DS (6 1/2 months) has decided that 4:30am is a great time to start the day, but forgot to consult his mummy! He goes to bed around 7:15pm and used to sleep through til 7am, but when teething started about 2 months ago, he started to wake around 4:30am for a feed. He'd normally go straight back to sleep until 7ish, usually in our bed. Now, he's wide awake after his 4:30ish feed. He's so tired by about 7:30am and falls asleep during his 8am bf. This morning he fell asleep during his feed but woke as soon as I took him off and wouldn't go back to sleep until just after 9am. This affects the rest of the day as he'll now have a big sleep (2.5 - 3hrs) and often not have another nap all day, sometimes only 25 mins. Needless to say he's overtired by dinner time! Sometimes he misses breakfast so only gets two solid feeds instead of three.

How do I get him to go back to sleep after that 4:30am feed, or better yet, to sleep through (5:30 or 6am would be fantastic!)? I know he's not cold, but it is starting to get light (but not much I can do about that). I've tried just putting him back down with a toy to play with and sometimes get 10-15 mins of quiet play before he cracks it.

He wakes himself during the night between 1 and 3 times but easily resettles, either by himself, or with me just giving him back dummy and blankie.

TIA!