PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

OMG i am seriously going to flip!!!
Up until last week,, DS has been a great sleeper. He is exhausted and goes to bed by 630pm, sleeps til 5am when i nurse him, then back down til AT LEAST 6:30.

Well.....last week i returned to work for 2 conference days and BOTH times he woke at 5am and didnt go back down. But when i was off, Fri, Sat, Sun and Mon. He did. Lo and behold, yesterdya and today (work days), is WIDE FRIGGIN awake at 5am and after i feed him, is UP and crying for me. Obviously i CANNOT play w/ him, hold him, comfort him bc im getting ready for work (i leave by 645-7:00)

My question- what is your DC doing while youre getting ready for work? DS is almost 10 mons old so i cant let him out to play unsupervised.
Also- what time does he/she go to bed? We TRY to keep him up longer (did that last night) but it doesnt work. He either still gets up at 5am or we cant keep him up longer at night bc he is so ready for sleep.

Not to mention this 5am waking is COMPLETELY throwing off his schedule

PLEASE HELP!! I cant deal w/ the added stress int he mornings

ETS: clearly 5am is not an appropriate wake time either

Message edited 9/8/2010 6:17:48 AM.

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

at that age, I put him in the superyard to play. However, at 2 that doesn't work anymore. often I take him into the shower with me which I hATE!

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

DS wakes between 6:30-7:00. He goes to sleep by 7:30-7:45. Usually I wake at 5:30 (if I have dishes to unload or laundry to do) or 5:45 (sleeping late ). This gives me time to shower, blow dry my hair and start my make-up before he wakes up. I already have my outfit picked out so I don't have to even think about it. We play and he has his bottle from 6:45-7:20.Then at 7:20, Sesame Street goes on the TV and I finish my make-up and throw on my work clothes. 7:30 I am out the door. I hate it that I don't have more time to hang with him in the morning, but in order to get to school by 8:15 and have an hour of work time before school starts, I need to leave at 7:30. Then I RUN out the door at 3:30!
I think once both of you get back in the swing of things it will get easier. Babies can sense when things are different or stressful so maybe he's feeding off of that. On the days you don't work, do you usually go back to sleep with him at 5? Is it possible he's hearing you get ready in the morning at that is keeping him up? Maybe a sound machine to drown out some "morning noise"?

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

I think my sons bedtime was around 6:30pm/7pm at that age. He was always one to need lots of sleep.

When i was getting ready in the morning for work and he woke up early... i'd either put him in the bathroom with me with some toys or on the floor in our bedroom with toys where i can see him.

I still have a bin upstairs in our room of toys for him to play with while i get ready. I would also turn on the tv. At that age, he liked barney.

But i'm not going to lie. There were plenty of days when he wanted to be held or wanted all the attention and i couldn't give it to him, so he would cry. I had to get ready, especially those mornings when my husband was on night shifts or day shifts and gone already. So sometimes he sat there and cried.

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

Mich where is your husband during this time? DH gets up 10 mins earlier to shower and get ready, then he takes care of him while I get ready.

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

Posted by Linda1003

Mich where is your husband during this time? DH gets up 10 mins earlier to shower and get ready, then he takes care of him while I get ready.

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

I'm with Lin...

DH always watched Loey while I got ready for work.

Do you have a gated area where Will can play? We used to put Loey in there while I showered, and it gave time for some independent play while DH had coffee & breakfast.

Once I was out of the shower, I'd let Loey hang around the bathroom area with me and play with some toys on the floor while I dried my hair and put on makeup. That gave DH time to shower/get dressed.

Then again we'd switch. He'd watch Loey while I ate breakfast....

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

Posted by nov04libride

Posted by Linda1003

Mich where is your husband during this time? DH gets up 10 mins earlier to shower and get ready, then he takes care of him while I get ready.

We take turns like this. I wake up EARLY to shower, then feed and play w/ DS while DH quickly gets ready. Then DH plays w/ him while I finish getting ready.

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

M, what time do you put him to bed? Maybe he's ready for an earlier bedtime? I know that's gonna sound crazy...but it's all about the timing with these kids. It doesn't matter how late I put Riley to bed, she will always be up somewhere between 6:30-7am. So going to bed later doesn't make her sleep later at all.

I know, this is probably making zero sense...but seriously, if you get the bedtime exactly right, maybe he won't wake as early?

Doesn't it figure they do this sort of crap to us when we return to work? Riley of course gets sicker than sick!! These kids seem to know what they're doing!

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

I agree with Tara - wahtever time we put DS to bed, he gets up at the same time each morning.

When DS was smaller, the Jumperoo was a lifesaver! Now I put him in his play area while I get ready.

I also have cut down on my getting ready routine - I shower in the evening and pick my clothes out then as well.

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

I'm luck DS will sleep till 7ish so I usually have to wake him gently to get him up and ready for daycare. WHen he's sleeping I get up extra early to get myself ready and pack the car with lunches, etc.

IF DS wakes up earlier I wake up DH and they'll sit on the bed and watch Nick Jr. If DH isn't there then I have the door shut and he plays with his toys in the bedroom with the TV and I have the bathroom door open. He'll come in and out and usually pretty good. Just gotta make sure the cabinets are locked and the TP is off the holder. LOL

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

Colin goes to bed 8:15 or so and wakes between 7-8am. If he wakes before 7 he usually cries for a few minutes, then grabs a binky and goes back to sleep for a bit. He is pretty good about hanging in his crib.
I get up before the boys to pump and try to get one cup of coffee in me.
Can you throw a few toys in the crib?
Do you have a playpen? Colin will go in with toys and play or Barney holds his attention for a bit.
Sometimes I put him in the highchair with a hand full of cheerios and a few toys.
Will is probably getting used to your new schedule and is missing you so he wants to play.
At 5am, I would honestly nurse and put him back in and let see if he will go back to sleep for a bit - or don't nurse so he doesn't wake for that session. If you are done with nursing, and he holds his own bottle, maybe give him a small one in his crib? I know they don't recommend that, but it could help!

Ets: I shower the night before so getting myself ready takes 10 minutes and sometimes I just let him crawl around my bedroom floor while I dress and ryan goes into his toyroom to watch a show

Message edited 9/8/2010 9:11:57 AM.

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

Is he completely UP at 5am like standing in the crib and crying for you?

Most mornings I hear DD around 5/5:30am on the monitor just rolling around trying to get comfy again, sometimes she whines a little... but after 5 mins or less she gets herself back to sleep and she sleeps til 7/7:30am. She goes to bed around 8pm.

What is his whole day like (napping/eating schedule)?

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

You might not like my answer, but I will give you my truthful experience---because of unpredicted early wakeups, sometimes i just have to skip a shower and the usual getting ready I would otherwise do. If I definitely need a shower a certain morning, I either do it the night before, or get up extra early to shower. If I shower in the morning, sometimes I have to skip drying my hair. I carry a little make up bag and stopped trying to put on make up at home. I have learned to get ready super super quick and can brush my hair, teeth, and get dressed in like 5-10 minutes if needed. Some days they wake up later, and I can do my full get ready process. But they generally wake up anywhere between 6 and 7:30 or later. We have a nanny who shows up at 7:30. I need to leave by 7:30/7:45, so if they got up early, I get ready when the nanny shows up. If I need to be out of the door by 7:30 when she shows up, I get up at 5:30 to get ready. if they wake up before 6, I let them stay in their crib until 6. (that doesn't usually happen)

btw- both my girls started waking more when I went back to work. they had been sleeping well, and my first few weeks back started waking every 2-3 hours again until they adjusted. My little one still wakes up once or twice a night (usually only once now) and I've been back for 2.5 months.

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

My son is a little younger (7 months old) but this is our routine. DS goes to bed at 8:00 at night. Normally, he wakes up around 6:30 - 6:45. DH and I wake-up the same time and we bring him into our bed where we give him a bottle and hang out. I usually go take a shower and get dressed while DH finishes giving him a bottle and will hang out for a while. I go downstairs with DS and usually put him in either the jumperoo or his play yard and put Handy Manny on. He will play and watch a little tv while I do my hair and make-up. At this point, DH is done showering and he takes DS while I leave for work. DH plays with DS until my mom or the sitter come over.

If I need to get to work earlier or DS sleeps a little later, then DH deals with him for most of the morning.

If DS wakes a little earlier, we just leave him in the crib for a little while. He wakes up very happy and generally is content to play in the crib for a while.

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

I sneak a few crib toys that are soft and safe in her crib after she goes to sleep. When she wakes up it gives me a little bit more time. She usually wakes between 545-630am and I work from 4pm until 10pm three days a week. Im shot the next morning. I switch between a stuffed monkey, a glow worm, her leap frog teddy bear, elmo. She will play with it for up to an hour

Re: PLEASE PLEASE help- working moms

I have spent a lot of mornings getting ready by myself, since my DH leaves for work at 6:30 quite often.

My DS played in his exersaucer when I showered and dried my hair. I used to put it right outside the bathroom door so I could keep an eye on him.

On the days my DH leaves at a normal time, he watches DS while I shower.