Could you try substituting water for the bottle? Then he can wake up, have the drink already next to his bed, have a drink and go back to sleep. It's a tough one, I'm still struggling with my DS with the early waking. Anything with a 6 in front of it now and I'm ecstatic!

Re the "being mean" thing? I think you did the right thing. It feels horrible to leave, but sometimes it's the only thing that helps. I had a similar feeling a few weeks ago when I completely lost it. The biggest problem? I hadn't taken time out (myself) when I could feel myself getting really angry. I don't get angry often and I didn't recognise this was out of the usual. Wound up yelling at DS to the point he cried then went into my room and shut the door. He banged on the door and called out repeatedly but I stayed there until I'd calmed down and was then much more able to manage the situation. We're all human. I organised for MIL to come and visit from the country for a couple of days this week so I could get a bit of time (my situation is similar, except DH just works long hours and weekends).