6 month old awake at 4:30am!

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! :D

Quick answer you cant do a damn thing sorry to say ... i know its not what we as parents like but these little ones have other ideas :( but it will no doubt alter again.
Maybe snuggling with you in bed will be enough to stay asleep even on the boob so you can have more zzzz before its least nearer to 6am ....and when a little older yes he can get used to playing in cot
Maybe his whole feeding waking routine has altered as they do all the time ... so suggesting you forget what used to happen and prepare for the next version.
and i wouldnt really worry if he gets 2 out of 3 solids in a day he will let you know as he is doing now. but hugs all the same

My LO is around the same age as yours and she wakes at around 430-530am most days. This doesn't bother us as we get up at 5am anyway. Generally though I will just either leave her to talk to herself in bed for half hour, then get her up & changed, or get her up & let her play in her walker till I'm ready for her first bottle (usually from 5 - 530 I make lunches, empty dishwasher, feed dogs, etc). DD will normally go down between 6 & 7pm each night. I don't know whether she wakes up during the night, but if she does she doesn't disturb me!! All I can suggest is maybe try leaving him there for a bit longer or try to darken his room as much as possible. Otherwise, enjoy the extra few hours you have in your day ;-)

Oh, I don't want to say this but... My ds started doing that at around that age and is still doing it now. He's 2 years and 8 months. Somedays, if we are lucky we can stretch him to 5:30.
We tried everything,putting him to bed later didn't work at all, he would just be super tired.
Over time I have just had to adjust my sleeping pattern so I manage to sleep. It kinda sucks but, I'm hoping he'll grow out of it eventually.

I really hope your ds isn't the same as mine! Xxx

:hug: just wanted to say I'm another one living with the same dilema... The only thing I've found that makes a little improvement is daylight savings and that only lasts a couple of weeks.

If you work out something let me know too eh?

These babies are notorious for making their own routines! Hopefully he'll make a new one soon, in the mean time you can just join me in watching the sun rise :)

Also I wouldn't worry about missing a meal. Ds hadn't even started one main meal by 6 months and if he wants it bad enough he'll stay awake for it.

Thanks for all your great replies - alas, as I feared, DS wins out and I get to be awake from 4:30am! Yippee! At least DH gets up around then for work, so maybe we can have breakky together.... then go to bed together at 7:30pm! :o

Jleigh 29: you sound so thrilled lol oh the joys of babyhood :)