Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

Shane wakes up at 5 am sometimes....he may sleep till 5:30 on occasion, but most of the time he's up at 5. He has a bath every night at 6:30 and is asleep by 7 pm. He wakes up twice still to BF. But no matter what happens, he's up at 5.

His dr says to leave him in the crib until 7 am. Even if it's to CIO, or just to play/entertain himself, or maybe even fall back asleep...either way, he can't be "rewarded" for waking up at 5 by having one of us get up with him and take him out. He needs to learn to stay in his crib until then. What do you think? Healthy Sleep Habits I think says to leave them in there till 6 or 7 also.

In all your mommy experiences though, should I leave him in there and possibly let him CIO (I can guarantee he'll cry which I'm not opposed to), or do you think some babies are just early risers and just suck it up and get up with him at 5?

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

I think if you want him to sleep later you have to get him to bed later.. I had this issue with Anthony.>He would go to sleep at 7 and wake up at 6..

I wanted him to go to bed at 8 and wake up at 7.

I personally wouldnt leave him in the crib to scream. Maybe leave him there until he really starts to fuss..If you feed him at 5 will he go back to sleep? Sometimes if Anthony falls asleep early without eating his bottle, he will wake up around 5-530 starving.. I'll give him a bottle and he goes right back to sleep until 730..

Is there a way you can change his evening schedule to go to sleep a little later??

GL!

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

I myself don't believe in the late to bed, late to rise thing... but hey, whatever works for one kid might not work for another.

Most often, my DD wakes up around 7, but there are some days when she is up at 5:30/6:00. I usually leave her in her crib. More often than not she falls back asleep and wakes at her usual time.

If she is crying/screaming, I will go into to her, maybe try to soothe her back to sleep.

But yes, there are also kids that are just early risers....

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

My DS could go to bed at midnight and be up at 5. He doesn't care. I think that is a myth. I would leave him unless he is screaming his head off. That said, I dont think I would leave him in there for 2 hours "entertaining" himself. If he is up, give it a half hour and then get him.

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

it's so rare that DS sleeps past 7:30 no matter WHAT time he went to bed the night before!

how old is Shane? until he was 6 months old, DS was still waking up at 5:30am. after that he started sleeping later, till 6:30, then 7, and finally 7:30am.

DS was always a happy waker but now that he can stand in his crib he can also see us (we are in a studio apt. for the time being) and he cries for us to come get him.

unless Shane is screaming his head off i would leave him in there and see what happens! i personally don't know what would happen if i did CIO for the morning b/c i never had to try but maybe someone else on here can help - try FMing sunflowerjesss, i think she did CIO in the mornings.

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

He's 6 months so maybe there's hope in him sleeping later.

LB- we're in a 1 bdrm so he's in the same room as us....so same situation more or less....once he can pull himself up, I'd imagine he'd be able to see us laying there also.

Ok, I'll try leaving him in there for a bit and see what happens. Thanks!

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

We've done CIO in the mornings if Kaydyn wakes up super early. During the week we wake her up at 7:30am to go to my ILs...on the weekend she'll sometimes sleep until 8:30/9. There have been times that she's woken at 5ish and we leave her in there BUT she goes to bed on the later side (9/9:30pm) so she is def not getting enough sleep if she wakes up at 5.

That being said some kids are just early risers. My nephew is up at 6am every day no matter what time he goes to sleep. He is almost 7 and has been this way since he was an infant.

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

DS was exactly like yours! He was waking up at 5am no matter WHAT! He is 5.5 months old.

I just started pushing DS's bedtime a little later... He now goes to bed between 7:30pm and 8:00pm. He still wakes up at 5-ish but I started ignoring him in the mornings until between 5:30 and 6am. He wasn't screaming or crying - just "talking" and making noise.

To my surprise - he will generally fall back asleep for another 30 minutes to an HOUR! Which is fantastic for me.

Also, DS wasn't finishing his first bottle - he would drink 3 out of his 7 oz. Which to me meant he wasn't STARVING when he woke up! So I also didn't feel as guilty letting him sit in his crib.

I hope this helps. Good luck! I am FINALLY feeling like I am starting to get a second of sleep now!

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

Have you tried feeding him and then putting him back down? This is what I do with DS. He wakes at 5 almost every day. But I feed him and then he goes back to sleep until 7ish. DD will sleep right through until 7-8am. They both go down by 7pm an are almost 8 months.
Recently, DS has been sleeping until 6:30-7 every other day or so, so I think he's starting to phase out that 5am feeding.

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

My son seems to be an early riser....he sleeps from 8 to 6 and then is up for the day....

This is "late" for him...he was doing 5-5:30 so I'll take 6...

Maybe you have an early riser....

How soon after getting up does he nap in the morning?

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

DS was waking up everymorning at 4:45am on the dot. Nothing we did we put him back to sleep until after 7am. He was 5 months. Lately he has been sleeping to 6:15 a huge improvement, but maybe like the OP said, it's an age thing. I keep DS in bed until he starts to get fussy. He will usually talk to himself for 15 or so minutes.

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

I feed him as soon as he gets up and he's wide awake ready to go...thing is, he's ready for a nap about an hour later. So I know I have to be able to bridge that gap somehow.

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

I know you are not able to do this, but my Shane started sleeping better once he was in his own room. I was so scared to move him out of his bassinet to his crib, but at 5 months he was getting way to big. So now, he sleeps a lot longer and better. I know he would see me from his bassinet and that would make it worse.
As someone else posted, can you maybe put up some type of divider.

For my DS he needs that 12 hours sleep. He still wakes up at least once during the night. Either at around 12:30 or 5am to eat. After that he will usually go back to sleep. He does sometimes wake up too early and is fully awake, but is back asleep within an hour.
When he wakes up at 5am and is back to sleep by 6am, how long does he sleep for?

Message edited 8/24/2009 4:07:45 PM.

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

My son stays in his crib till 7, like it or not.....some days he fusses, some days he sings and plays in his crib.
Either way, in the crib he stays!

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

ds always woke at 530. now he is 11 months I can't take it, so I started leaving him. he was not a happy camper the first couple days. but I notice all these months he doesn't seem rested when i get him, he smiles at me, but then looks grouchy, looks mad at his toys things like that. now I refuse to get him before 7. he has been sleeping till 8 AM, and wakes up cooing and smiling and happy happy happy.

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

I personally would do what your Ped said in this case....nothing before 7am is acceptable imo....he will get used to entertaining himself until you get him.

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

Re: Waking up way too early--leave DS in crib or take him out?

6 was my earliest!! they cry ubtil then but 6 is ok