Early riser and bad napper - we need some help!

vszapp

I am at my wit’s end and need some advice. Our 18-month old was sleeping until somewhere between 6 or 7am until I went back to work 3 months ago. Since then, she has been waking up at between 4:30 and 5:30 crying. She used to babble when she woke up, but now she is always crying until we come get her. I try going in and telling her it’s still sleepy time, but she lays back down for a few minutes (tries to sleep I think) and then gets up crying again. I know she’s not getting enough sleep because she is so tired in the morning and could easily fall asleep in the car or stroller. We have tried telling her that we’re not coming back in until it’s time to wake up, and she definitely gets it, but it usually just means she stands and stares at the wall (video monitor knows all!). At first we thought maybe it was teething or a sleep regression, but it’s been months.

By way of background, she puts herself to sleep really well at between 7 and 7:30pm. Her room is very dark. Bedtime seems to make no difference, nor does the quality of her nap. Naps are interesting too, though. The nanny swears she usually sleeps for 2-2.5 hours, but for DH and I on the weekend, she wakes up crying after an hour. I can go in an hold her and she’ll fall back asleep on me, but if I try to put her back to sleep in her crib, forget about it. So now she is getting often less than 10 hours of sleep at night, and sometimes only an hour nap during the day. We need help! Any ideas?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

vszapp

theresat858 said:

What if you bring her into bed in the mornings with you?

DD goes through phases where she will only sleep in if sleeping with one of us. (and by sleep in I mean 7).

LOL, we have tried. She climbs on us like a jungle gym and points out body parts. Then she's ready to get up. *Sigh*

jess9802

I have been known to give DS books to look at in his crib if it's too early to get up but I'm not ready yet. I am sure this is terrible parenting, but you know, it keeps him occupied for a bit, and more often than not he'll actually fall back asleep. Maybe your DD needs something to self-soothe/calm herself she can fall back asleep on her own?

vszapp

jess9802 said:

I have been known to give DS books to look at in his crib if it's too early to get up but I'm not ready yet. I am sure this is terrible parenting, but you know, it keeps him occupied for a bit, and more often than not he'll actually fall back asleep. Maybe your DD needs something to self-soothe/calm herself she can fall back asleep on her own?

It's worth a try, but she is so easily stimulated that I think it would really jazz her up. She's just so excited about life, she has no time for sleep!

JENandJEH

vszapp said:

jess9802 said:

I have been known to give DS books to look at in his crib if it's too early to get up but I'm not ready yet. I am sure this is terrible parenting, but you know, it keeps him occupied for a bit, and more often than not he'll actually fall back asleep. Maybe your DD needs something to self-soothe/calm herself she can fall back asleep on her own?

It's worth a try, but she is so easily stimulated that I think it would really jazz her up. She's just so excited about life, she has no time for sleep!

With my oldest, I would keep a stack of 5 or 6 books in his room and when he would wake up early (he's always been an early riser) I would go in and give him his books.  Those would occupy him for 45 minutes to an hour and either allow me a bit more sleep or time to get showered and dressed for the day.  With DS2, that would last maybe 10 minutes and then he would chuck them all out of the crib and cry if I tried it.  

This probably won't work at this age, but when DS1 got a bit older and we moved him to a twin bed, we got him an Okay to Wake clock and have it set so that the sleep color turns on at 8pm and turns off at 7am.  If he wakes before 7am, he knows to either try to go back to sleep or play quietly in his room.  

cedenton

Maybe it's a growth spurt and she's hungry. Have you tried a sippy of warm milk?

vszapp

cedenton said:

Maybe it's a growth spurt and she's hungry. Have you tried a sippy of warm milk?

We did try this, but then she kept waking up earlier and earlier wanting the milk!

vszapp

JENandJEH said:

vszapp said:

jess9802 said:

I have been known to give DS books to look at in his crib if it's too early to get up but I'm not ready yet. I am sure this is terrible parenting, but you know, it keeps him occupied for a bit, and more often than not he'll actually fall back asleep. Maybe your DD needs something to self-soothe/calm herself she can fall back asleep on her own?

It's worth a try, but she is so easily stimulated that I think it would really jazz her up. She's just so excited about life, she has no time for sleep!

With my oldest, I would keep a stack of 5 or 6 books in his room and when he would wake up early (he's always been an early riser) I would go in and give him his books.  Those would occupy him for 45 minutes to an hour and either allow me a bit more sleep or time to get showered and dressed for the day.  With DS2, that would last maybe 10 minutes and then he would chuck them all out of the crib and cry if I tried it.  

This probably won't work at this age, but when DS1 got a bit older and we moved him to a twin bed, we got him an Okay to Wake clock and have it set so that the sleep color turns on at 8pm and turns off at 7am.  If he wakes before 7am, he knows to either try to go back to sleep or play quietly in his room.  

I think we're going to try a night light on a timer - we will set it to go off at 6AM. She is on the young side but seems to grasp concepts like that just fine. We'll see...