4am Poop.

My guys are not sleeping in the night all the way which is ok - we're planning on CIO as soon as the stars align for teething, etc.

My problem is they usually wake up around 4 to nurse & sometimes don't go back to sleep- but they usually babble and chat then fall asleep. For the past week, when this happens, my Orion will scream and flip himself over. He also poops. :hush: His brother has pooped on one of these mornings, but is not as consistent.

They usually go to bed by 7, up around 6:15, nap 1.5 hrs or longer 2xs a day. I have a routine, but not a firm and fast schedule. They are really consistent that around 8:15 they go down for their first nap, but like right now they are still sleeping at 2 hrs 20 minutes, which then pushes their 2nd nap down.

I have a friend who thinks they are getting too much sleep and I need to put them down closer to 8 than 7... we tried it last night and he pooped around 5am. I am also selfish and in my timezone, primetime TV starts at 7 & we don't have a DVR. Mommy likes her TV time!

Any suggestions? I don't so much mind the stench in the am, it's that I want to do CIO soon, but will not leave my son laying in poop & would like to nip this in the bud before we get there.

TIA!

 

I'm not sure if the timing of the poop is something you can really control. I think it might have something to do with babies being totally and completely relaxed because my two always seem to poop either at night or during naps. I just make sure they have a good thick layer of diaper cream on when they go to bed because they sleep all night now :banana: and I sure as heck am not going to wake them up to change them!

Also, I don't think there is such a thing as too much sleep! Mine go down between 7 and 7:30 and sleep 12 hours...and still nap well during the day.

 

I'm pretty sure 12 hrs a night and 2 naps is ave. Mine are almost a year old and are still on this kick. 6am to 6pm I try to keep them up till 7pm but they freak out. I believe they'll sleep later as they get older.

I did CIO at 4 months it only took one baby 3 days, the other a week.

Teething distrupted this so I CIO again at 8 months. They each got 8 teeth in 2 months, so I waited.

As far as the bowel movement in the morning,one of mine wakes up and does this first thing. As soon as he cries in the am I'm there to clean up. As the sphencter muscle get stonger this won't be an issue anymore.

 

I don't think there is such a thing as too much sleep for a 6 month old! I would not put him down at 8 pm. My girls are 2.5 and they are just now getting to stay up til 8 pm. What you are doing sounds great to me. I'm sure the 4 am pooping is just a phase.

 

I agree - I don't think it's too much sleep. Mine have gone through phases (even lately) where they poop at 4am, or first thing in the morning, but it doesn't stay that way - as PP said, it will probably get better.

Good luck!!! Losing sleep is the worst!

 

SO it sounds like your little ones are sleeping from 7pm until 4am?? I wouldn't bother with CIO if this is the case. CIO is really for wake-ups that start around midnight!! If they are waking after that much sleep then they are hungry. Unfortunately, it is totally normal for babies to wake up at the crack of dawn. There are only two things that can possibly change this...one...try putting the bedtime at 7:30 or 8pm...that might buy you until 5am. Two...time... eventually they will sleep from 7 until 7. But for now you might have to deal with feeding them, putting them back down and listening to their chatter. Now, letting them fuss a little isn't a horrible thing, but I wouldn't do a full force CIO at that time of the morning. And if you've read any of my other posts you'll see I am a big advocate of CIO. Anyway, it was very common for my little boy to wake up at 4 or 5am every morning. As he got older he would climb from his toddler bed to get into our bed each morning. We eventually taught him to get up, go pee, and go back to his bed! LOL. But in my experience...little boys are early risers!

 

:rotflmbo: I'm sorry I gave you that impression. Heck, no, they don't sleep through! They wake for the first time between 10 and 11. Again around 1a. 3 to 4a. Then depending on the 4am poop, 6:15ish for the day. Sometimes it's just 11, 4 then up, but sometimes there is an extra feed. I know they are waking way too much for their age and am willing to do CIO- we'll see about DH (he REALLY likes shoving boobs in their mouths- as it always works).

 

Like pp, I lathered them up with diaper creme before naps and at bedtime. Unless they were already awake, I waited til morning to change them.

ETA: If they already had a diaper rash and I smelled it, I would go ahead and change them even if it meant waking them up. I didn't want to risk further skin breakdown even with the thick layer of protection. I actually changed them right in their crib if I could manage it and moved very slowly. Sometimes they didn't even wake up!