My 2 Year Old Is Getting up at 4Am.

I Had the same problem. I believe young people develop habits, the same way we do. As long as his schedule does not need to be changed, IE to bed later or stop a nap so he can have a full night sleep. I put them straight back to bed and I mean straight. No talking, fun etc. I didn't endorse the behavior. I also told them "you don't get out of bed until Mommie or Daddie gets you, potty if you need to and right back to bed". Good luck, I don't bode well to being woken at 4... at least it's early enough to go back to sleep ;)

Hi H.,

My twins did the samething when they were toddlers. What worked for us was just firmly telling them that it's not time to get up. We did not turn on the lights... or talk much since that would only cause them to be more alert. We didn't say anything to make them upset... like... if you don't go back to sleep you will lose _____________ as a punishment. Rather, we just firmly said to go back to sleep and as much as we love them.... we did not give a lot of hugs and kisses again at this time. (That would only reinforce the negative behavior.)

Again... we firmly... without raising our voices insisted that they stay in their beds. I would say... "(child's name), you NEED to stay in your bed and be quiet. It is not time to wake up yet." Sometimes... I would want to go into explaining why getting up in the middle of the night was not a good idea. But... my husband would stop me in my tracks and say..."Enough... J. they know the reason... leave their room." And at first that bothered me because I thought... well they deserve an explanation. But... his straight to the point way and that's that.... really worked best. (Sometimes less of anything is better... and less talking in this case was better.
Good luck and be consistent every night so your son knows that he cannot get his way with this. By being consistent, you are showing him that you are in control. (He can have control sometimes in other ways... but you all need your sleep.)

ALSO,, You may want to try putting him down to sleep a bit later... I am not sure if he is requiring a little less sleep now that he's not a baby. (They still need a lot, but not as much as a baby.)

J.

My 2 year old twins did this when their molars started coming in, and again when they were in a big language development phase. If they didn't settle down on their own within a few minutes, I would quietly go in and give them a sippy with milk and quietly leave. That usually settled them back down for another 2-3 hours. I also started cutting back their afternoon nap. Now they only have one 2-hour nap, and go to bed at 8pm. After about 2 weeks, they stopped waking up.

Hi H.-

My son is also 2 and has been getting up during the night and/or very early in the morning for a few weeks now as well. We think we finally figured it out...he's afraid of the dark. He doesn't talk much but finally about a week ago he started calling "mommy, light!" when he would wake up. We started leaving his closet light on (we have no open outlets for a nightlight) and his door cracked open and that seems to have done the trick (for now at least!). Good luck to you!

Around that age I started feeding my son yogurt about an hour before bedtime. I found that he was hungry at that time.

My daughter is 19 months is doing the same.

Hi H.. I am at home with my kids and my 2 year old wakes up around 4am as well. He usually goes back to sleep. I wouldn't be hard on yourself, my son wakes up too and he sees me all day long! :-)

H., although it has been along time since my boys have been that little(10,7) I remember my 10 yr old doing this just to try to get into our bed each night. I our my husband would go in there and tell him he has to stay in his room and sleep in his own bed and I would rub his back for just alittle while and then he was fine with that. Good luck to u.

Are his 2 year old molars coming? They may be hurting him and waking him up. Check and see. If so, a dose of ibuprophen before bed for a couple of days and see if that helps. Otherwise, ignore him and he will go back to sleep!

My son did the same thing when he was about 2yrs and my doctor said as long as he wasn't crying to just let him be. Not to go in and he will go back to sleep... And he did! He said that if you have to go in the room try not to take them out of bed because then the child thinks it ok and starts to make it a habit.
Good luck!

When my oldest did this, I attributed it to getting back teeth in. I don't know if it was true, but having some explanation helped me deal with it!

My little girl was a great sleeper from 4 months to 2 yrs but once she found autonomy ie could get out of crib and open doors even the ones that are child proofed, it was all downhill. She slept in my bed a lot for a few months and then when I could stand it no longer as neither of us was sleeping well, I got a little latch for her room and popped her back in her own bed. Yes there was so wailing and some taking everything out of the drawers to show displeasure ahh but after a little while, she got used to it again. I now pop her to bed and read a few stories if she will get into her own bed. I then let her read to herself ie look at the books for a while and she usually falls asleep and then I sneak up and turn off the light. I let her into my bed if she gets up after 5am. The parenting class I went to pointed out that these are phases and they will pass. The thought of that helps me when I am ready to explode from lack of sleep - so I try to think zen thoughts and crawl back to bed :) Good luck.