Hi ladies,

Help help help!!!  I started back at work just over 2 weeks ago and the girls started going to nursery.  They seem to really like it but since then Mia has been waking up at 5am every morning and is awake for at least an hour before falling asleep just around the time I need to wake them both up.  It all started on the Wednesday, 2 days after I started back at work when both the girls were really quite poorly with a viral infection, so I don't know if it was the disruption or the illness that caused the waking.  For the first few nights she would settle back to sleep if she was cuddled, but now even that won't make her sleep, if she's being held she'll lie there and seem to fall asleep but will cry every few minutes and wake herself.

Now at the same time as the viral infection both the girls also had oral thrush, so started rejecting their dummies as their mouths were obviously very sore, so after 3 days of no dummies we decided it was a good opportunity to get rid of them and they've now not had them for almost 2 weeks, so the waking and not settling could also be linked to that.

The only thing that does seem to usually settle her is giving her her morning bottle (a drink of water doesn't work) and then putting her back down, but we really don't want to get into the habit of a 5am feed again, it'd be like regressing 12 months!!

Whatever the initial cause, I'm getting desperate, as I'm waking every morning at 5am, then maybe getting a few minutes sleep at about 6ish and then having to get up about 6:25 to get ready for work.  I'm shattered all day and am really begining to feel run down and generally knackered and miserable and I know that it's all down to the lack of sleep.  Does anyone have any ideas on how we can try to break the cycle without starting a 5am feed or reverting to using a dummy, as I think she's now just got into the habit of waking at that time.  We've tried leaving her to settle again and cry it out, but she gets hysterical and I just can't leave her like that as I'm actually concerned that she'll hurt herself the way she throws herself around, picking her up is the only way to settle her. 

I'm not expecting a miracle fix overnight, but I just have no idea where to start on trying to break the cycle - any advice would be very much appreciated!!

Love to all,
Nic x

Looking forward to seeing replies Nic, We have the same problem but between 4 and 5!

Brody then has a monster nap mid morning until lunch time and I cant get him out of it. Tempted to wake him after an hour at dinner time see if that helps.

CC only works until 4 to 5 am then he just wants up!

Good luck
Love
Becky
x

Make a pregnancy ticker

Hi Nic,

I know you don't want to get back into the early morning feed, but she might be going through a growth spurt, so either give her more in her evening bottle or try some milk in the morning. Just give her the bottle, no talking, and then you leave, so it's a boring experience.

I seem to remember Becky went through the occasional early morning waking that we fixed with food and after a few weeks she'd go back to her normal sleeping through.

What happens if you give her the dummy back ? You can always try losing it again at a later stage. If she's hungry, this is unlikely to help.

Also say "it's still night time, you need to sleep" when she wakes you, so that she gets the idea of this early on. Yes, she's too early to understand at this point, but it will be helpful in the future when she goes through odd waking - I can often tell Becky it's still night time and she'll accept that as long as it's still dark outside !

oh dear this is so not the start back to work you need - clocks changing cant have helped any either hun. I wouldnt start offering milk personally - you might get into the situation she doesnt want her breakfast - which will be even more stress when you are in a rush to get out to work. As for the dummies were they able to get themselves off to sleep with the dummy beforehand? if they were I would put one in the cot and see if it helps her settle herself at all - if it doesnt then it could get lost again!

Is she actually screaming and crying etc or is she just awake? - if she is just awake leave her to it  - she will get bored and go back to sleep. If she is screaming etc I wouldnt pick her up and cuddle her - she has to learn to get herself back off to sleep - thats what she wants to happen. I would decide between you and DH how long you can bear to leave her at a time and just go in every 3 mins or 5 mins or whatever you decide  - even if its just 1 minute - and say "its night time go back to sleep" and maybe give her a pat or a stroke (but no picking her up) and leave the room - that way she knows you are still there but she learns you are there on your terms and that it is her job to get herself back to sleep not yours. When you hear her start to wind down dont go in and over the next few mornings start to leave a bigger gap between visits. Nic she is not going to hurt herself - so long as she is not tall enough to climb out the cot it is safe enough to leave her - the worst she can do is bang on the bars and she wont injure herself.

I know after I had tom I was really bad for picking him up in case he woke jack and also a few times I let jack get up early in case he woke Tom! in the end I decided to bite the bullet and get a bit tougher and I found they dont wake eachother  if there is any crying or more liekly one of them waking at 6ish or 7ish for a little chat to themselves before going back to sleep.If they do wake each other they are both capable of getting back to sleep on their own and dont make a fuss - it is rare we have a disturbed night and rare we have a child up before 8am!

It is tough getting them to sleep well but in the end a few days of pain is really really worth it - i think the key is to be consistent and once they learn they wont get picked up, fed cuddled etc they soon get bored and get themselves off to sleep again - least that has been my experience. a;ll my love cxxxx