Is It Possible to Get My Son to Sleep Later?

I hate to say this, but...you just have to ride it out. My son has ALWAYS been an early riser and it was until he was about 1 1/2 that he started sleeping (regularly) until 6am. Now at 26 months it is pretty unusual for him to get up before 6am -- most times it is closer to 6:30-7am.

"Back in the day" we tried putting him to bed earlier and it NEVER helped. It just made bedtime a little more challenging. When he reached 22 months, or so, we adjusted his bedtime back to 8pm -- we start his stories at 7:30pm so he is in bed between 7:45-8pm. But I can't say this helped anything other than a less challenging bedtime.

Good luck!

You may need to put him to sleep a little earlier, but definitely not later! : ) Basically, if kids go to bed when they are overtired they do not sleep as well or as long. People make the mistake thinking if they put their kids to bed later that they will sleep later and that is the complete opposite. "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child" is an excellent book that I refer to quite often still with my 14 month old. Best of luck!

We had this same problem. We put some toys in his crib and that did seem to help. We got the aquariam thing at Target that lights up. People also told us to put our son to bed earlier ..... sleep begets sleep. That did help too. SO maybe try to put him down more towards 6:30. Good luck.

Probably repeating advice here, so I apologize for not reading other responses first! I would definitely try to keep your son up until 7, and do this on a consistent basis. If that means pushing back his afternoon nap, then do that. It will help, but expect it to take a little time for him to adjust his sleep schedule. Also, as I know other people have probably mentioned, purchase a few good crib toys that he can entertain himself with and let him have a snuggly or two that you know won't be too big to be a danger to him. Then, you just have to wait it out in the morning. Make it a rule that you don't go get him up until 6 am. You may need to work up to this, by letting him "cry it out" for 10 minutes the first day, 20 the next, and so forth. Eventually, he will understand that when he wakes in the morning, it's a time to play by himself and keep resting until you're ready to get him up. My 22 month old son will now play happily in his crib (and often go back to sleep) until 9 am most mornings! I'm not saying you'll be THERE any time soon, but you can set the schedule and your son will eventually abide. Just stick with it!
Best of luck and sweet dreams!
Amy K

A.,

I went through this with my first three kids. It was so frustrating! Since we moved to MN, it has been so much colder and darker that they were able to adjust to the time change within a week. When we lived further south, it seemed like we just got them adjusted before the time changed again!

My suggestion would be to only adjust his bedtime by 10-15 minutes at a time and keep his room cool and very dark with blackout shades or whatever you can. It could take another month or longer.

Good luck,
S.

Hi A.,

If you google sleep requirements for children you will find a variety of answers to this question. Personally, I think that you are probably putting him to bed too early. Our bodies will only sleep as much as they need so by putting him to bed at 6:15-7, he will naturally wake up early. I would try for at least a week, holding off putting him to bed before 7. Find something to do to keep him occupied or just adjust your schedule so that dinner, bathtime, storytime are moved back by 30 minutes or so. Eventually his body will adjust and you can get a little more sleep in the morning. I DEFINITELY would not put him to bed earlier. Keep us posted on what happens.

C.

I hear you on not being a morning person, I am a night owl. My only suggestion is let him play in the crib, that is what I did with my daughter. If my daughter cried I would go in and tell her it is still nap time and mommy & daddy are still sleeping. She might not have understood at that time but it seemed to sooth her. By 6:30am or 7am we were up and then I would get her.

I also shortened her naps (she took two at the time, morning and afternoon), I think she was getting all her sleeping in during the day. Ironically I have to do this again now that she is 2, we have no morning nap but the afternoon nap is too long and it takes forever for her to fall asleep at night.

Bets wishes. Hope you find something that helps the family unite in sleep!

6:15 to 7:00 is a little early for a 10 month old, especially if you want him to sleep later. Try moving his bedtime back 15 minutes every week until you get to 7:30 or 8:00, whatever you are comfortable with. After that be consistent with what time he goes to bed - 45 minutes is a pretty wide spand. It can take several days of going to bed later before a child will start sleeping later. Just stick with it and eventually he should start sleeping later.

I haven't had any luck getting our daughter to sleep later. I think you will have more success going to bed earlier so your not so tired at 5:00 am.

A.:

I think he is just an early riser. My son, now an adult, went to bed at 6:00 and got up at 6:00 from the time he was two weeks old. He would not nap more than 1/2 hour even as a newborn but we always knew when 6:00 came around he would be down for the night. I think you just have to go to bed earlier and start your day when he does. It will change as he hits 4 or 5 years old. Believe me, in about 10 years you are going to be dragging him out of bed in the morning.