Saturday, January 10, 2009

5:40 AM on the dot

It doesn't matter the time he fell asleep the night before. Makes no difference. 7 PM or 10 Pm.

Tennyson will still wake up at 5:40 AM every.single.morning.

Do we get him up? Of course not.

We do what has worked on the other two to change an unfortunate sleep schedule. But no effect on Mister Stubborn Pants.

We go in, we don't make eye contact, we lay him back down, cover him up, and leave.

We then let him cry for 15-20mins in the hopes that he will go back to sleep.

If he doesn't, which is more often than not, we will get up, change his diaper in the dark, lay him down, cover him up, and leave. No talking, no smiling, no eye contact. All business.

Sometimes he'll go back to sleep after that. But the better bet is that he continues to cry/talk until 7 am when we decide that that is an appropriate time to get up and we will then get him out for the day.

I am exhausted and terrified I am going to have TWO kids who don't sleep through the night in a few short weeks.

So I am putting out a plea.

PLEASE!!!

If you have any tips or tricks send them my way. Family, Friends, and Blog lurkers alike this is your time to shine. I don't care if I've never met you and we've never talked. I need advice and a new game plan. Share your wisdom with the weary!!!!

This momma needs some sleep.

12 comments:

Brianna said...

How long have you been doing what your doing? I would think it should work if you just keep at it because it sounds similar to what I've done with Marlee before, but I could be wrong. Your not giving him Diet Coke are you? ;)

I would keep puting him to sleep as early as possible and try going to bed a little earlier yourself even though I know I know your a night owl.

Oh and get some ear plugs for those wee morning hours and then maybe you can sleep better through his early morning noises.

Emilie said...

It's been going on for well over a month.......sigh.

I really should try that going to bed early thing, as much as I hate it. I need more sleep!

CnLAland said...

Drugs! ;) haha...jk!

Skye L. said...

Considering currently I have one sick kid sharing our bed and another one making an apperance at least once I night, I probably shouldn't give out advice. Hayes was waking up about that same time and we just left toys at the foot of his bed. He knew he could play with those until it was time to wake up...I don't know if that would help but he sleeps later now.

Lawson Family said...

Ahh Em, I'm sorry! I too have an early riser named Brenner. He also favors 5:40, especially recently.

My only advice that is slightly different is to not go in at all. No matter what. It's hard thing to do, but I have yet to have to do it tiwce in a row and all parites a much happier.

I hope you find something that works and works soon!!

Unknown said...

my oldest was just the same. Even now at almost 14 yrs he is still an early riser. It's a good trait now. When he was small we had a tv/vcr in his room that would turn on if he just pushed in the tape. When I heard Barney I would get up, give a sippy cup of milk and a peanut butter sandwich and go back to sleep. He wouldn't bother us for at least an hour. The toys in his bed seem like a good idea too.

Unknown said...

That comment was me -Jennefer D. -someday i'll get my own google account.

Bianca said...

We have always struggled with this with our kids, even this week, Bella wakes up waaaay too early. The hard thing is they are currently sharing a room (while we look for a house) and she wakes up and yells "brady, brady" so we can't just leave her there to cry or we would just have two awake babies. One thing we've tried before is changing nap schedules. If he is still taking an afternoon nap, eliminate it for a week or so. He will eventually get tired enough and change his other sleep habits. Putting him to bed later works too, but you have to do it consistently for about a week or more. Some other things we have found that affect sleep patterns is how much activity they do during the day, especially after their last nap. In the winter it's hard because it's cold so they are indoors a lot more and moving around less than in the summer time. So of course they are not as tired. And last, if my kids eat too little or to early, they wake up because they are hungry. For a short period of time we would brady graham crackers and milk before bed and that really helped.

Good luck! I know how it feels. Take a bath. Take a nap. Go to bed early. Things will go right eventually.

Chrissy said...

Look at it this way... in about 18 years you can nap as much as you want, and even sleep-in in the morning. I am seriously considering starting a Mommy nap-time club, it's like a play date only the moms come too and take turns napping and watching the kids.

Lyndi Daly said...

No advice, only sympathy. I know that you love sleep as much as me! I am sorry!

Emily said...

NyQuil. Who cares if it's 5!! Oh, if only!!

Skye O. said...

my advice is to ask Teresa. :)

Nixon has been doing the same thing, but it is a little later at 6 AM. I've been nervous about the same thing and now I need to switch Nixon into a big boy bed...yikes! I did try switching his daily routine just a little bit and this morning he slept until 7 AM. I make sure that we ate each meal at later and consistent times. 7:30, 12, and 6. We were eating meals at least an hour ealier and I think that made him hungry ealier?

good luck! seriously, call Teresa!