What can I do to stop my 5-month-old waking early?
My son of five months has been following the routines from day one. We follow the advice to the letter and it had been working extremely well until recently. He now wakes up between 5 and 5.30am. He isn’t distressed, he just chats to himself. Occasionally he’ll drift off to sleep again but by about 6am he starts getting cross, so I go to him.
Having scoured the website and CLB books I know that early morning waking is a common problem but I have tried all of the solutions suggested to no avail. I was hoping you might have some more suggestions I can try as it is starting to get me down! His room is pitch black, (I have always had a black-out sheet Velcro’d to the window frame, a blackout blind and blackout lined curtains); he always goes into his cot awake so I know he can settle himself; he sleeps during the day when the schedule advises it – to the minute! Sometimes he dozes at 4.30-4.45pm if we’re out for a walk or in the car but otherwise he doesn’t nap then. We go out for walks on most days and are very active practicing rolling and standing during the day. No heating boilers fire up at that time to disturb him. He always used to sleep until 6.45 sometimes 7.00. I can’t understand the change!
I haven’t dropped the last feed (10.30pm) yet because of the early waking but now he is on solids, the last three nights he has refused to have any milk at 10.30pm! I’ve even woken him up fully and offered it to him but he is just not hungry. Should I try to wake him even later? (I’ve tried leaving it until 10.45 but he still woke up early) Should I cut back on his dinner so he is hungrier at 10.30? Or should I forget this feed now and get an early night ready for the 5am chattering I hear through the monitor?
I have now started to split the dinner feed so he has his rice and fruit before the bath at around 5.30-5.45pm and his milk after the bath and massage as suggested on the website in the hope he would sleep longer, but he was still awake at 5.05 and I had to go to him at 6.00. I usually push his breakfast to 6.45-7am, despite him waking early, which he is fine with.
Is he getting enough food for his size and weight? I am following the weaning guide for his age but the book doesn’t specify weight. He finishes off all the food I give him and he doesn’t cry for more.
At present he weighs around 19lbs. He has just started to have 2tsp baby cereal at breakfast, takes 4 cubes of sweet potato at 11am and 5 tsp baby rice with 2 cubes of apple or pear at 5.45pm. He is on the plan for 5-6 months in the weaning book. He takes 7-8 oz formula at 6.45/7am, 11am 8ozs, 2.45pm 7 ozs, 6.15pm 8ozs. He used to have 3-5ozs at 10.30pm but now is refusing this.
Looking through your notes it would seem that you are following the plans for weaning and the routine very well. Your son could take a little more solids in the day, which is explained below, but it would seem his waking is more likely from habit as his sleeping and feeding needs seem to be met in the day.
Begin to offer him some fruit along with his cereal in the morning. Add one cube of either apple or peach puree. Increase the amount of cereal slowly. This slightly larger breakfast will let you begin to push his next feed to nearer 11.30. As he begins to increase his solids at lunchtime he will begin to decrease his milk. Use the “tier” method of feeding, as explained in the book, once your son has been having breakfast for a couple of weeks. This means you begin to “sandwich” the solids between the milk so the amount taken at this feed begins to decrease as the solids get gradually more. This is in readiness for dropping this feed when protein is introduced at six months. Begin to offer him a mixture of vegetables at lunch such as sweet potato, carrot or courgette mashed together to get him used to a wide variety.
It appears that your son no longer needs his late evening feed, having refused it for three nights in the row. Babies who began solids at 4 months often will be ready to go without this by 5 months. As your son is able to wait until 6.45/7am for his breakfast he is not hungry by morning without it. It might help to put an extra oz in his morning bottle to make up for any ozs he is missing through dropping this feed. Most babies are feeding well enough by day to just not need a fifth feed.
Now he has given up the 10pm feed try going back to giving milk and solids at 6pm unless your baby is too tired to take both at this time. He may be ready to go down at 6.45pm if he has been awake all afternoon. As you push his lunchtime on to 11.30pm, the lunchtime nap will be pushed on a bit too so he is going down at 12.15pm and having a good two hours. All these changes could help his habit of early morning waking. If your son is going down exhausted at 7pm and falling into a deep sleep straight away that could be the cause of his early morning waking. Letting him have a small catnap in the afternoon, even though he manages a good two hours at lunchtime, could help. By putting him down at 6.45pm he will probably chatter to himself for 10-20 minutes before settling rather than falling asleep straight away.
As his waking appears to be habit rather than anything else, you could try to settle him with cool, boiled water at 5am, although leaving him to settle himself alone is also a good idea. Unless he is moving around the cot a lot, make sure he is still tucked in really well. Use a lightweight sleeping bag with a cotton sheet or cotton blanket depending on the weather. Babies of this age can still wake themselves with the Moro reflex, especially when in a light sleep in the early morning.
It is good that he is active by day with plenty of floor time. If you have not done so already, consider taking him to swimming, yoga or Tumble Tots type classes, to help fill his day with plenty of activity which will encourage a good nights sleep.