3 Year Old Getting up at Night and Getting up EARLY!

Not all children need as much sleep as others...and not all children need as much sleep as we tired Mom's would LIKE for them to need!!! Maybe you should start putting your son to bed a little later in the evening...move it back to 9 and see what happens in the mornings!!! That way he can enjoy some family time at night with Dad after work!!! If he is getting up 10 times a night...what is happening when he gets up? Is he being "rewarded" with snacks...play...interaction? If he needs to go potty....or have his diaper changed...do it with no interaction or eye contact if possible. Don't be mad at him...just be quiet....don't offer drinks or snacks...and don't let him play with his toys. Make it BORING to be up in the middle of the night!!! Hopefully he will learn to sleep through the night if it is no fun to be up in the night!!

I think the bed time may be too early. He's not sleepy, so therefore he's restless & up & down. My DD is naturally an early riser & non-napper, but if she goes to bed before 8, she will be up way earlier than normal. Even though you think he is not getting enough sleep, he's probably fine. Not all kids are the same, and not all need 12+ hours a sleep a night. Mine never made up for the dropped nap at night, and has been holding steady at about 10 hours a night, even after starting full day Kinder.

Why not scooch his bedtime later by 15 minutes per night or two?
Bed by 8, then maybe he'll sleep to a more acceptable 6:00 am?

My 4.5 year-old was the same way and still gets up early some days but, for the most part, things are better. Mostly due to the goodnite light. I highly recommend it and I think your son would benefit from it!
http://www.goodnitelite.com/

When my daughter was about 2 we started a rule about no getting up before 7 am. She is now 4 and still abides by this rule and it's awesome! If she has to potty she knows that she is to go by herself and not wake me up, and then go back to bed. If she wakes up early she is allowed to play in her room or go back to bed until 7. At first she would play, rather loudly, but I tried to ignore that part, until it was time to get up, but mostly now she will go back to bed and usually sleep well past 7.

She can't really tell time, but we taught her what the 7 looked like and told her it had to be the first number. If it wasn't she had to stay in her room. Of course these rules are abandoned if she actually needs something or is sick, but that rarely happens.

She also only does quiet time and sleeps from about 7:30 or 8 until at least 7-8 the next day.

I can only agree with KansasMom, I also have a DD who just does not need or want nor is able to sleep the recommended 12 hours a day. No matter when we put her to bed she will not fall asleep until about 9PM and we get up at 7am every morning. She hasn't napped since she was 2.5 either but still is a happy, healthy kid. If she does occasionally nap she has SUCH a hard time falling asleep at night that I asked her daycare not to put her down for nap anymore...

There have been occasional days where she falls asleep early (like after going for a long hike or bike ride) and she will make up for it by waking up earlier... she just doesn't sleep for more than 10 hours at a time.

As for the night waking you really don't give enough information on what is going on. Is it early in the night, late, what does he want if anything? How do you deal with it?
I think that some night waking is a normal part of childhood sleep patterns. Some kids wake and just stay in their bed and go back to sleep, my DD will come wandering into our room about 3-4 times a week. I just take her back to her room and that's that. Not a big deal, no scolding or making a fuss.

I would probably tinker with his sleep schedule a little bit and see if you can get him to wake up a bit later by going to bed later...though some kids(people) are just early risers, and I think that if I went to bed that early I would probably be up at 5 AM, too.

My son is like yours. Goes to sleep at 7 pm, wakes up 5-6 am. No nap. But he feels well rested and happy and healthy. I do not like it, but it works for him. So I gues it is normal, not every kid needs so much sleep....I am sleepy...