Sleeping FAQ: 6-9 months – Early Morning Waking

My 7-month-old son wakes at 6am and is tired before 9am

On a good night my 7-month-old son wakes between 6am and 6.15am. Consequently there is no way I can keep him up till 9am. I can usually drag it out till 8.45 but then he passes out and sleeps for usually 20-30mins. So he is up by 9.10-9.20am. I have adjusted his lunch to 11.30 to get him into bed by 12 noon as he is exhausted; sometimes he even struggles to eat a good lunch. He is then up at 12:45. I have done everything from controlled crying, going in every 5mins quietly, to the Ferber method plus a lot of the advice on your web site but if he goes back to sleep it is usually after an hour of screaming for maybe 10mins of sleep. This, I might add, distresses my two-year-old daughter who returns from pre-school so our house is miserable. I do give him 30mins at 4pm to keep on track and he is asleep by 6.45pm.
How can I adjust the times so that if he is up so early, which I have never managed to conquer, that he may not be so tired and therefore sleep better at lunch time. He cries so much in his cot he hates it now so there is no chance he would gurgle to himself and go back to sleep.
He has 3 full breast feeds a day at 6am, 2.30pm and 6.30pm. He has three main meals a day and 2 snacks in between to keep him going. As we live in the Middle East and it is very hot in the height of the summer he takes 40-50mls of water at 7am, 10am and 5pm and 40mls diluted juice at lunchtime.

Check though all the reasons your son may be waking early in the morning. If you are able to get him to bed by 6.30pm so he does not fall straight away into a deep sleep then he may begin to wake slightly later. When his daytime sleep is better and he wakes later in the morning you can begin very gradually to move his bedtime towards 7pm.
Check that no light or noise is disturbing him at 6am. Also be aware if he is beginning to move around his cot and is either getting twisted in his covers or unable to get back into a comfortable position. Until he is able to roll over well both ways it is better to tuck him in with a cotton sheet lengthways over the cot. Make sure it is well tucked in down the sides. Once he is able to roll well both ways it is better to remove all coverings, dress him a suitable tog rated sleeping bag for your climate and let your son find his own sleeping position. Check he is neither too hot or too cold at this time, both which could be waking him early.
Try not to go in straight away when he first stirs in the morning. Give him at least 15-20mins to see if he will settle back again. This is never easy when you want the rest of the household to sleep on but a few days of controlled crying teaching him how to resettle is worth the short term disturbance. You may have to offer him a drink of water and or a dummy at this time but using these methods should help him learn to settle back to sleep until nearer 7am.
Are you aware of him being really hungry at 6am? As he is totally breast fed he may well not be able to sleep any longer than this from his last feed at 6.30pm. Check that he is receiving a good carbohydrate-based tea. Use potatoes, pasta, rice, cheese, vegetables in some of the combinations suggested in Gina’s weaning book. This will all help him to sleep well at night time.
Whilst he wakes early continue to settle him at 8.30/8.45am as being overtired at this time could be causing him to fight sleep. Offer him a drink of water before he goes down in case he is thirsty. Have you ever tried to give him a small catnap around 10.45/11am to help him get through lunchtime better? Until you can get your son sleeping more on a 7pm to 7am basis you may have to add extra naps to keep him going. He seems to fight each sleep through exhaustion.
Although you are settling him straight after his lunch also offer him water then as some babies do wake through thirst at this time. If you are aware he did not eat well at lunch through tiredness offer him a small top-up feed which can be phased out once his sleeping has improved.
With persistence you will be able to improve your sons’ ability to fall asleep without too much fuss. Watching his diet and also making sure he is not over tired should see an improvement but it could take time.