My 3.5Yr Old Sleep Patterned Changed

Put him to bed later. Try it on a weekend. Try 8:30.

I would put him to bed later. At 3 1/2 he may only need 10 hours sleep.

He's growing and doesn't need that many hours of sleep anymore. If he were still napping like most kids his age he'd probably be sleeping more like 9pm to 7am with a 1.5-2 hour nap each day.

He's waking up early because he doesn't need the extra sleep. 7:30 is way way way too early for a child this age to go to bed. Let him stay up until at least 8-8:30 if you want to sleep past 5 or 6 in the morning.

My 4 year old sometimes gets up in the middle of the night, but he has now sort of trained himself to see if the sun is up before he comes in and bothers us. He was waking us up a couple of times a night due to being afraid, and we told him that we weren't getting enough sleep, and it was messing us up so we weren't able to do certain things because we were too tired (it was the truth, we were exhausted). We said this about putting up the Christmas lights on the house, and after about a week of it not getting done because we just didn't have the energy, it started to sink in and he got better about it. We would remind him at night before bed, and whenever he asked if we could put them up. I read about doing this for things like the zoo or something that your child wants to do, that you can put off if they wake you. As soon as it started again last week, I told him I needed my sleep and I wasn't feeling good without it. Now my husband will sometimes hear him going to the front window to check if the sun is up, and then he goes right back to bed when it isn't.

Its probably just developmental changes. They are learning so much during this time and its affecting their sleeping patterns. This too shall pass.

Has he gotten his "third year" molars yet?