early risers....help

BLONDIE6FT

our 2 year old gets up between 530-6. we just can't do it anymore with the baby. she is a very intense kid, so starting our day at 530 is too much--for me and for her. she needs more sleep. 

what do you do?  we have the bunny clock and she is almost getting the concept. not quite there yet. as of right now, we make her stay in bed after putting her back in there 1 or 2 times. she is normally yelling or crying. thank god the baby sleeps thru it.

any advice would be helpful. we are at our wits end.

ec3under4

My oldest, 4.5, is the exact same way and always has been. It doesn't matter when he goes to bed or what he does the day before, he is ALWAYS up between 5:30-6. And, if something wakes him up(like a storm or baby crying) after 4am then he is up for the day. I have long given up on having him sleep later because, I swear, it's embedded in him to get up early. So, I focus on quiet containment. he has a clock in his room and he now knows that if he wake up anytime before 6:15 then he is to turn on his turtle that glows stars on his ceiling and watch the stars until he falls back asleep. If he wakes ip after 6:15 then he is can turn on his light and quietly play in his room. He is allowed to come out at 7. If he comes out before then, he doesn't get to watch a tv show that day. Bribery is the only thing that's worked for us otherwise he would be in our room at 5:30 everyday. This probably isn't much help because he is older but I understand completely what your going through. Maybe try and get one of those turtles with the stars and tell her when she wakes up she can turn on the stars until she either falls back asleep or her alarm changes.

BLONDIE6FT

ec3under4:

My oldest, 4.5, is the exact same way and always has been. It doesn't matter when he goes to bed or what he does the day before, he is ALWAYS up between 5:30-6. And, if something wakes him up(like a storm or baby crying) after 4am then he is up for the day. I have long given up on having him sleep later because, I swear, it's embedded in him to get up early. So, I focus on quiet containment. he has a clock in his room and he now knows that if he wake up anytime before 6:15 then he is to turn on his turtle that glows stars on his ceiling and watch the stars until he falls back asleep. If he wakes ip after 6:15 then he is can turn on his light and quietly play in his room. He is allowed to come out at 7. If he comes out before then, he doesn't get to watch a tv show that day. Bribery is the only thing that's worked for us otherwise he would be in our room at 5:30 everyday. This probably isn't much help because he is older but I understand completely what your going through. Maybe try and get one of those turtles with the stars and tell her when she wakes up she can turn on the stars until she either falls back asleep or her alarm changes.

was your lo getting up that early at 2? what did you do at that age?

ec3under4

Yup, he was up early at 2 heck even at 1. At 2, I was still trying to figure out what worked bit many times we would just get up with him and start the day(when he is up, he is up and ready to go) or we would let him watch tv in our room. But, I quickly came to find out that he would just start waking up earlier and earlier to come and be with us. Around 2.5-3 is when I started the "you have to stay in your room" concept. I used to use a wake to sleep clock but quickly found out that he was literally waking up and watching the clock for hours to see when it would change so i eventually just switched to a digital. Around 3 is when he really started to get it. But, I swear the stars(and bribery:)) have been our saving grace. There have been many times when I am up with the baby at 3,4 or 5 and his stars are on but, the thing is, they are so calming that he actually goes back to sleep now. Do you use blackout curtains and a sound machine? Those two things have also been a great help for us!!

BLONDIE6FT

Yes, both curtains and sound machine. I think she thinks there's stuff going in without her. I tell her it's dark and no one is up. The bunny clock is a work in progress.  Thank u for all the info. 

Our 5 month old is sleeping better. So frustrating! 

MrsH07

My DS will be 3 next month. He has never, ever been a late sleeper. I have tried putting him to bed later and we just wakes up earlier. He is usually up between 5 and 5:30. For Christmas he got the bunny clock. He doesnt really get it yet, but I do go in there and tell him that the bunny is still sleeping and he needs to read in bed until the bunny wakes up. Usually that works till about 6am most days, some days he just refuses to go back to bed. Some kids just dont sleep late.

jakbtx

my middle DS did this too. it was especially bad b/t 2-2.5. he wouldn't go to bed at  night and would wake up insanely early. and we had a newborn at the same time. honestly we suffered through it, but my DH had to step it up and get up early with him as much as he disliked it. my #3 was a horrible sleeper and i was up so much w the baby I couldn't be up at 5am for the day. anyway, I am ecstatic to report that my middle just turned 4 and I am having to wake him up at 7am now to get to school, so it did finally change!! anyway, i know how exhausted you must be. i'm sorry, i hope it gets better!!

BLONDIE6FT

thank you for all the support! i am going to try all of what you said and keep hoping!

if anyone has more ideas, i will try ANYTHING LOL !

dh does sleep in the guestroom sometimes to get up with her so i don't have to get the baby and her at alternating times. that is just killing me.

balihaigirl

DS wakes up pretty much on the dot at 6am every morning and we havne't been able to adjust it.  We've just had to get used to it.  It's not an issue during the week because DH and I both wake up at 6:00 to get ready for work. On the weekends we just switch off -- DH lets me sleep in on Saturdays and plays with DS, and I watch DS on Sundays while DH sleeps in.  I wish I had better advice. 

smb29

sorry for no caps, i am on my phone. m has always been an early riser and would go through spurts of getting up before six, and now he has been getting up around 5 for about 7 or 8 months. we tried the bunny clock when he turned 2, but he would just move the button so that the whole face would light up so that the bunny was awake and he could get up. we put it away and will probably try again closer to 3. we recently put a knob cover on the inside of his door. he knocks when he wants to come out (which is still often at 5:15) but we go in there and put him back in bed. he will generally play for a while before knocking again and sometimes goes back to sleep. i've also noticed that he will now generally stay in bed longer and read books before getting up. dh sucked it up and got up with him until i went back to work full time, now i get up at 5 during the week and adjusted my work schedule to go in earlier and get off earlier, and go to the gym after work. it sucks sometimes, but i had to figure out how to make it work for us, because the kid is not going to start sleeping in any time soon. wish i had better advice!