Our 2 year old (29 months) has been in her toddler bed for about a month now. She has always loved being her bed, both crib and her "big girl" bed. Starting a few days ago and everyday since she has been waking up early for her, 6am, 4am, 5:30 am. She has never been an early riser, usually waking no earlier than 7am but sometimes as late as 8 or 8:30am.
This early waking isn't so much the problem as her leaving her room and coming into our room and then she won't sleep. I seem to be getting no sleep because we have a 9 month old that still wakes once a night We tried to put a "pressure" baby gate in the door but she just knocks it down.
Please help with any ideas you might have to keep her in her room, the other day she went into the bathroom before coming into our room and I don't want her to get hurt in there or fall down the stairs or even go into the baby's room while he's still sleeping (where I found her this morning).
I wonder if outside noises are also waking her up? A car starting, the garbage collector, newspaper delivery, people talking?
You could get her a sound machine that would block out the noise..
Have you explained she needs to stay in her room till you come and get her? Let her know she can look at books, but she is not to leave her room.
Could be she needs to be put to bed a little later so she can sleep in a little later.
We have a tot clock that we use with both our girls. My 3.5 year old "obeys" it better than my 2.5 year old, but at least I can say "go back in your room until your light is yellow". http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_18?url=search-al...
Now, you might want to research a little different model than this. I love it and it is super easy to use, but sometimes they turn it yellow themselves!
They make night lights that have daytime and nighttime pictures on them to help a child know when to get up. You would have to research on line as to where to get them. She may be getting scared about something new in her room. Take her in there and ask her if anything scares her...
We have tons of night lights in the hallways, bathrooms, bedrooms, etc.
Good luck
We used a safety doorknob cover on our son's door because we're on different floors and were afraid he'd fall down the stairs in the dark or while sleepy. It kept him in his room, though we always had a monitor on so when he woke at 5am and started singing, we were woken anyway. Now, he has the ability to open his door and come downstairs, but we have a digital clock in his room and he's not to exit his room (and is to be silent in there) until 6am. The last two numbers are covered. There are clocks (check out One Step Ahead for example) that don't use numbers but pictures that light up for nighttime and daytime when you set the clock to change. That might help too!
both my kids did this, and it was just a stage. i just let them bring their blanket and pillow and they slept on the floor on my side of the bed. my daughter did this around age 3 or 4 and it lasted a long time, several months, maybe close to a year. then when my son turned around the same age, he did the same but only for a few months. they both just stopped and slept in their own beds and have since. so just don't make it too comfortable for her and she will end up staying in her own bed when she's ready. good luck.
Our daughter does this as well. We put a pressure gate up but put it in the doorway on the diagonal. Sounds strange I know, but it makes it much more difficult to knock down and still maintains the original functionality and integrity of the gate. I think most doorways have a thin piece of wood running around the door frame to act as a "catch" for the door itself. If you take the pressure gate and put one edge in front of this piece of wood and the other edge behind it, then lock it down, it seems to help.
My son was always and early riser and once he was in his toddler bed (@ 20 months because he was climbing out of his crib) he would get up and come in and demand breakfast at @ 4:30. It was terrible because we had a baby as well and between the two, I was up every couple of hours.
The only thing that helped was shutting his door and keeping his room pitch black. I think if he woke up and saw light, he thought, I'm going to get out and see what is going on! With the door shut, he maybe rolled over and went back to sleep? until @ 5:15...
I would childproof everything to the best of your ability,(including putting a gate on the stairs) and maybe put a baby monitor on in her room with the hope of hearing her wake up.
I wish I had a solution, but we find my two and a half year old doing all kinds of crazy things at 5 am - eating a loaf of bread! Calling relatives on our cell phones! eating corn bread! making himself a glass of water! putting in a dvd!
Good luck! If you find a solution, let me know. :)
Sorry, I didn't read all of the other posts.
I would shut the door. That is what we do - it keeps her in her room and it is always best to keep the doors shut for fire safety reasons. Win -win!
