Early wakeups, long early naps and a cycle I can’t break
hey folks - wondering if anyone has suggesrions or experience with this:
my 18 month old co sleeps on a floor bed in his own room. I recently night weaned him and he was gettting really great stretches on his own (I roll away after bedtime and come in at first wake). he even had a handleful of nights that he slept through the night! then we got a horrible, long stomach bug and we got back into the cycle of nursing a ton at night. I think it’s part habit, part intense teething. however the problem is he’s somehow reset his internal clock to wake at exactly 5am everyday. I try to treat it like a night wake to no avail. he’s wide awake. the problem is he gets tired easily. if I distract him I can keep him up until 11/1130 and he will take a 2-3 hour nap and then go to bed between 7-8pm. BUT my main poroblem is if I go anywhere in the car or babywear he passes out as early as 9am. not trying to be strict but when he naps early, then he may fall asleep again in the late afternoon. those days he then falls asleep closer to 830/9pm yet still has that exact same 5 am wake up. I just feel tired and lost. I can’t not drive some days as I have a 5 year old and a constant urge to get out of the house. sooooooo, acceptance and ride it out? nightwean again (even with nightweaning that’s when the original 5am wakes started)? other ideas?
i know ultimately time will heal but it’s affecting me and the whole house is getting woken and it is feeling unsustsinable. I also don’t want to encourage it by getting up so early and eating / getting light etc.
TIA!!