Wake to sleep - personal experience

My son Jacob, now 5 months old, was sleeping 12 hours beautiful hours a night. Then out of the blue one day he started waking around 5 or 6 am with a poopy diaper. I didn't think too much of it at the time because he had recently gotten some kind of stomach virus and was pooping more often. I don't think most kids will start pooping at night if they come down with a mild stomach bug, but my little jacob has, for whatever reason, had a hard time regulating his poop in regards to night and day.

Anywho, this went on for a while and I wasn't too worried about it because he still wasn't completely well. But after some WEEKS of it I decided that I was sick and tired of waking up to a
poopie diaper (and half the time a diaper blowout) at 5 freaking am. Who wouldn't be? Time to take some action. I had, assuming things would improve on their own, procrastinated doing something about this long enough.

So what to do? I decided The Baby Whispere's Wake To Sleep method was a good first thing to try. Minimal work and distress for me and baby. I often like to start with the approach that seems the easiest first and will move onto more aggressive approaches as needed.

The first night I woke him at 3:30 by turning on his lights. He is a light sleeper(bah humbug)and this is all it took to wake him up. I quickly turned off the lights and left the room. The next morning I was awakened at 6:55 to his talking. Can't complain. The next night I did the same thing and he woke up at 7:25. Same thing happened the next day. I did this one more night then decided to see what would happen if I didn't wake him in the middle of the night. Ahhh, no more 5am messy wake ups! That is all it took. Lucky me.


Related Post:
Wake to Sleep

44 comments:

  1. This is great. I am struggling w/my almost 5 mo old baby girl waking up @ 5-6am "talking" but mostly whining & whimpering for up to 40 min before going back to sleep until 7-7:30. Do you think this method would work for this? Even though she's not crying I can't sleep while she's up.

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  2. Dawn,
    It is worth trying. I would also make sure she is getting a good amount of daytime sleep, not too much and not too little (if you can help it). And double check that she is getting a good amount of food. Sometimes waking at this age is just a phase though.

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  3. Thanks. Hope you don't mind if I ask one more. She was stuck in 45 min naps for a while & once I extended her wake time they have gotten much better (3 1.5 hr naps). However, she does seem crankier now. I'm not sure what to do. Also, if she has dropped her 4th nap should I be putting her to bed earlier? I'm a little nervous to do this w/the whole waking up at 5-6. (Ok that's 2 questions, sorry).

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  4. Thanks for the story! I also have a question. My daughter is 2 months old, and lately she has only needed one dreamfeed per night, which is usually around 12:30. However, even though she doesn't seem hungry again until around 6 or 7 after that, she always, without fail, wakes up again exactly 3 hours after she fell asleep the last time. She wakes really grouchy and sleepy and never eats more than 5 minutes if I try to feed her. So it's obvious she would rather stay asleep but can't for some reason. Then forevermore after that she only goes 45 minute stretches until morning, as if she is uncomfortable somehow. The past 4 or 5 days we have gone to sit by her crib and pat her the minute she stirs at the 3 hour mark, and usually that gets her to go until around 6, but only with our help. Do you think it would be better to try waking her as you did, or should we just continue as we are doing in hopes that she will eventually be able to make it through on her own? Thanks!

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  5. Dawn,
    Sometimes it will take several days, even a few weeks, for kids to get used to a new waketime. Sometimes they need it, but it doesn't come easily. That might be going on. If it has been a long time since you have had the new wake time, maybe decrease waketime by a very small amount of time and see what happens--do naps suffer, does mood improve? I would go from there and see if you can find a sweet spot that works.

    If you drop a nap, I would definitely do an earlier bedtime. Newborns do need to be bed so many hours before they wake at night, but when babies get older it isn't as closely connected (assuming you have gotten them used to sleeping through the night and not eating every hour or something which is a habit of it's own rather than a need for food) and they get better at waking at a normal wake time instead of just going X amount of hours without food at night. But you do still have to be careful to make sure they are getting what they need during the day so they won't need to wake at night to fit in feeds. Did that make sense?

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  6. Alainapaina,
    Often if you help baby go back to sleep like you are doing when she stirs she will grow out of the habit on her own. But not always. Sometimes you just end up doing it for what seems like forever! So I would keep giving it a good try if you have just started it, but if weeks have gone by, maybe consider trying something else, like the wake to sleep method I did. Also, moving around the df time sometimes helps with night time issues. Weird but true! So maybe try that too if other things don't work. Good luck!

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  7. Thanks a lot! After about 3 days she was back to her happy self. She will be 5 months on Fri & is now awake for 2 hours and seems to finally have gotten past the 45 min issue (mostly). However, now she is only napping 1hr to 1hr & 20mins. I'm worried that she is getting less sleep during the day & technically I am still on a 3hr schedule! However, she is not at all interested in eating every 3 hrs. Seems like I can't catch a break!!

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  8. Dawn,
    Sometimes I will mess around with the "normal" routine for a while when baby is off. For example, try to see what happens if you feed after 3.5 hours rather than 3 hours, even if there is a short nap. Sometime this will help extend things out. Another things I have done once kids have gotten to an age when they are no longer hungry at 3 or 3.5 hours is I'll let them do their own things for a few days. see how long they want to sleep at certain times (while trying to encourage long naps still) and go without eating(within reason during the day). I recently did this with my 5 month old Jacob. Over four days time he extended himself out to a 4 hour routine (sometimes a bit less in the am) by himself. And we never looked back. A little unconventional but I have found this to work on more than one baby and I like to try and see what baby is capable of and what his natural rhythm is and then work around that.

    Also, maybe try cutting back on wt like 15 minutes to see if that helps. Maybe only in the first two naps of the day since wt is usually shorter then. Good luck!

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  9. Yeah, Rachel! How easy was that!

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  10. Sharon,
    I know. Jacob is much easier when it comes to sleep than Joshua ever was. Joshua probably would have taken at least 2 weeks to show progress.

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  11. Hey Rachel, since my daughter is the same age as Jacob, I'm hoping you can offer me some insight. Vivian has been sleeping 12 hours a night for a while also. For Thanksgiving we spent a week in California and she adjusted immediately to that time zone and since then has been waking up at 5 a.m. back home (Chicago). At first I attributed it to the time change, then I began attributing it to needing more calories during the day so I started feeding her more often during the day and at 5 a.m. when she woke up. Now I'm realizing that it's become a bad habit. I am not ready to start her on solids yet, but I still want her to sleep through the night in her crib. Is that possible? Any suggestions?

    Thanks so much... I'm losing it a little bit.

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  12. Darcy,
    First off, some experts say that babies can go 12 hours at night without eating at this age, even if they are not on solids. Some experts suggest continuing a dream feed until solids are well stablished like at 7-8 months. I've talked to my pediatrician about this same thing to see what he has noticed with his patients. He has noticed that most babies are fine going 12 hours without food at this age (with no solids and plenty of day time food) and that most should are fine going 12 hours at night during a growth spurt at this age too. I agree with this. The tricky thing is the word "most" in there. I can't guarantee every baby can do this. So trying to force it might be a battle you can't even win kwim?

    The other issue to look at, outside of eating, is an early waking habit. Sometimes the early waking happens because baby is used to eating at this time, and sometimes it happens for various other reason that you may or may not be able to do something for (see the early morning waking post under the index). My oldest son Joshua woke up around 5 or 6 am for a while. He wasn't hungry then, but he just woke up for who knows why. I tried a bunch of different things to get him to stop waking then but they didn't work. But then one day he suddenly stopped waking early. Sometimes time is all that you need.

    To answer your question about whether it is possibly for her to sleep through the night, I'd have to say probably. If you work on dropping the feeding first, even if she is awake and you can't get her to sleep then, she'll very likely stop waking when she gets out of the eating habit. But the situation might be like it was for my son above once you drop the eating. It is a common issue that parents have for a few weeks or months. My son Jacob usually sleeps around 12 hours a night now. But not always. He has gone back and forth which has been the case with his sleeping since he was born. He'll sleep 12 hours for three nights, then wake up hungry at 5 one night, then sleep 12 hours another three nights. If he had been my first I probably would have left him in his bed until close to wake up time with the thought that if he can sleep 12 hours most nights, he can do it every night. I was much more strict then. But I am more relaxed now. And my son Jacob is a more relaxed baby. If I feed him one night, that doesn't mean he will wake up to eat then in the future. If it did, I would change how I do things. So, I usually just feed him. I figure, he's close to 20 lbs, isn't on solid foods yet, doesn't have a bad waking habit and MIGHT actually need the extra feeding so I'll just give it to him and save myself from days or weeks or work trying to get him to stop waking to eat at 5 am every so often. It is just easier for us both that way. I know, I don't always follow my own advice :). This is just what makes the most sense in our situation and what I am happiest doing. With my son Joshua I was stressed when he woke up early and didn't end up being able to sleep myself because he would talk most of the time but sometimes whine. With my son Jacob I am relaxed and going more with the flow, within reason of course! If he keeps up his wakings when solids are well underway I will help him drop the feeding for good.

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  13. Thanks Rachel. Since I wrote this question, Vivian's sleeping habits have become even more erratic. I think it might be time for some official sleep training. It's a tough time of year for that though. We have a lot going on (visitors, travel etc). I might be lazy and wait until after the holidays. In the meantime, though, I'm losing sleep every night. Oh well... I'm sure we'll get through this.

    Thanks so much for your insights. I appreciate the time you take to answer our questions!

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  14. Darcy,
    You might also want to consider whether it is wonder week time. Sometimes things are a little erratic for a couple weeks during that time. It's something like 25 or 26 weeks. I wonder if teeth are an issue too if things are getting really crazy.

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  16. Megan McPeak Davis,
    Maybe try the wake to sleep for the 4/4:30 waking. This might be enough to stop the pooping and early morning waking pattern.

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  17. Dear Rachel,
    i am desperate and suffering from not sleeping because of my 5 month old boy.
    Since i have learned him 2 weeks ago not to wake up for feeding during the night as during the day he gets enough food, he started to wake at 6 am, not asking for food, but seems like he started his day. While i was breastfeeding he was waking around 7 am (dreamfeeding around 10:30 pm+twice (2 am,4:40 or 5 am) over the night.
    I tried to use the wake up method, but seems like i am doing it wrong or it simply does not work with him. I was waking him at 5am, but again, he slept only till 6 am. As next last night i tried to wake him at 4:30, and although i did not hear him at 6amthat he is awake until 7am, at 8 am he started yawning and i could see from his eyes he is sleepy, probably he was laying in the bed and being calm for an hour.At 8:30am i took him to a bed (he slept away, but i expect him to be awake very soon, because probably the wake time was too long for him). I am trying to keep a 4 hour schedule with him and based on the whisperer (T. Hogg) the feedings are at 7, 11, 15, 19 and 22:30 dreamfeeding. Since he wakes up at 6 am, i do not know what to do, as he does not ask for the food at 6 and i am not taking him out of the bed, hoping he will sleep an hour longer.
    How properly to apply wake up method? I used to get in to his room one hour earlier and shake him a bit, or even turn on the light and he opened his eyes, then i turned off the light and walked out. This i repeated 4 days in a row, then i tried 1,5 hour earlier to wake him as you did with your son, but seems he was awake again at 6, as this happend this morning and at 8am he was yawning.
    What would you do in my place to extend his wakeup time in the morning.
    He usually sleeps 1-1,5 hours in the mornings (between 8:30-10, and 13-15) and about 45 minutes between 5-6pm.If he would not sleep there he could not be awake till 7:30pm when he is placed into his bed for sleep.
    Any advice would help me :(
    I feel like an idiot as, i am not sleeping during the nights (3-4 hours altogether, as i am nervous that he will be awake again at 6 and i do not know how i will handle the sleepings during the day :(

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  18. GK,
    Make sure to look at the early morning waking post in the index. It will help you do some problem solving.

    When you have night feeds, it isn't uncommon for the morning wake time to be a bit later than wihtout the night feeds.

    Wake to sleep doesn't work for all babies. And with some it takes 5-7 days.

    Some babies will wake early in the morning no matter what. I usualy like to start the morning waketime at a reasonable time (as in actually get baby from his bed and up for the day) adn then put them to bed a little bit earlier than usual for their first nap at this age.

    I think your expected waketimes may be a bit long (but, maybe not, every baby is different). Babies around this age usually can't do much mroe than 2 hours, often 1.5 in the am.

    An earlier bedtime may help.

    You shouldn't feel like an idot at all. Many moms go through what you are going through. Just make a plan of what you want to do with the wakings and stick to it. I would probably try to minimalize attention if you can in the am since he may continue to wake to have you go in to him.

    Good luck,
    Rachel

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  19. I enjoyed your post and wonder if you can help...20 month old Natalie is my 4th and I homeschool so we are usually home. She used to take 2 45 minute or 1:30 minute naps. However, now that she is down to 1 nap she is only sleeping 45 min and is so fussy. She has had the same routine for nap and bed since she was about 6 months old, except bath only at bed. We read 3-4 books, white noise, lamp off, sing song and put her down awake. I am at my wits end because I know she needs more sleep! Do you have any suggestions!

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  20. I enjoyed your post and wonder if you can help...20 month old Natalie is my 4th and I homeschool so we are usually home. She used to take 2 45 minute or 1:30 minute naps. However, now that she is down to 1 nap she is only sleeping 45 min and is so fussy. She has had the same routine for nap and bed since she was about 6 months old, except bath only at bed. We read 3-4 books, white noise, lamp off, sing song and put her down awake. I am at my wits end because I know she needs more sleep! Do you have any suggestions!

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  21. I enjoyed your post and wonder if you can help...20 month old Natalie is my 4th and I homeschool so we are usually home. She used to take 2 45 minute or 1:30 minute naps. However, now that she is down to 1 nap she is only sleeping 45 min and is so fussy. She has had the same routine for nap and bed since she was about 6 months old, except bath only at bed. We read 3-4 books, white noise, lamp off, sing song and put her down awake. I am at my wits end because I know she needs more sleep! Do you have any suggestions!

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  22. mambowland,
    My guess is that she is overtired. Try an earlier nap time to see if it extends out the nap. Try a very early bedtime to help get over the overtiredness. Once she gets over some extreme overtiredness, continue with an early, but not quite soo early, bedtime.

    I am planning on homeschooling too. Maybe I'll be running to you with questions soon :)

    Rachel

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  23. My son is 9 mths old and ECB. He does take a little of solids occasionally (pears & peas). He is a pretty good night sleeper although he has his moments with teething and belly troubles. We have been traveling with him for my hubbys work since he is 6 weeks old. I try to keep our trips to every 6 weeks for 1 week. Change is hard for babies even my 3 year old. Anyways his naps have become a complete nightmare.

    His schedule:
    6:30 wake & BF
    9:30 BF
    10:30 nap ( was an hour) but lately we are lucky of he sleeps 10 min
    12:30or 1 BF
    2:00 nap was sleeping an hour and a half but lately not sleeping at all
    4ish BF
    5iah a couple of bites o pears or peas or mum mum with water. We all have dinner at this time
    7:30 BF bath and bed

    I should mention i put him in bed awake for naps and bedtime. He has been screaming for naps. I watch for his sleepy sighns. I feel so awful because he isn't napping well he gets extremely fussy and makes all of us miserable. I've taken him to the dr and red out any underlying issues.

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    1. Haley,
      That would be exhausting! Traveling with two little ones and not getting much sleep! My guess is that he is overtired. You won't be able to get very far with sleep if you are dealing with that issue. I'd start off by considering a reduction in his wake time. My guess is the this overtired signs are overtired signs. I would try to work by the clock a bit more at this age--most parents I talk to seem to have more luck with this. You still pay attention to how your child acts (before and after the nap) and how they nap to determine when they should nap, but you want to really watch those wake times.
      http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/02/wake-time.html
      I would also do an early bedtime. This will probably have a bit impact. Just move it slowly earlier. Well, you might be able to do it suddenly a lot earlier, but some kids will treat it as a nap. Look over this post for other suggestions. Good luck. Let me know if you have other questions.
      http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2010/02/top-sleep-tips-for-children.html

      Rachel

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  24. Hello! I have found all of this so helpful. I have a 7 month old, really 4 months adjuted who poor thing has some big sleep issues. Some completly due to my husband and I. He had terrible reflux when he came home from the NICU so we had to hold him up for a half hour after every feed. This resulted in him sleeping on us often. He has been waking up almost every hour to hour and a half for a while. We have been doing pu.pd for about a week and a half now and he is sleeping anywhere from 6:30-7 to 2am! yay! but from that 2 am on he is up almost every hour or hour and a half. He also wakes up at exactly 30 minutes every nap during the day which we try to pupd. There are so many other issues but I guess my question is can I do the wake to sleep at the same time as implementing the pu.pd. We are starting to question how well its working at this point because he is seeming to get more and more upset and we are not able to calm him down in our arms anymore. I am sure this is hard to understand and all out of any kind of order and missing many key parts but I would love any advice! Thanks soo much.

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    Replies
    1. Collette,
      Yes, you can do shush-pat and pu/pd together.
      http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/01/pupd-tbw.html

      It isn't uncommon for kids to have a harder time falling asleep in your arms (and fighting you) once they learn to fall asleep on their own. Consider holding him for less time when he fights you. Try the 4 s routine with it and see if you can get away with no pu/pd at times. Part of it might be him protesting what is going on.

      Try an earlier bedtime for the frequent nightly wakings as well as a shorter waketime.

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  25. Many thanks Rachel for your blog and posts. Apologies for long post but really would appreciate your advice!

    I have been struggling with my darling son's sleep (4.5 months old) from day 1. Day sleep has been on track with below routine but night sleep seems to be getting worse.

    We have many night wakings - ranging between 2-5 times (excluding feeds) EVERY night. Those night where he wakes every 1-2 hours are particularly hard and seem to happen at least once a week. This has been happening for 6+ weeks. I do not think hunger is the reason as when I have tried giving the late and overnight feeds earlier but he takes in less (he's bottle fed). I have ruled out other possibilities (too hot, too cold, unwell, teething, etc).

    7:30 wake & bottle feed then play
    (I use white noise to extend sleep from 7 to 7:30)
    9:00 into bed
    11:15 bottle feed then play
    12:45 into bed
    3:00 bottle feed then play
    4:30/4:45 into bed
    6:00 Quiet play, bath, feed
    7:30 into bed
    10-10:30 typical night waking*
    11:15 Late feed/dream feed
    2:30 typical night waking

    (*) I tried wake-to-sleep for 5 nights @9:30pm, but I don't think I did it correctly as it didn't work :(

    I hope you can please help as am out of ideas and very sleep deprived!

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    1. Melbourne Mumma,
      Routine seems pretty good. Something you could try is 1)moving the entire routine forward 30 minutes to see if t makes a difftnce(kind of doubt it bt it does for some kids) 2) shorten last nap and hav her into bed at night earlier.

      I would mainly work on having her go to slep at bedtime by herself. And wth wakings she needs to do the same thing. For whatever reason, she can't put herself back o leep with nigh time wakings and she needs to learn that befor there will be changes. Do whatever method you've done in the past, if any. If nt, look over the sleep training section in the index, including book reviews(they go over methods). Sorry for all the typos!

      Rachel.

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  26. Hi Rachel

    Thanks for your suggestions. I have adjusted our daily routine as my son is almost 6mo and more wakeful. A few weeks on and we're still battling the sleep war !! On a "good" night my son habitually wakes at 3/3:30am and 5/5.30am. We have gone through sleep training and he settles himself to sleep but during these night wakings he takes a VERY long time to resettle, grizzling on and off for even up to an hour. This is hard to bear and as he does not respond well to my presence in resettling, I want to try wake to sleep. Just a couple q's about wake to sleep:

    - Is he old enough for W-T-S to work? I think you've previously posted that it's best to work on one waking at a time?
    - Recently he started to again wake between 9-11pm, grizzling on and off for a really long time. I can't see a common thread like overtiredness at bedtime so W-T-S may be my only option?

    Thanks again for your advice.

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    Replies
    1. Melbourne mumma,
      Wake to sleep should work fine at this age.

      See if an earlier bedtime helps the 9-11 period. Look over the total sleep times for the day (see post) and see how they compare to where you are at.


      Rachel

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  27. Many thanks Rachel, and apologies for multiple posts... I'm having a shocking time here!

    As you'd suggested, am working on early bedtime.. What I hadn't mentioned before was that over the past 3 wks my son's naps have regressed significantly - previously 2x2hr plus 1x45min, now down to 2x1hr plus 1x30-45min...

    Maternal health nurses recommended 1.5-2hr naps following 2hr awake time, and based on his tired cues that's what we are going for. But he just cannot seem to do a stretch of 2 full sleep cycles for the 2 naps anymore, waking at the ~1hr mark...

    This makes wake-to-sleep hard to time. I have tried and failed- he stirs but still wakes like clockwork at the expected time. I must be doing it wrong - do you have any advice on timing as his sleep length is bit odd?

    PS: BTW we have blocked out all light, my baby had learned to settle & resettle himself without props, and as shh-pat/my assistance doesn't work with him as it really stimulates him so I felt w-t-s is my only option..

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  28. Kwanlien,
    You might want to consider working with the short naps right now if they won't extend and just do more of them. You may also have more luck trying to decrease the attention you give during sleep times or at least only help settle but not be there to completely help her fall asleep. Look over the sleep training post for ideas. You may like the baby whisperer.

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  29. Hi there I'm desperate for some advise I have a 4 year old who sleeps well but I have a 8 month old who doesn't sleep well at all its effecting all of us as now my other daughter is waking at half 5 due to the noise her sister is making in the mornings! She wakes up at approx 10pm 3am and 5half 5 almost every night without fail give or take the odd half hour! She doesn't want milk at 10 sometimes she wants some at 3 or at 5 but I know she doesn't really need it! I'm exhausted and am due back to work after Christmas and really need to crack her sleep problem, the frustrating thing is when she was 4 months she was waking once around 2am and settling back and even had the odd night of going through we attended a friends wedding and I settled in her pram and took her back to the room all be it a little late and since we have been on a roller coaster to disaster with sleep she's had chicken pox and colds which have just increased the problem! She goes to bed at half 6 just after and goes down really great even awake at that time and settles but when she wakes in the night she won't resettle I've been doing pupd but not sure if I should be continuing with this or doing wake to sleep as its gone on for so long now?! Please please can you help?! Many thanks dee

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  30. Oh and forgot to mention that it has been taking on average 2 hours with the pupd technique I was up til gone midnight last night it was like baby battle of wills!

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  31. Last night was the worst yet she was up at 10 managed to get her down by 10.45 then up again at 4 til half 4 then up again at half 5 continued to battle with her but gave up at 650 as my other daughter was up by then and had already got up at half 5 due to Jessica's chaos I've had approx 4 hours broken sleep, hubby on nights, she's yawning I'm yawning and snappy and tearful I can't take this its like torture :(

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    Replies
    1. Dee Potter,
      I'd work on weaning those feedings first. From there, she might end up dropping some wakings.

      Use a sound machine to help your older child stay asleep in the am and at night.

      How long have you been doing pupd? Look over the post and see if you need to adjust your method some. Really be watchful to how much attention you are giving and how soon you give it. Try to give as little as you can with this method at this age.
      http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/01/pupd-tbw.html

      Be as consistent as you can. I know it is soo hard and exhausting. Try to get some help with all of this--from your husband, even a friend. And go to bed early right now while your working through this tough time. Best of luck!

      Rachel

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  32. Hi there! I just found your blog and it has been very helpful! My son has been stuck in a habitual waking at 5:40 for as long as I can remember, I used to feed him thinking he was hungry then he started not eating well at "breakfast", so I stopped feeding him, somedays he'll cry a little and put himself back to sleep, but most days, however, it is on and off crying until around 6:45. I have been trying Wake to Sleep for three days and it is not working ... Please help!!!! I have been waking him up at 4, he is a light sleeper, so I just turn off his white noise and he moves a lot, then I turn it back on and leave. The first night it worked! He woke up at 6:30, however these last 2 days he's woken up at 5:40 as usual despite waking him at 4 :(
    Do you think I should go in earlier or later???

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  33. I was so sleepy I forgot to mention that my baby boy is 21 wo! He goes to bed at 6:45 pm, I've tried putting him down later but he still wakes up at 5:40

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    1. Look over the early morning waking post and the habitual waking post for tips. If you rule out everything, I'd say it is a phase and/or you need to give no attention . A feed again might help, but I doubt it.
      http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/04/early-morning-awakenings.html
      http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/01/habitual-wakings.html

      RAchel

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  34. Rachel,

    Hoping you can provide some insight. For the past 3 weeks, my 9 week old son has been taking 1.5 hr naps like clockwork, with a shorter 45 min nap for his 4th feeding cycle in the early evening. He also dropped his late evening feeding (used to be at 10 pm) 3 weeks ago as well. This means he would eat at 7pm, 2am, then again at about 6am. Starting this week, he has woken up at the 45 min mark with every nap, and had also started waking up again at 11pm. I thought he might be going through a growth spurt, but he doesn't want to eat when I offer him the opportunity to feed. He just wakes up crying, and is clearly tired. Any insight?

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    Replies
    1. Marci Kimura,
      He may be in a wonder week or simply going through developmental changes. Many babies will go from long napping to short napping then back to longer napping eventually (although it sometimes lasts months). I'd look over the short nap post and the extending nap post to see if there are any clues or fixes here for you two.

      best,
      rachel

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  35. Hi Rachel, I have a 10 month old who takes 30 min naps on the dot. I tried the wake to sleep method and it worked amazingly the first two times I did it, and he slept 1.5 hrs!! The third time it did not however, and the next two days have been a struggle each nap:( . Any advise for me? Should I keep trying or wait until he is older? I wonder, in the future if the methods works, should I stop for the subsequent naps or continue for a few days? It s not clear what is the right action at that point.
    Thank you so much,
    Sasha

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  36. My almost 3 year old wakes up almost every nap time and almost every morning to a fully loaded poppy pull-up! He never really stopped pooping at night and I didn't know any different as he was my first. Potty training came and he is going to the bathroom (poop and pee) by day. Preschool says there are always a few kids who do this... But it's rare. Please help!! Any ideas?!!

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  37. Hello Rachel,
    My baby girl, almost 7 months now, started walking up around 5 am recently. She still doesn't sleep through the night; wakes up 1-2 times (around 1 and 4). Many mornings she will have a poopey diaper but not always. Can one use the wake to sleep if the child is still not sleeping through the night? I don't quite understand how it would be done.

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