We’re Making Progress But…
Posted: April 28, 2009 Filed under: Cooper | Tags: baby, Cooper, day light savings, early bird, early morning waking, infant schedule, nighttime sleep, schedule, time zone, waking early 3 Comments »I should have known that writing my post yesterday would have jinxed Cooper’s Sleep. Yesterday I mentioned that he was sleep from 8pm-7am during the night after I tweaked his schedule some. He had been waking a lot in the night and taking poor naps until I changed his schedule some. I will say, that his naps were great yesterday and he slept great all night long, but he still woke up an hour early at 6am. I was looking over my notes and it seems that he has been waking between 5:45-6:30 for almost 3 weeks now but occasionally sleeping in until 7am (which seems to happen mostly on weekends).
Here’s my theory for why he is waking an hour early:
First, it is getting lighter sooner. I think this is setting off a natural alarm clock in Cooper that says, “rise and shine”. Unfortunate for Chris and I because our alarm clock says, “no thanks we need another hour”. I have tired to darken the room even more than it was, but there is still a faint bit of daylight creeping through, enough to make it appear to not be night but morning. The hormone that signals sleep, melatonin starts to decrease in the early morning hours, causing us to have lighter sleep. Sunlight also decreases the amount of melatonin that we produce.
Second, our neighbors above us (we live in a condo) have been waking up early in the morning it seems. I hear them somewhere between 5am and 6am. I can hear their footsteps and water running. Occasionally, I might even hear their dog tramping across the floor or let out a bark. They are not being overly loud, but the noises are enough to stir me awake. (I am a light sleeper to begin with.)
Conclusion: I think I am just going to have to accept the fact that Cooper is waking at 6am. I cannot not tell God to make the day light come up an hour later and I cannot tell my neighbors above us to wake up later. This just means that Chris and I need to go to bed an hour earlier at night and wake up at 6am instead of 7am. Oh well!
Future Action: Since we are moving to Texas in a month, the time zone will change and we will be an hour behind Maryland time. This might be the chance for me to get Cooper back to waking at 7am. I will be in a quite house with no condo neighbors and the time change will make it easier for me to just shift his schedule.
I know Drew did the “really early” wake up time for a while.
I guess sleep and children just don’t mix!
As sad as I am that you are leaving, I am so excited for you! You are going to have a great house, family, and so many wonderful opportunities! You will have your boys- and that is really all you need!
I hope your sleep issues have cured on its own. My son, five months old, also has his good days and not so good days as far as nighttime and daytime sleep is concerned. There are mornings where he will sleep in until 7:30 am (hooray), and other times when he will wake up at 5:30am (oh my), following the same routine the day and night before. I suppose all babies have a different rhythm that they follow, much like us adults, but I, too, have felt like a crazy person, often doubting myself and this schedule (babywise/baby whisperer) that I follow.
Susan, my son is still waking somewhere in the early morning betwen 4-6am. But I have just left him in his crib. He will play and talk to himself and sometimes go back to sleep. If he really starts to wail, then I know he’s hungry and we just get up. I must say that his sleep seems to be improving and we have less early morning wake up calls these days, which makes me very happy. Thanks for the support and sharing your own struggles with your son! I have to remind myself daily that my son is not a robot and therefore there will be some variation to every day! I am just glad that I use babywise/ baby whisperer principals because if I didn’t, I am sure our days would be a pure mess!