https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 11 Apr 2026 18:10:40 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2870138 Sat, 02 Feb 2019 07:10:35 +0000 periwinklebee 2870138@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Foodnerd81: @Kemma: Thank you guys!</p> <p>This morning was another 5 am wakeup (and less than ten hours sleep for the night), and now he's been a little fusspot. He angrily refused his favorite packet from DH and then proceeded to breastfeed for an hour and get up for the day, whacking the other boob and determinedly pinching the other nipple the whole hour. He was on a dinner strike last night and would barely eat anything besides for breastfeeding before bed, so that may have contributed... </p> <p>We do Greek yogurt, you inspired me to find a new brand and I am hoping the novelty of that will get him to eat more of it. Right now he's on a liquids strike at home - he does great with water and will occasionally have WCM at daycare, but for the past couple of weeks the only liquids he'll take at home is breastfeeding. Hopefully the breastfeeding obsession is a short-lived phase, and when he's more willing to take other foods and drink from a sippy some of the strategies that have worked well for others will help us.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2870127 Fri, 01 Feb 2019 21:25:43 +0000 Kemma 2870127@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My brother was an early waker so my Mum would leave a biscuit and sippy cup of milk next to his cot for him to drink in the morning. Even as a teenager he still woke before six so it’s obviously just his biology! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2870124 Fri, 01 Feb 2019 21:05:27 +0000 Foodnerd81 2870124@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@periwinklebee: Don't have great advice- at that age myfirst would nurse then go back to sleep for a while and I would go back to sleep for a while. Not ideal but not as bad as everyone up at 4:45.</p> <p>But if you are looking for a good evening protein, have you tried greek yogurt? My older one doesn't like meat and stopped eating hummus (thankfully she can eat nuts thought), but greek yogurt has a surprising amount of protein. Maybe adding that to dinner would help? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2870079 Fri, 01 Feb 2019 13:50:04 +0000 periwinklebee 2870079@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Champagne: Thank you! I'm sure there are so many things I do with LO that I think are necessary that I would realize just aren't if I had more kids to take care of!</p> <p>@Pollywog: Thanks!</p> <p>I tried feeding him (packet then bf) a few days ago when he work up at 4:30 and he ended up not going back to sleep until 6, ugh... then the past couple of days he's done much better and made it until 5:45 - 6 before waking for the day (with no feeding), which I can handle. I did put him in a lighter sleepsack, so maybe that could be it, or maybe it's just the luck of the draw. Hah, I desperately want the magic formula, but I'm sure there's not one! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2870074 Fri, 01 Feb 2019 13:40:00 +0000 Mrs. Champagne 2870074@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So with my first I got up and tried to figure it out. Once he night weaned he was basically up for the day around 530. It sucked. Now he’s still an early riser. I never figured it out. </p> <p>With 2 and 3, I’m way too tired. I treat it like a night wake up. Feed if I think they are actually hungry, otherwise... I ignore. 99% of the time they go back to sleep. I wish I had done this with my first. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2870071 Fri, 01 Feb 2019 13:26:45 +0000 Pollywog 2870071@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My kiddo is like this. He has a very fast metabolism and needs to eat. He'd be wailing for "pouch and juice". I'd give him a yogurt pouch and his water bottle and he'd suck it down and go back to sleep. This is after having a yogurt literally in bed before going to sleep. He's also begged me for a muffin and banana at 3am before. He eats his meal and goes back to sleep. I'm all for feeding kids if they're hungry. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2870068 Fri, 01 Feb 2019 13:16:38 +0000 periwinklebee 2870068@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JJ2626: We switched to size 5 huggies overnights. He's like 4 pounds under the min weight, but they are working dramatically better than the baby dry for us (in either size 4 or 5). We've still had a lot of early morning wakeups, but the past two days have been better (with a change of sleepsack, I think maybe his temperature was off?), so I'm hoping that we are starting to turn a corner, though I don't want to jinx it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2870065 Fri, 01 Feb 2019 12:55:46 +0000 JJ2626 2870065@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@periwinklebee: any updates? Also, did you find a better diaper option? Our LO has woken up completely soaked the past 2 days in her size 4 baby drys. She doesn’t care but it’s gross and means more laundry! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2869413 Tue, 29 Jan 2019 11:31:51 +0000 periwinklebee 2869413@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JJ2626: Thanks! I will try to move it up a bit, given our time constraints. Thank you!</p> <p>@annem1990: Yeah, I'm thinking maybe I should try first food packet and soothe back to sleep. I'm worried the latter won't happen, as he's never gone back to sleep when he happened to wake up around 5. So if that doesn't work either, I may just breastfeed/wake up with him, and attempt no feeding before 6 again in a month when he's more mature... The night weaning was shockingly easy, in that he gave up the middle of night feedings in like 2 nights with barely 5 min of crying each night, but this 5 am wake up problem has been very persistent... </p> <p>@JennyPenny: Interesting about the water! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2869404 Tue, 29 Jan 2019 11:03:17 +0000 JennyPenny 2869404@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think I remember my first son suddenly waking early around that age. We just left a bottle with water in it in his crib overnight and that got him back to sleeping till 7. I don't remember why I thought water would help, but I remember it did. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2869403 Tue, 29 Jan 2019 11:03:16 +0000 annem1990 2869403@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Forcing night weaning was completely miserable for us. It just didn’t work. We all were exhausted and the poor guy was just hungry. So I just gave up and that was the best decision. </p> <p>If he woke up before 6:00, we’d go in and give a sippy cup of milk, then back to sleep. He began to wake up less and less and by 13 months was only doing it maybe once a week. By 14 months it stopped, save for maybe once a month. </p> <p>I was very hung up on all of these people telling me their baby had not been eating overnight since like 6 months. I felt “behind.” Once I let that go and just listened to my baby, things were so much better. I don’t think in a lot of cases you can force a baby to night wean (even at a year!). When they’re ready, they’re ready. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2869401 Tue, 29 Jan 2019 10:59:11 +0000 JJ2626 2869401@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So I would say definitely try an earlier bedtime. Like lights out, eyes closed ideally by 7. It’s weird but earlier bedtime can often mean a later wake up. 7:45 to 4:45 is definitely not enough sleep-I agree with you there! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2869395 Tue, 29 Jan 2019 10:40:57 +0000 periwinklebee 2869395@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JJ2626: Thanks! Bedtime routine (lotion, jammies, breastfeeding) starts around 7, though typically his eyes aren't actually closed until around 7:45. He's super unhappy when he wakes up, though will usually cheer up once he has food and is up playing. We've been leaving him in his crib until 6 with some soothing, and he really hates it. We have a one bedroom fully open concept condo, so that means no one in the house is sleeping once he's awake and shrieking. But he's never been one to play happily in his crib at wakeup. He detests containment of any type and always wants to be right by us. I'm really hoping it's a developmental stage and will change soon.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2869389 Tue, 29 Jan 2019 10:33:11 +0000 JJ2626 2869389@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What time is bedtime? Try moving it earlier, even though that may seem weird. For wake ups, I’d say 4:45am is definitely too early. 5:30 it’s possible he’s fully rested but you can probably get him to 6. Have you tried leaving him in the crib until 6 or close to it? And does he wake up happy or upset? If upset, I think it’s less that he’s hungry and more that he’s tired. Babies usually do not wake because they are hungry so I think it has less to do with night weaning and more just finding the right schedule for him. But I know it’s brutal! Our LO goes through 5:30am phases too that seem to be developmental and somehow 5:30 is soooo much worse than 6! She randomly started sleeping until 6:30/6:45 over the past 2 weeks though so I’d also say these things do change as they develop. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2869387 Tue, 29 Jan 2019 10:18:11 +0000 periwinklebee 2869387@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gotkimchi: Thanks! Maybe we should try having a food packet right there that we can give him before he wakes himself up in complete hysteria. (I would try milk but he's been refusing cow milk) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2869386 Tue, 29 Jan 2019 10:15:38 +0000 gotkimchi 2869386@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For my kids I started throwing them a silly cup of milk. Minimal effort on my part and they would drink it and go back to sleep. I think they really were hungry and there was no way around it until they put grew it </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tell-me-about-early-morning-wakeups#post-2869384 Tue, 29 Jan 2019 10:12:28 +0000 periwinklebee 2869384@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When I night weaned my one year old a month ago, we instituted a no feeding before 6 am rule. Mommy also doesn't get up to play before 6am, which means he needs to stay in his crib until then. At the time, he was typically sleeping until 7. Even before night weaning, we were toast if he woke up around 5, as he wouldn't go back to sleep. But before night weaning, he was eating around 2/3/4 am and rarely would wake up again until a reasonable hour. </p> <p>Since night weaning, he has only slept until 6 once. He's regularly waking up between 4:45 and 5:30. Occasionally he can be soothed back to sleep, but often not. He's clearly hungry, clearly exhausted, and very pissed until he gets his morning food. I thought it would just be an adjustment period, but this has been ongoing for awhile. </p> <p>Did others have the same problem? Did you ride it out, give up and feed earlier, or find a fix? We've fixed the diaper leaks, which may have been contributing. I try really hard to get him to eat something protein rich at dinner. He's allergic to tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, and sesame (in tons of stuff including hummus) and is not very keen on meat or cheese (though i've found a few recipes), so maybe that's the problem? I asked the pediatrician and she said maybe he is just getting enough sleep waking up at 5 am, but I doubt it. He's visibly tired and will end up crashing and taking a cat nap on the way to daycare, which never happened before the night weaning. </p> <p>Thank you! </p>