DD wakes at 4:30am EVERY DAY

Solidsteph

Hi Everyone,

  My DD's schedule is that she wakes up every single day at 4:30am. HELP!

She gets dropped off at daycare at 7am (sleeps 20 minutes or less in the car) and is awake when I drop her off.  She might take a 30 min nap in the am, then takes a 2 hours nap from 12 -2 (sometimes longer sometimes shorter but typically 2 hours).

I pick her up at 4pm and she falls asleep in the car and naps for 20-30 minutes.  She has recently dropped her afternoon/evening nap from 6-6:30 so she doesn't nap then anymore.  She is down for the night at 8pm. She doesn't wake til 4:30am which I am grateful for, but does anyone have any tips on getting her to sleep longer?

 I have tried putting her back to sleep after she wakes and eats but she is ready to play!!! HELP! Thanks so much in advance

clo1982

I leave my DD in her crib when she is awake early in the mornings and usually she just goes back to sleep after playing around for a while. She sleeps with 2 of those Aidan and Anais muslin blankets and a little teddy bear that she loves. She will grab one of those items and play with them for a while then fall back asleep. I'm sure if I went in and got her she would wake up. The only time I will go in before 7 is if she is really crying.

sheryn2

Here we do 7:30 bedtime to 7:00 wake up, however, LO is up to nurse at 4 or 5 every day but she goes right back to sleep.  Like your LO she naps 2-3 hrs during the day.  If she wakes up before 7:00 she plays in her crib herself; she's an easy-going baby.  That said, this past week she's been going to bed late and wanting to play in the middle of the night.  We hold her quietly (or sing) for 30 min and it passes.  On desparate occasions my DH does play with her for an hour.  We are expecting this to pass as it did at 6 mos when she teethed and rolled (now she's teething and sitting).

 Wishing you all health and more sleep.

kthompson00

My 9 month old sleeps from 7 pm to 6 am every night, and takes 2 naps, each one 1-1 1/2 hours.  All thanks to "The Sleep Lady Shuffle".  You should  check it out, totally worth it. https://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Ladys-Good-Night-Tight/dp/1593155581/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336069764&sr=8-1. 

AZ123

Here are my tried and true suggestions to change that 4:30 am wake up. You said that you can't put her back to sleep at 4:30 a.m.? Do you feed her? i  can feed DS2 and he'll go back to sleep but DS1 would wake for the day and it was misery. Here's what we did to fix it.

1. Sleep begets sleep so even though it seems counter intuitive, you actually want to put her to bed earlier since she's not get a lot of sleep during the day. She should go to bed by 7pm - 6:30 pm if she's really tired.

2. For a few days, don't let her cat nap. Keep her away from 4:30 am until 9:30 am for her first nap. Try this at home on the weekend first. If you're driving, talk to her, shake her hand and try to keep her away. If she's really tired and wants to nap, try pushing back her first cat nap by 30 minutes, next day 40 minutes, etc. until you get towards the 10 a.m. time.

aecrowley22

kthompson00:

My 9 month old sleeps from 7 pm to 6 am every night, and takes 2 naps, each one 1-1 1/2 hours.  All thanks to "The Sleep Lady Shuffle".  You should  check it out, totally worth it. https://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Ladys-Good-Night-Tight/dp/1593155581/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336069764&sr=8-1. 

This was a godsend!  Ds was a terrible sleeper and we did everything and used this as a last ditch effort and it worked wonders! 

jlsimon56

We also follow the sleep lady.

She says that any nap less than 45 minutes is a "disaster nap" and should be avoided.  If your LO is falling asleep in the car, then he is tired.  (Is he a boy?  I can't remember from your post now, sorry!  Let's pretend he's a boy.)

First nap should be 2ish hours after waking, but never before 8am.  So basically wakeup should be 6am or later.  

Nighttime sleep for 9 month olds should be 11 hours total.  Naptime sleep is 3 hours total.  If your LO is going to bed at 8pm, wakeup time should be 7am.  For your LO, 8pm might be too late?  Try 7:45, then 7:30, etc. until you find a good bedtime.  Do each time for several days.   

google123

you could feed her when she wakes up, but make sure you keep the room dark and don't engage her much.  Try putting her back.  I also do CIO, because my twins would frequently want to wake at 4:30 and play.  It only took 1-2 days of CIO (meaning I put them back in the crib after they ate) and they realized that it's still "night-time" and they need to keep sleeping.  Now my kids wake up around 5:45-6am, and I feed them and they still go back to sleep for another hour or so.