Help!! My 2 1/2 Year Old Is Waking up SO Early!

Hey! I'm in the same situation as you!! But, my daughter is only 17 months old. Latley things have changed, just in the last 2 weeks or so. She went to sleeping from 8:00 to 7:00 am.
Now she wakes up around 11:00 pm (I change her diaper and put her back down)and then wakes up for the day at 5:30 or a little later. She was only taking one nap a day, but since she is up so early she actually has reverted back to her 2 nap a day schedule.......Well, I don't really mind actually. I like starting the day out early...just not at 5:00 am.
I will be reading some of the responses.
Good luck!

Here is what I do: (I have an 8 yr old son and 4 yr old daughter)
My children sleep in their own twin, share a room. I used to co-sleep with them when they were infants. Son got moved to his room at age 2, daughter at age 1.
I cuddle with my 4 yr old till she conks out, then leave. I used to do the same with my son when he was 5 - at the point he said he didn't need it anymore (woo hoo!)
When she wakes up at 5-6am (sometimes, not all the time, but at least she is sleeping through the night) I walk her back to her room (no talking) and lie back with her and we both fall back asleep.

I don't invite her to our bed b/c DH hates it and doesn't want it to become a habit (fine) but that is what helps us.

I have a friend who has a 4 yr old daughter with the same problem, though sometimes she wakes up at 4-5am and once she is UP she is UP. No amount of cuddling will help her because they did CIO from the beginning (where I did cuddling and nursing to sleep from the beginning so she associates those warm fuzzy feelings with sleep).

Try shortening afternoon nap. bet that will help. good luck!

I hate to say it, but I think you are stuck with early mornings for a while. Both my daughters went through this stage. No matter what time we put them to bed, they woke up early--between 5 and 5:30am. My youngest is three and a half years old and she is finally making it to between 6 and 6:30am. My older one is 7 and she'll sleep until 6:30 or 7am. I think it's a phase.

Is anything different in your neighborhood? Our dog started getting up at 5 am for an unexplicable reason - then we found out our neighbor's son had begun a new job and was leaving at 5 am. Starting his car woke our dog up. Good luck and I wish you (and me) lots of good sleep.

a 2.5 year old needs 12-14 hours of sleep per day. So *technically* he's getting 12. He could be going through a change physically, getting ready for a growth spurt or having recently had one, did school just start? even if not for him, for his siblings? Those changes can all affect sleep. Also, as wacky as it sounds...have you tried puting him to bed slightly earlier? Sometimes they sleep better and LONGER if you start earlier. I was having similar issues with our daughter and moved up her bedtime from in bed at 7:30 asleep by 8 to in bed by 7 or 7:10 (its hard to get it all done by then, but we're getting better at it!) and she's asleep by 7:30ish. now she's sleeping all the way to 6:45-7 ish whereas she was getting up at 5:30. Might be worth a try!

This too shall pass.......
Try putting him down at nighttime a little later, I bet you see results within a very short time.

I wouldn't change anything with his sleep schedule... sounds to me like he is going to bed at a good hour. And I know how important those naps are! Don't mess with that!
My son was doing the same thing, waking up way too early (he is 3) and some advice I got is this:
Put a digital clock in his room, one that has large numbers on it. Place it on his dresser or somewhere easy for him to see from his bed. Cover up the minutes numbers (so only the hour is showing) with a black piece of paper and tell him that until he sees the number 7 on the clock, he can't come out of his room. Allow him to play quietly in his room until then, so make sure he has plenty of quiet toys and books to keep occupied with.
Maybe this will work?
This phase will probably pass soon. Try to get yourself to bed earlier at night until it does! Good luck!!!

I wanted to see what others had to say. My daughter has always kept these hours (she's 22 months). She goes to sleep between 8:00 and 8:30 P.M. and wakes up between 6:00 and 6:30 A.M. She takes a 2-2 1/2 hours nap during the day.

My daughter starts to shift her sleep schedule as the time change approaches. Strange... I know. She has been doing this for a couple of years now. She is four. Maybe we are just gifted with extremely in tuned children:) Good luck!
A.

It sounds like it is time to cut back on nap time! Either that or allow him to stay up a bit later. I know I had to do that with my daughter as well when she was almost three. I had to explain to her that WE need our sleep, and that she needed to be respespectful... at least until the sun came up!!!!

Good luck,

M.

Hi C.,
I haven't read all of this book but a good friend of mine swears by it. It's called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, M.D. All the other suggestions that you received sounded really good, too. Good luck to you:)

Hi C.,

My son just turned three and I recently went through a similar dillema. The key may be in what you wrote. "Nothing has changed in our home or his routine." Although you have changed nothing, children are constantly changing and the first thing I learned with my daughter, who is now six, is that I need to be adaptable. I would just get into a nice groove and comfort zone and she would throw a curve ball at me. My son, though a completely different challenge, is very much the same in that respect.

Maybe it is time to start cutting naps shorter. Maybe bedtime should be held off until 8 or 8:30 rather than 7:30. The fact that he can get out of bed on his own now means you will have to be a lot more creative and flexible in your approaches. This does not mean to get rid of routines. Kids thrive on routine. It means as our children grow and change we will too. I guess it's just part of the challenge to keep us on our toes.

My son sleeps fairly well through the night now, but I still get those early morning visits on occasion. You know your child best and you will figure it out. Just don't be afraid to change when your child does.

G.

He's changing. At this age, they change a lot in many ways.

It's a phase. My kids did that too. It passes.

I would NOT make it into a "control" issue or "punishment" thing. For us, I would tell my daughter she can do QUIET things...or turn on the t.v. (since she could do it by herself anyway), and she could not turn on any lights, and it was fine. Otherwise, she had to stay in her room... but luckily, this "phase" did not last long.

At this age, it's hard for them... hence "terrible 2's" manifestations. But it's okay.....main thing is to "teach" them how to navigate their world.

He's napping fine and I think his bedtime routine is fine too.
Just keep patient... nothing upsets a child more than when angry Parents punish a child for something they are not doing on purpose, and when they don't even "know" they are doing something "wrong." To adults it's not convenient...but for a child they don't mean any harm in it.

The 2's age, is a time of MANY transitions for a child.

I know, it's not "fun" for us adults...but well, it'll pass, and then before you know it other phases may come up.

This is a great book series- you can get it from Amazon.com:
"Your Two-Year-Old: Terrible or Tender" (Paperback)
by Louise Bates Ames (Author)
It's a whole series for each age of the child. It's a quick easy read.

All the best,
Susan