Anyone else have a toddler who's a VERY early riser?

BoxTer

DD wakes up around 5:20 a.m. every day. It's been going on for the past couple of months. She used to sleep until 7 a.m. and I'm not sure why things have changed. It's still dark when she wakes up. We put her down around 7:15 p.m. because she's pretty tired from her day at school (did I mention that she's not a great napper and will sometimes only sleep for 20 minutes?), though we've experimented with keeping her up a little later. Nothing changes. She's still up early. This is problematic for a few reasons: one, she's tired by the time she gets to school when we drop her off around 8:15 a.m. - sometimes she'll even take a nap before we leave the house, or she'll fall asleep in the car. Two, she's not getting much sleep during the day, leading to an overtired, cranky kid at pickup time. Three, DH and I are both exhausted. It's a vicious cycle because today's bad sleeping impacts tomorrow, which impacts the next day, and so on. She sleeps fine at night. We put her down and she puts herself to sleep without a fuss and usually doesn't wake up. I'm not opposed to CIO, but the Ferber book says that if they're up between 5 and 6 that you should just get up and start the morning routine. But I really think she needs more rest and I don't know how to get her back to sleeping a little later. Does anyone have any advice? It's been very frustrating for all of us.

carrie4g

I don't but I know of people who do. Since yours isn't napping well i suggest putting her to bed earlier.  She is probably just so overtired. Especially, if she's wanting a mid-morning nap.  Also, is she really hungry when she wakes up? My DS (21 months) wakes up early if he's hungry so I really try to stuff him up before bedtime.

azuremama

Ouch.  That's one benefit of DS sleeping late (see my post below).  I would also suggest maybe trying to put her down a little earlier, especially if she doesn't nap well.  It sounds counterintuitive, but sleep begets sleep.

The only other suggestion I have is that you just don't get her out of bed until the designated time, whatever that is.  Maybe she'd fall back asleep or just learn to play quietly for a while.

luvmagoldn

I would try putting her to bed earlier as the pp suggested.  My guys used to sleep until 7:30 but over the last two years they've been backing it up.  Now they are up anywhere between 5:30 and 6:00 every day.  Having them out of their room before six messes me up because I end up tending to them and not getting ready for work!

Last week I started something new.  I put a step stool in their room so they can turn on the light themselves.  Before they go to sleep I let them know that if they wake up early they can turn on the light and read books or play quietly until mom and dad come to get them.  When they are sleeping I put a couple of quiet toys in their room so they have something "new" to occupy their time every few days.  So far this is working well.  When they do stay in their room and wait for me to come get them I heap on the praise and their little faces just light up. 

You could give those a try.  I hope something works for you b/c I know how disruptive an early riser can be!

julyjennifer

I wondered if your DD started waking "earlier" after daylight savings?  Maybe she didn't get the memo that the old 6am is now 5am...

We have this issue, too.  DD consistently wakes up betw 5 and 5:30, but I know she doesn't get enough sleep for her age in a given 24 hours.

I'm trying to really make an effort to get her to bed earlier.  I think we often miss her first sleep window at bedtime.  This is going to require me to leave work earlier so we have supper earlier so I can put her to sleep earlier.  (DH is home with her during the day, so bedtime is my duty). 

I also got the book "Sleepless in America" on Sunday, which has come very very highly recommended from many people.  I'm hoping to get some good strategies from there too.  Sufficient sleep is so important--it's hard to break out the cycle, though, I hear ya!

EastCoastBride

When DS wakes before 6, we go in, change him, give him a bottle, snuggle w/ him a bit, and then put him back down.  9 times out of 10 he'll fall back to sleep for another hour, if not longer. 

BoxTer

julyjennifer:

I wondered if your DD started waking "earlier" after daylight savings?  Maybe she didn't get the memo that the old 6am is now 5am...

You know, I anticipated we'd have problems when the time changed, but it was actually great in that first month or so. I remember saying how surprised I was that she wasn't affected by the change because she has been in the past. I'm not sure what is causing this.

Thanks for the advice, ladies. This morning I tried leaving her in her room (she's still in the crib) and she screamed and screamed until I gave in and got her up. Once she's "up," we're pretty much sitting in a chair with her resting on me (but not sleeping). She still seems so tired - why doesn't she just stay in bed? We used to try to bring her into our bed with us but all she does is crawl all over us and try to get down - she won''t sleep. Once in awhile she'll play quietly in the crib, but not often. I will try getting her to bed a little earlier, though it can be hard since we don't get home until around 6 p.m. and then we have to cram in dinner, bath and story time. Part of me looks forward to the teenage years when we probably won't be able to get her out of bed without dynamite!

hiltyn78

BoxTer:

Thanks for the advice, ladies. This morning I tried leaving her in her room (she's still in the crib) and she screamed and screamed until I gave in and got her up. Once she's "up," we're pretty much sitting in a chair with her resting on me (but not sleeping). She still seems so tired - why doesn't she just stay in bed? We used to try to bring her into our bed with us but all she does is crawl all over us and try to get down - she won''t sleep. Once in awhile she'll play quietly in the crib, but not often. I will try getting her to bed a little earlier, though it can be hard since we don't get home until around 6 p.m. and then we have to cram in dinner, bath and story time. Part of me looks forward to the teenage years when we probably won't be able to get her out of bed without dynamite!

My DD sounds like yours.  We bring her into bed with us.  She sometimes crawls around but we tell her she can stay and sleep with us or go back to her crib.  It *usually* works.  Also, my 2.5 year old still takes a sucky (flame away).  She doesn't get it overnight but if she wakes up around 5 , we'll give it to her then and this helps. You probably wouldn't want to introduce one now though.

Good luck.  It's so rough being sleep deprived for YEARS ; /  I have no idea why I think I want another LO!

jlw2505

Put her down sooner rather than later. She is overtired and needs more sleep and she is not making it up by taking naps.

shannm

DS went through this stage for a few months.  5 was late for him.  It was rough.  We tried to adjust his bedtime but it only made it worse.  I don't know what changed but he slowly started to rise later and now he usually sleeps till 5:45-6am.  Not great on the weekends but ok during the work week.  Sorry I don't have more advice!