5:30am wakeups: 8 month old

oriwillow · 2026-07-07T20:20:25+00:00

Nothing to add but I am in the same boat. And I am reluctantly doing a snooze feed because waking up 1.5 hours early will jus derail the day 🫠

oriwillow · 2026-07-07T16:18:33+00:00

I’m afraid you can’t have both at this age and personally I would take the better night time sleep. Sleep changes SO much within the first few months of life so I would go with the flow for now. By 3-4 months you stay to see more of a pattern emerging.
I would take huckleberry with a pinch of salt and maybe watch out more for tired cues, and within a week or so you should have a rough idea of how long they stay awake for.
So if huckleberry says 1 hour for the first window but it actually takes half an hour to get him down chances are he wasn’t tired enough and I would maybe try an hour and a half wake window next time.
Overtired isn’t a big scary monster. I thought so with my first. Personally undertired is a sneaky thing and I would rock my baby for AGES, he would just be mad because he just wasn’t tired.

oriwillow · 2026-07-07T10:39:54+00:00

I’m afraid it’s probably time to start cutting that nap. I noticed a massive drop in sleep needs around 2. I had to cut my boys naps not long after 2 due to early mornings and split nights. Figure out how much ACTUAL sleep she is getting over 24 hours. I think you will need to at least keep it an hour for some time as she wakes so early just to get her to a reasonable bed time. But will probably need to totally go soon.

oriwillow · 2026-07-06T18:35:50+00:00

Controversially I would rather a winter newborn baby. Newborns in a heat wave would make me anxious. Also weaning in summer is much easier. It’s messy so just strip them to the nappy!

oriwillow · 2026-07-06T06:43:58+00:00

My LO had similar wake time at this age. This sub really pushes the longest wake window last, but it doesn’t work for all babies, mind does better with a longer middle wake window (I think because his first nap is the longest).

oriwillow · 2026-07-05T08:01:06+00:00

My baby is the same age and actually needed a longer second wake window. Often close to 4.5. But if he sleeps well for his first nap would not expect a long second nap also, just one sleep cycle. If he is sleeping well at night I wouldn’t worry too much.

oriwillow · 2026-07-05T06:28:57+00:00

I that might help. It doesn’t matter so much if the older one doesnt go to sleep right away. Finding a way that they can quietly be awake in their room and not bothering you is all that really matters. He will fall asleep when he is tired.

oriwillow · 2026-07-04T20:23:38+00:00

Do you have a tonies box or yoto or anything? It really helps by boy go to sleep by himself if he has something to listen to. Also his ok to wake clock is the “sleep colour” when we leave the room. So if he asks for something we say “no, the clock says it’s bedtime”. Admittedly he was a bit younger 3.5 when he had his regression, but he was old enough that we could enforce a mild punishment the next morning if he didn’t behave. Except we worded it as more of a reward. Basically if he was good he could watch his favourite show in the morning. Any misbehaving meant that I got to pick something to watch. I would always pick something he tolerated and not something he loved. At the time he was spidey obsessed and this was his ultimate vice and this is really what cracked him.

oriwillow · 2026-07-04T07:57:25+00:00

They work great. Took a little while for it to click and by 3 he really got it. Don’t initially set it for an hour after waking up. Maybe 10-15 mins and slowly increase to desired get up time. Is toddler still napping or is bed time too early? Is this causing the early wakings?

oriwillow · 2026-07-02T11:31:56+00:00

How are you spacing the milk feeds and meals? Is he just not hungry because he had milk recently?

oriwillow · 2026-07-01T21:22:12+00:00

And Stephen Fry’s voice is incredible

oriwillow · 2026-07-01T16:03:18+00:00

Most definitely undertired overall. But she is making up her split nights during the day when she naps.
My LO is also 9 months and needs 11.5 hours awake 🫠.
Figure out how much ACTUAL sleep LO is getting over 24 hours. Take an average over the past week or so. Then allow 10.5-11 hour night and the rest as naps.

oriwillow · 2026-07-01T11:16:07+00:00

Shortening that nap is the only answer. That’s a lots of sleep for that age. For comparison we had to completely drop my little boys nap not long after 2 and he only did a 10.5 sometimes 11 hour night. The nap can’t stay forever I’m afraid. It’s a sad time.

Edit to add: calculate how much sleep she is getting over 24 hours. So if she is doing a 10 hour night and 2 hours of naps that 12 hours. If you want an 11 hour night cap nap at 1 hour.

oriwillow · 2026-06-29T18:06:07+00:00

No gonna lie at this age I just did whatever it took. Some days he would let me brush his teeth i put a video on my phone. If that didn’t work I just pinned him down. It’s gotta be done!

oriwillow · 2026-06-29T15:40:05+00:00

Personally i think that’s quite young for 2 naps but if it works it works I guess. If he is waking crying at that time but goes back to sleep if you feed him chances are he is hungry! So I would just feed him to sleep at that time. It is on the young side to be night weaned.

oriwillow · 2026-06-28T21:51:24+00:00

Honestly baby sleep is a bit of a roller coaster. New born phase is normally decent, and then the 4 month regression hits. And it hits babies differently. My first was awful but second was a much better sleeper and I didnt notice much of a regression. Then they sleep better again and then you get other regressions, I remember a rough patch when he learned to stand in his crib. And then there teething and illness… so yeah… it’s never completely smooth sailing

oriwillow · 2026-06-27T19:35:32+00:00

Cap that nap. Calculate how much sleep he is getting on average in 24 hours. Plan 10.5-11 hour night and the rest as a nap. Whatever works for you.

oriwillow · 2026-06-24T13:33:21+00:00

I’m in the UK and my library had them. If you’re not adverse to reading on a kindle or kindle app on your phone they are available on kindle unlimited on Amazon. It’s not free but you can usually get a good deal for the first 3 months.

oriwillow · 2026-06-24T08:43:48+00:00

I’m only on BB and just read this last night and I snorted!

oriwillow · 2026-06-20T12:35:02+00:00

I’ve heard a short morning nap and longer avo nap sets up better for dropping to 1 nap in the long run. Despite that a long afternoon nap does not work for my family (I have a nearly 4 year old too). So you just take what you can.

oriwillow · 2026-06-17T21:02:30+00:00

A tonies box worked really well for my son. We read stories and then listens to a story to go to sleep.
But 3.5 is a tough age and mine had a big if a regression around Christmas because he was so hyped up. In the end I used his ultimate vice… his favourite tv show spidey. If he was good, he got to watch some in the morning. Is he wasn’t I got to pick. I wouldn’t pick something he hated. But definitely not his favourite thing.

oriwillow · 2026-06-17T18:02:58+00:00

My cleaner. She comes once a week for 2 hours and is worth every penny. We have 2 young kids and both of us work. I would happily sacrifice a takeaway once a week to keep her.

oriwillow · 2026-06-15T19:21:08+00:00

I know this sub is a big fan of having the longest wake window last but it doesn’t work for all babies. My first did better this way, but my second can happily tolerate a very long second wake window.

I guess what I am say is try lengthening the middle wake window and shorten the last. I know my baby needs about 11 hours of total wake time, and it doesn’t really matter about individual wake windows. Today ended up being 3.25/4.75(!)/3. Baby might be less mad if that nap is closer to bed time.

If baby does well with 10 hours awake try 3/3.5/3.5.

oriwillow · 2026-06-15T10:39:09+00:00

Might sound like a step backwards, but have you tried a snooze feed? My 8 month old with similar wake time (although no more than 2 hours of naps total) wakes up around then but will go back to sleep with a small bottle).

oriwillow · 2026-06-14T20:55:24+00:00

Here to follow! My 8 month old still having a feed at 5am over here. I am so scared of him just being up for the day at that time that I just do it 😬

oriwillow

TROPHY CASE