up with my daughter at 4am, feeding her and then putting her back to bed. The first few days she didn't like it, she cried and cried. But, after a few days, I think she got the hint, and realized that after I feed her at 4 am, it is time to go back to bed. So, now she does that. She doesn't always go back to sleep, but she seems to know that it's not time to wake up mommy and daddy. Another thing you can try doing is getting ear plugs so that you can ignore the cries. It is really hard for the first few days, but they eventually catch on. I also think that it was just a phase that she was going through, as she tends to do this every few weeks. Maybe going through a growth spurt? Hang in there!

My son did this around the same age. I'd get up, lie on the floor in the nursery with him, let him play and in about 20-30 minutes, he was ready to go back to bed. He did it for probably 2-3 weeks. Yes, I was tired, but it was easier than letting him cry, because, like yours, he'd cry for an hour or more. 20 minutes of play was much better.

Hi, I'm a mother of three (9,7,& 3). I'm wondering if you could delay putting him down at night. Say maybe between 8 or 9 if you can; 7 seems a little early to expect a child to sleep through the night. Also, have you introduced rice cereal? A little feeding of 'that combined with breastmilk or formula before bed has always helped my kids. If you do have to get up and feed him so early, try to keep everything as quiet and calm as possible; have a nightlight on so you don't have to turn a lamp on, don't talk, etc. Definately cuddle and love on him to let him feel your love and presence. Does he have a special musical animal you could wind up to help lull him back to sleep?
I know this is hard. I've definately been through this too! You will get through this, make sure you're taking a nap during the day, if at all possible. You definately deserve it!!
Good Luck,
A.

Try keeping him up a little later at night and for a few extra min when he gets up for feedings.

I recommend the book "Baby Wise". It really helped us when we had a similar problem.

Our little guy (8 months) goes to bed around 9 and gets up at around 8 with anywhere from 1 to 5 feedings a night. The other day we had family over and he got tired out and went to bed at 8 instead of 9. Well he woke up at 7 instead of 8 and his whole schedule was off for naps and eating that day. I would try to keep him up a little bit later then maybe he will sleep in. It's worth a try anyways. Hope that helps!

Sometimes a child can to little sleep or to much sleep that will effect their daily life and you know that if it effects them it'll effect you too. I know becaue im a stay at home also but sometimes kids just need to stay longer at night or take fewer naps during the day. it could also be his diet, feeding schedule and the noises around him. babies are very sensitive to everything that is around them. If it is still a concern then call the on call doctor or the nurse in the "work hours" of the day.

My daughter's done this from time to time. We get it very consistently when we've traveled time zones.

If he'll go back to sleep in bed with you, by all means try that. What I found was that sometimes I had to feed and play with my daughter for an hour or sometimes two hours before laying her back down to sleep. (She would then sleep in a little later than usual, so if you can do that too it will get you a little more sleep.) After doing a short play time for a couple of nights she would start to go back to sleep after feeding again.

The other thing is that when I absolutely reached the end of my rope, my husband could almost always get her to go to back to sleep by wrapping her tightly, lying her across his chest, and patting her back quite hard. She would start out crying and trying to get free, but after 15 minutes or so she'd zonk out.