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Attachment Parenting
iris2717
member
Waking up at 4am- can I stop this?
iris2717
member
A little background on my 10 month LO-
He hasnt STTN since about 8 weeks old. From about 2 1/2 months til about 8 months old, he was waking up at least twice a night- sometimes as much as 4 times a night. It doesnt take much to get him back down to sleep. He doesnt cry. He just slashes about until he wakes himself up and whines until I go pat his booty and shush him back to sleep. At about 8 months, he started crying at about 3am and wouldnt go back to bed until he devoured 6oz of formula. Some nights he can go with no formula. Other nights he's hungry and he devours a bottle and goes right back to bed. At about 8 months, he started being able to soothe himself and get himself back to bed so the night wakings went from about 4 to just waking once at around 3am (sometimes just for comfort, other times he's starving).
HOWEVER, my son has ALWAYS woken up for the day between 4-430am. Since birth. Once in awhile he would "sleep in" until 5am. I tried rocking him back to sleep when he woke, giving him a couple of ounces, everything. It didnt work. When he was up, he was up. I finally gave in and realized that my baby is a very early riser and I need to get over it and just get to sleep earlier.
Well, about 3 weeks ago my son developed croup. It was heartbreaking for me to see him sick so I let him co-sleep with DH and I until he felt better. Not only did he sleep better and only woke 1, he started sleeping in til almost 6am on some mornings. It was fantastic. I thought maybe he was finally getting over being an early riser.
As he is all better now, we moved him back into his crib this past weekend. The transition back was fine and he only wakes once at night but he is waking for the day at 4-430am again!
This morning I went in and tried to rock him back to sleep, but then he started singing and blowing bubbles and I knew there was no use!
What do I do? Any advice? Should I just get used to waking up at 4am again?
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Re: Waking up at 4am- can I stop this?
I know it's hard to do, but try going into his room around 3:30 and stay until he wakes up. There could be an environmental reason why he's waking up so early and consistently there, but sleeps longer in your room. Maybe a neighbor is up walking their dog, or the trash truck goes by, etc.
If that's the case maybe a sound machine would help, or black out curtains if it's a light.
Have you tried bringing him to your bed at 4am? It might allow you guys to get a little more sleep.
Also, what time does he go to sleep? If he's going to sleep around 6 or earlier, he may just be ready to wake up. You could try pushing his bedtime a little bit later. Dd has always been a late to bed (between 8:30 and 9:30) early to rise (6:45-7:45) baby. She'd be wide awake at 4am too if she didn't go down later.
House / Baby blog
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
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Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
I just bring DS in bed with me when he wakes up and he usually sleeps in with me, sometimes until 8am which is heaven.
I've also noticed that by about 4am, his wet diaper is bothering him. I use the next size up diaper overnight and that seems to help some, but either H or I will often change him in the wee morning hours and he will sleep better after that.