My 5.5-month-old daughter is waking early and not resettling
For the past few weeks my daughter has woken between 4.30 and 6am whatever I try to do. She eats well, sleeps well during day and at night, has both blackout blinds and curtains so it is very dark, but still she wakes.
I am leaving her from the time she wakes until 6.45. This can mean up to 2 hours of grumbling then crying but is this just teaching her that if she cries long enough I will go to her?
She has a breast feed at 6.45am, followed by ½ weetabix with 1 cube pear at 8am. 11am 2ozs formula,11.30am 4 cubes of chicken casserole and 4 cubes of fruit. 2.30pm 7ozs formula, 5pm rice cake,5 cubes of veg, fromage frais, 6.15pm 8ozs. She weighs about 21lbs.
She naps from 9-9.45am, 12.15-2.00pm and is settled by 7pm.
Since your daughter does not go back to sleep but grumbles and then cries her way through to 6.45am her wakings could be due to hunger. From your notes you have already introduced protein to her at lunch time now that she is nearing 6mths. It may help her to have a bigger carbohydrate-based tea. Begin to make her thick soups such as the Minestrone on p72 of Gina’s Weaning book and offer her this instead of just vegetable cubes. Once she is fully established on protein at lunch you could begin to add some grated cheese to the soups to help really fill her up. Look in the Guide for other vegetarian teas which are carbohydrate based to help fill your baby up in preparation for the night ahead.
Make sure that she is not waking through getting chilly in the early morning. At this age babies can begin to move around quite a bit in their sleep and wake if they get out of their covers. If she is in a sleeping bag then continue to tuck her well in to prevent this.
As you are leaving her until 6.45am then the problem of your daughter getting mixed messages should not arise. By this time in the morning you know that she is due to be fed. By not going into her you are giving her the chance of resettling herself once you have eliminated the possibility of hunger or coldness.