When LO wakes super early for the day...

laurapaine2003@yahoo.com

LO normally sleeps 7pm to 6am. Lately she's been getting up around 5:20am... And is up for the day. We did a modified Ferber method for sleep and it's worked WONDERS, but I'm wondering what to do when they just decide to wake earlier?? If I remember right, Ferber said that it is normal, expected, and you just gotta get up with them (if it's within one hour of their normal set wake up time). 

When they wake early, what do you do? Just get them up? Is it because as they get older they don't need as long of a stretch? My fear is that it'll slowly creepy to 5am... Then to 4:45am then to 4:30... Because it already has slowly been creeping down to 5:20am over the last 2 weeks. 

Just frustrating because I really want from 5am-6am to be my "me time" of doing a workout, showering, getting coffee, snuggling with the dog, etc. 

Would love to hear what others think, have done, what works what doesn't!!

thinkpink101

My LO has started getting up at 5 too, I just get up with him because he's wide awake.

cait040415

Mine too!!! She normally wakes up around 6:15 and has been up between 5 and 5:30 the last few days. We just leave her lol. We watch her on the video monitor and if she gets really worked up, we go in put her binkie back in and run her back, etc. and tell her it's still night time. Sometimes it works and she goes back to sleep, and sometimes it doesn't!! I'm usually up by that time but am getting ready for work and if my husband is out of town for work, I don't really have another choice!!!! I like her to sleep until at least 6:15, so I feel like that reinforces it!

vibarra27

My boys have been wakin up for a bottle lately between 4& 5 am. I dont like them fully awake until 7 because if they wake up before then all their naps for the day mess up. So i just feed them and lay them back down & they fall asleep within 5 minutes & then wake up @ 7. If they cry for a few minutes & dont fall back asleep i grab them. But usually they fall back asleep after i lay them back down.

ForeverEverAfter

I snuggle LO in with me to nurse and can usually get her to snooze until normal wake up time. I just write my to do list, check fb and weather, and relax. Then we get up together.

dmbfan46835

I bring him downstairs with me while I work out and do my thing. He usually keeps himself occupied while I work out and then I put him in his pack n play upstairs to play while I shower and get ready. If it's 4 ish I can usual get him back to bed after a few ounces of BM but 4:45 on its just time to get up for the day. 

lmbrandt

We are going through this same thing, it seems to happen every few weeks for us.  We put him into his crib for bedtime at roughly 7:10-7:15, and he is usually asleep by 7:30 and will usually sleep until 6-6:30 in the morning.  The last few days he has been waking up at around 5:40...not cool!  

He isn't screaming or crying when he wakes, usually starts moving around his crib, talking etc.  We used to go in and get him and I'd feed him and then start our day.  Now I let him wait it out a little bit, I didn't want him to get used to the fact that even if he wakes early, he will eat right away and start the day.  Really didn't want to start that pattern. 

So now even if he wakes early, I let him stay in his crib until it's his "regular" eating time, which we usually do between 6:50-7:00.  If he starts crying I go in and get him, but usually he is in there happily making noises and looking around his room. My hopes are that he realizes even if he wakes early, he still eats at the same time every morning.  Also, sometimes if we leave him he will fall back to sleep for another 20 or 30 minutes...doesn't always happen though!

When he does wake early, it does kinda mess with his naps for the rest of the day because it makes everything happen earlier than normal.  This morning he woke at 5:40, I fed him at 6:50...he would normally take his first nap around 8:30/9....a long stretch!  I just watched him and he didn't lose it and get super fussy, so I put him down around 8:45...he was up longer than he normally is, but he did okay!

Hoping someday he'll get more consistent with his morning wake up times!

ElleMF728

Sometimes you can do a "snooze button feed" which is just to feed LO as if it's MOTN.  Some will go back to sleep, some are up for the day and there isn't a ton you can do. 

MW5280

LO did this this morning at 4:15!

Except she did it by pulling up in the crib for the first time. And was then so pleased with herself that she was up for the day. 

DH was going to get up at 5 to get some work done early so he could have the rest of the day off, so he took her downstairs so I could sleep a little longer. 

LoveLee85

Are some babies just bigger sleepers?! My DH has to get 10-12 hour or he's a grump. My LO is now sleeping 12 hours(wakes up for one feeding of 6 ounces but right back to bed). Or, is the long sleeping just a phase? Or a growth spurt?!  He's been doing this since 6 months and I don't want it to stop. He use to never sleep, so maybe he's making up for the first 6 months of life?! 

ljhans

My little guy used to wake pretty consistently at 6:15am (6:15 bedtime the night before) and he's been doing this too lately! Waking up sometimes at 5:30 or 5:45. I wait it out and get to as close as 6am as I can before I go in. Usually he's grunting and whining a little during this time but not crying. Like previous posters, sometimes he'll go back to sleep and sometimes he's awake for good. Whether he wakes up at 5:45 or 6, I'm putting him to bed for his first nap at about 8:00am.  

BabyBean815

I kind of have a "rule" that if it's before 6 am, I don't get him up.

He wakes up and talks usually between 4:30 and 5:30. If he's just taking and hanging out, I give him some time to resettle. If he doesn't, one of us goes in and replaces his pacifier or changes his diaper, if needed. And then he goes back into his crib. If we are lucky, he'll go back to sleep until 6:45. If not, he's usually good until 6ish. Obviously if he's crying and upset, I'll go in and comfort him, but again, we try to calm him and get him back to bed. No need to encourage early morning waking in my opinion!

booksandcleverness81

Who are these babies that wake up and happily jabber to themselves until you get them? My LO has never ever done this, if he wakes up he is whining or crying, period. If you put him in his crib he cried every time. He tried to get up at 5am today, haha, no. I nursed him in bed till he fell asleep and let him sleep on me till 6. He usually goes back down if I cuddle him in the am. 

xJKxOR

I just read today that one way to prevent early waking is to put them down to bed at an earlier time in the evening; it has something to do with their nervous system still being overtired. You can start by even just trying 15mins earlier.

Personally, when my LO wakes up early I either try to nurse him back to sleep or just get up with him (although if he's happily playing in his crib I sometimes leave him and he falls back asleep).

here is the link to that article https://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/the_kids/2016/05/put_your_kids_to_bed_early_to_make_them_smarter_happier_and_fitter.html