Extending Sleep in the Morning

I could have written your same post (except my daughter is 25mos!) and was about to! I think what would help our extendedsleep wish coming true is to not feed anymore. Change the diaper if theye wetting bc even babies used to diapers dont like wet diapers in their sleep and then put back down/pat down, whatever you usually dp. Ive recently nightweaned my cosleeping girl but she sometimes insists on 5am. I HOLD OUT until 6am, my own arbitrary time when the mookie moos wake back up. Sometimes it means an hour of fitful crying but I'm holding/soothing the entire time (while my husband groans) so it's ok. I have to figure this will work someday. Now if only I could get my kid to sleep at 730 and not 10! How do you do THAT?!

Hi T.,
You might try putting him to bed about 30min later at night; this seems to work with our 16mo old. At this stage they may sleep longer if put to bed later. Also, I would send your husband in... definitely stop the early feeding b/c that just teaches them they'll get the food when they cry/wake. Good luck!

Hi T.:

I just hired a sleep trainer and here is what I learned.... It is working!!

I would suggest putting your son to bed a half hour earlier and DO NOT go into his room until 6:00 or 6:15 AM. Put him to bed nice and toasty warm with lots of barrier cream on his bottom. You may have to endure the cry it out method for a few mornings. It has worked for my son. Good luck.

Hi,

When my daughter was nearly one we were having the same issue and it was hit or miss if she went back to bed. My husband then got laid off so I started making him get up with her. One morning he said, "it's too early- let's see what happens if we don't go in." In about 5 minutes she has put herself back to sleep and slept till 7. We had a few mornings like that but then she just slept right through. 4 a.m. is too early so good luck!!

i suggest sending your husband in when your son wakes up. this takes away the option of nursing. he probably doesn't even need to pick him up, just rub his back and sing for a bit. we did this with my daughter who was an early waker and after a week she started sleeping longer.

My 1 yr old has been doing this too, off and on, for a few weeks now. Here's what I've found: If he sleeps MORE in the day, he'll sleep longer at night. Is he still on two naps a day?

I agree with Julie's post. Bad habits are hard to break and many times we don't realize we are helping a bad habit develop when it's happening. One suggestion is to evaluate your son's daytime habits regarding napping. It may very well be your son needs a more consistent daytime nap routine or napping schedule. Little ones go through so many cognitive and physiological changes that it's hard to narrow down what could be going on, especially when they are new at walking, still getting teeth, still new to solids, etc. Many times a more structured napping schedule helps the nighttime sleep fall into or back into place. I've noticed as much with my son who is now 24 months that if I don't stick to a consistent routine and time frame, everything gets affected. You may have to resort to staying in his room, telling him you'll stay a little while next to his crib on the floor and then you have to go to your bed too. Slowly but surely you can help him acquire good habits and want to stay in his crib. Another suggestion is to consider how bright his room might be at 4:30-5am. I discovered the time change influences the brightness of my son's room when he was put to bed and when he awoke and this was despite having vertical blinds. I used posterboard to block out the light until I was able to buy some fabric and ask my mom to help make some curtains. I would highly recommend considering this option in addition to anything else you might do. I used two layers of fabric: a dark green on the room side and a light beige on the window side. The key is to be sure the curtain rod and curtains extend beyond the window casing otherwise sunlight comes in around the edges. This worked wonders and helped a great deal in sending the message that darkness signaled sleep. I also put some little low-glow nightlights in two sockets so if I do need to respond to something, I can see what I'm doing. My son is not afraid of the dark at all and he was 14 months old when I got the curtains up in his room. I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice from moms. All the best to you and your little one.