I have a 4 month old who is now beginning to sleep thru the night. We have her in a routine (bath, nurse, bed) where she is sleeping in her crib every night by 7:15-7:30. This has been going on for a couple months now and its great. Well she used to get up once a night to nurse then go back down until about 7am. Well now she isn't getting up to nurse but then she will wake up at like 5:30 am and nurse then will not go back to sleep. I like not getting up in the middle of the night with her but this is too early of a wake up time for us. I've tried keeping it dark and not talking to her but when she is done eating she is just staring at me wide awake.
Does anybody have any ideas of how to get her to sleep until at least 6-6:15? Or will she eventually stretch out her mornings as she gets older? Thanks for your help.
Try reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Good book and in the book they suggest and earlier bedtime. The earlier the bedtime the better they sleep. With my daughter no matter how late she goes to bed she wakes at the same time which is what the book says. It says it is a myth that the later a baby goes to bed the later they will sleep in the morning. My daughter has a 6:30 bedtime and it works beautifully!
I must say that sleeping through the night is the most challenging goal to have, and your baby is doing that, so congrats! I understand 5:30 is a little early, but if you make a change to extend her sleeping for just another 1/2 hour, you could very likely mess up her sleeping through the night. So, decide what you prefer...sleeping straight & waking at 5:30 or possibly waking at night & sleeping 'til 6am. Based on my experience w/ my 2 kids, I would strongly recommend leaving it alone for now. Don't mess with a baby who sleeps through the night! Good luck!
I had the same issue with my daughter, but her wake up time was 4:30. The best advice I was given was just enjoy it. I know it sounds weird, but they are little for such a short period of time where you can hold them and just cuddle. I would Tivo shows from the night before and go to bed earlier, then watch them as I nursed and afterwards we just cuddled. Looking back, I cherish the short time we had doing that. Good luck!
Even at 4 months, 10 hours for a breastfed baby is a pretty long stretch of sleep. It is certainly considered a full night.
What time do you go down for the night? You could consider "dream" nursing where you rouse the baby just enough to nurse. That may help her go a little longer. Or get up around 4 to nurse and see if that doesn't buy you a couple more hours.
I hate to say it but she might just be an early riser. My daughter slept in until 8 or 8:30 until she hit 10 months then it started getting earlier and earlier by the time she was 15 months she was up by 6 every morning and she would go thought phases where she would be up at 4:30, 5 or 5:30. It was horrible and I tried everything. Darkening her room, putting to bed later and earlier, feeding her lots before bed. laying with her to get her to go back to sleep. putting toys in her crib so she would just play for a while and NOTHING worked! The only thing that helped was time. She is 3 now and sleeps until 7 or 7:30 which is nice plus she is old enough to watch cartoons so if I want to sleep until my baby wakes up which is around 8 or 8:30 I can go back to sleep.
with my daughter, I would pick her up around 11, not wake her up, feed her, and put her back to bed still asleep. This would generally give her the extra she needed to keep asleep without waking her up to eat.
I don't have any specific advice, but I want to share my sympathy. I have NEVER been a morning person. Despite this, my children are early risers. I have tried everything from keeping them up late to feeding them a snack before bed to get them to sleep in. Without fail they are both up by 6 every morning. I haven't slept in since I was pregnant with my oldest (5 years).
All I can say is that you get used to it. You don't have to like it, but it gets easier.
First of all, way to go on getting her onto a schedule. Great job! I have a 3 year old and a 9 month old. My 3 year old always starts to wake earlier this time of year when it's getting light earlier. We usually put on the blackout shades from Home Depot and that works. I did buy some blackout curtains for my 9 month old and those work, too, to keep it dark. Since babies really are wired to sleep around 11 hours at night, you are right that she really should be able to go back to sleep for another hour. I would just say to keep it dark and to let her hang out in her crib for a while. My daughter will go back to sleep after nursing at 4 or 5 am but some days she takes a little longer. I used to have a mobile and that worked great to coax her back to sleep. Do you have one? If not, I might suggest buying something that can go inside her crib that maybe has lights and soft music. Since the mobile should come down around 5 months (because of possibly starting to pull up), I would not spend the $ on it. They have some cute crib toys at Target for about $30. I, too, have the book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child (love, love it) and the earlier bedtime might work- maybe 6 or 6:30. If you read the book, the later bedtime idea seems correct but actually makes the kids overtired and backfires over time. Good luck and again, great job!
can you try putting her to bed a little later? maybe if she went to bed at 8pm, she'd sleep a little later. it's worth a try!
