3Yr Old Waking up Too Early in the Morning

Have you considered putting her to be earlier? I can't remember the last time my kids were in bed by 8 (they are 5 & 3), they don't take naps and my 5 year old daughter sleeps until about 6:30 and my son sleeps until 7 or 7:30. My daughter is usually asleep by 9 and my son by 10. Kids are just different and some need more sleep than others. Her body is probably telling you how much sleep she needs. I am working on getting my son to go to bed earlier, but I have not been successful even if he gets up earlier.

Ms. K.,
I have a five yr old son and I would like to address this, take away her nap time all together, I know it may sound rough on her, but you have to. My son use to sleep in the afternoon also, but then when it become time for bed he wouldn't go to sleep until after 11 pm. So, I put him to bed at 9pm and he gets up at 7am. Take her to the playground and let her play her little heart out and make sure you have someone to keep her awake when you drive home, I do that with my son and it worked. Try it! I hope it works!
T.

K., welcome to my world!!! My 2 1/2 year-old son has been waking between 5 and 5:30 since he was born and he goes to bed at 8:30. I try to give him some milk and then I lay back in bed with him. 50% of the time, he will go back to sleep for another hour or two, so you may want to try it. My son also naps 2 to 3 hours in the afternoon, which I tried shortening, but that didn't help at all. We may just be blessed with early risers!!! I have learned to go to bed early and I get tons of stuff done in the morning before most people are up - so there is a bright side once you have enough sleep to find it:)

Hi K., I agree with the clock advice. I tell my kids they can't get up until the 6 is showing in the hour place. Also, my 6 yo started coming out of his room constantly when we put him to bed. I finally got him a CD/clock/radio for his room. We either put in a kids CD or leave it on easy listening or christian music and he now stays in his room and falls right to sleep listening to the music. When we go to bed, we go in and shut it off and he's in for the night! I hope you find something that works for you! good luck!

I totally feel your pain because I've had the exact same issue with my 2 1/2 year old and I have posted a question almost identical to yours. She was doing fine until about a month ago when the lighting outside changed again. I have tried every "trick" in the book and I too have the room darkened, use noise machines etc... I have a child lock on the door since she isn't potty trained yet so she can't come out on her own, but she just bangs on the door and yells for me when she wakes up before 6am.

The one thing that worked for awhile was setting up a light on a timer. When she went to bed at night we talked about how she could not bang on the door/come out of her room until the light came on in the morning. The first few days she didn't get it, and we had a few tears when I would not get her until the light came on. On the first day, I went in her room and sat with her until the light came on. I set it at 6:00am initially and then progressively made it later. Eventually she realized that I was not lying and that I really would come get her right when her light came on. This worked for a month or so, but then she figured out how to mess with the timer and I haven't fixed it yet or found a new place to put it where she can't reach it yet.

Another strategy might be starting "sleep rules" at night. You can make a sign/poster with your daughter about what rules she needs to follow at night and in the morning (stay in bed, close eyes, wait until light comes on in the morning etc...) Then fill a jar with a bunch of brightly colored marbles. If she follows her sleep rules she keeps her marbles. If she doesn't you can remove a marble. Or you can do it the opposite way and give her a marble to put in her jar if she follows her rules and don't give her one if she doesn't. At the end of the week if she has a certain number of marbles she gets a reward of some sort.

When my oldest daughter was 3, she had this problem. We bought her a digital clock. We taught her what a 7 looks like, put a piece of tape under where the 7 would be, and told her that when her clock had a 7 she could get up. This worked wonders for us.

It does sound like she needs more sleep. I would try an alarm clock - but the waking noise needs to be pleasant. I have one that says, "Wake up, you sleepy head!" or pick a nice, soothing radio stationg to get up to. THen tell her to wait for the alarm to go off before coming out of her room. She will probably be relieved knowing that you will be happy when she comes out and also knowing that it is not time to get up if it hasn't rung yet. Good luck!

Try putting an alarm clock in her room. Set it to the time you want her to come out and explain to her that when it goes off she can come and get you or vice versa. Make sure that she has books and other activities to do while she's awake in there. Good luck!!

Buy a cheep $20 door and cut it in half. Fill the empty space in the middle with joint compound. Paint to match the rest of your decor. Switch the lock to lock from the outside. Keeps the kido in her room, yet you can still hear her if she is crying. We did both our 5 year olds doors when they were 2 years old. Works GREAT!! Mommy gets the sleep she needs while the kids are safe in their rooms.

I'd try to get that afternoon nap back somehow...and see if that helps. I think a lot of adults could use a nap...not just little kids. We would be so much happier and healthier I think.
I know it sounds counter intuitive, but maybe shortening her sleep hours to try to make her sleep longer in the AM may not be the way to go. I sort of remember Dr Sears saying the more a baby naps in the day...the better they sleep at night. Does this work for 3 year olds? Maybe. Worth some research or a try.
I would also wonder about sleep quality...is your daughter exposed to any new stimuli in her room such as glowing toys or clocks or smoke alarm lights or new noises from neighboors' house, insects etc. That could make her more suseptible to waking up during the lighter sleep stages.
Good luck!