Advice, suggestions??

leslieb923

Hi, 

So here's the situation.  DS is almost 10 months old.  He had been STTN until 6:30am for months.  Went to bed around 8pm, slept until 6:30am.  We still have the same bedtime routine and for the past month or so he has been waking up crying at 4am, face down in the crib.  We go in, change his diaper and flip him over and he is good until 5amish.  He then wakes up crying again face down in the crib....it is almost like he has forgotten how to roll over. (which he really can do well, along with crawling all over)  When I go in at 5am as soon as he sees us, he is happy and ready to start the day.

Has anyone had this happen before?  I know in the big scheme of things it is not that bad, but I can never fall back asleep after his 4am wake up and I am getting tired!  : (     Happy Wednesday!

leslieb923

I just reread this and I sound cranky, disregard me today....I think I need to find some coffee or something.  (not typically a coffee drinker, I may be becoming one soon)

daisydana

leslieb923:

I just reread this and I sound cranky, disregard me today....I think I need to find some coffee or something.  (not typically a coffee drinker, I may be becoming one soon)

You don't sound cranky, you sound tired. Maybe you could try not changing his diaper and see what happens. He might be waking up a little too much? I say, go in and help him flip over if you think he needs the help, but stop there so that he knows it's still sleepy time.

rsd12

How long do you wait before you go in at the 4 am waking? 

KirstieC

It's rare, but Betty Jane gives us a 4:30am "wake-up call" every now and again. We usually give her 8-10 minutes to "work it out". Most of the time she falls back asleep, but when she doesn't DH goes in there to try and soothe her. I agree that those days are tiresome. Try to do something rejuvenating when you have some downtime. Yoga/stretching, hot tea, a hot shower, a nap... whatever works for you.

Hope that helps!

pa_kris

I agree w/ pp.  At 10 mos. I think it's fine to just let him cry/fuss for a bit when he wakes up in the morning.  With DD once we went to her (regardless of how early it was) she'd want to be up for the day.  I had read in Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child that it's fine to not go to them until 6am... to train them to sleep at least that late.  While I wouldn't let him cry for an hour, I don't think it's wrong to give him 15-20 min. to see if he'll just fall back asleep on his own.  Hopefully he goes back to being a great sleeper soon!

ScoobyM

My DD would go through phases like this - she still does, actually, and she's almost 3

Since it seems to happen at the exact same time every morning, is it possible there is something that is making noise or something around 4am that might be waking him up? 

Otherwise, I also agree with PPs about waiting a bit and giving him time to settle down on his own, if you aren't doing this already.  If you are already waiting a bit, then maybe skipping the diaper change as someone else suggested to avoid waking him up too much.  I'm sorry I don't have any better suggestions;  it really sucks when they don't sleep and you can't figure out why!! 

itsmexine

Rachel did this for a couple of weeks. Now she pretty routinely is up around 4am but puts herself back to sleep and then gets up anywhere from 5:30 (if she poops) until 6:20 am.  She's not crying at 4am though just talking to herself and trying to see if DH and I are up yet and will come get her.  I see her on the video monitor looking toward the door.

Like a pp asked how long do you let him go before going in? Also is he just wet when you change him or has he pooped?

stever

M goes through phases where he wakes up super early. It sucks but he grows out of it eventually.

leslieb923

Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions...I really appreciate them.

First I will answer some of your questions...and my answer to the last one will make you laugh...I know it made me laugh out loud.

1) He is only wet when I change him at 4am.  I just started using Huggies Overnites size 3 and they are pretty full when he cries at 4am...just got a box of size 4 that I will try out tonight.

2) We have the thermostat set to kick on at a higher temp for 5am, and we do think that maybe the heat kicking on at 4am is the trouble.  But I changed it to have the heat come on higher at 6am and he still woke at 4am.

3)This is going to make you laugh out loud.  The question was - how long do you wait to go in to him?  

---When I read this question, I thought to myself- Wait?  Oh, I could wait??  

I tend to go in right away!  What the world am I doing????  Little Background, yes, I am over 35 (41 actually), this is our 1st baby and neither of us have much baby experience.  My husband is a total softie who will do anything so the baby does not cry.  I on the other hand would probably let him cry, but my husband's job requires sleep.  (I know everyone's does)  But DH is a firefighter in a busy city and is the one who drives the truck and climbs on the roofs to cut a vent hole in them when necessary.  SO....I think I pop out of bed to make sure that DH gets more ZZZZZ.   Hmmm, I am telling DH to go to bed earlier tonight so we can let DS cry a bit in the morning, to see if he will settle down on his own.

I will let you know how it goes!   Climbing into a hole, laughing at myself since I did not even think that I should wait to go in !!  But here is the funny part, Thomas hardly cries during the day or at nap time, so I think when we do hear him cry, we go running.  Thanks again!!!