Seeking Advice on Getting 16Month Old to Sleep Later in Morning

I have 2 sons also - a 3-1/2 year old and a 21 month old.

I'll bet your baby is teething. When my youngest went through this I would pick him up, give him Motrin and he and I would go back to sleep in the guest bed (so we didn't wake the whole family). He usually went right back to sleep since Motrin works so fast and cuddling with mom was an extra perk.

Also, my 3-1/2 year old has also been waking around 6 lately (used to sleep until 7:15). A week ago we put a digital clock in his room and told him that he had to stay in bed until the first # was 7. He's doing a great job with it. We told him that if he can't sleep anymore that he's allowed to get a toy and play, but has to stay in bed until "the 7". You may want to try it?

Good luck!

Hi K.,
I have a 19 month old myself. He still wakes up sometimes in the middle of the night, but luckily he sleeps till at least 7:30 in the morning, no matter what.
When do you put your baby down for the night? Could it be too early so that he wakes up so early in the morning? I know it is nice to have some time to yourself (finally!) in the evening, but could it maybe help if you stretched out your son's bedtime till, let's say, 8:30 or 9 pm? At least you would get a little more snooze time in the morning then! Or have you tried to play with his nap time during the day? At 16 months he should be down to one big nap in the middle of the day. If you say he is happing at 7 in the morning, he definitely needs more sleep at night...
I sure hope this helps a little! i feel for you!
E.

my younger son does the same thing. his idea of sleeping in is 5am! i have been cutting his afternoon nap short and that seems to be working. he now regularly gets up about 6 which is more doable. my boy is just 2 so he only takes one nap, but if yours is still taking two, try taking away the morning nap or cut the afternoon nap short. he'll probably be cranky, but hopefully after about 3 days he will start sleeping later. i have also been using a fan for white noise in the bedroom. good luck.

You have probably tried a pacifier already, but my second, who had REFUSED one as a baby, found one in a toybox at 18 months and really took to it at that late stage, especially at night, and immediately started sleeping a lot later in the mornings - it was like the sucking was enough to keep her asleep for an extra couple hours.
Aside from that, keep going with the Ferber and don't let him get out of his bed at that hour - that is way too early to be a "getting up for the day" time, especially if he is asleep again for a nap at 7am!
Is there any chance he is hungry - is he eating enough during the daytime? Just a thought

You poor thing, it sounds horrible. There is no reason why a 16 month old would not sleep through and wake up that early. We also did Ferber at 4.5 months, and had to go back on track around 7 and I think 9 months, but no other issues. Could your little one be teething? Could you give him some baby tylonol, and see if that works? He could just be in pain.

Maybe he's teeting? My daughter is the same age and has been doing the same thing since she started getting teeth. Lately it's been worse, especially since she's also got a stuffy nose. I give tylenol or motrin before bed, usually this helps and aside from minor fussing because she's cold or lost her stuffy, she sleeps alright. She has also been getting up real early...come to think of it, my son did this at this age also...must be the age!

As far as the coffee alternative...here are a few that have helped me: Diet Pepsi (I only have 1 12oz bottle per day!). Crystal Light also has some 'on-the-go' flavor packets...energy (wild strawberry flavored) with 60mg of caffeine, focus (natural citrus splas flavored), 40mg of caffeine, and metabolism+ (Peach mango green tea flavor) with 25mg caffeine. I use all quite a bit, the energy if I need more of a kick! Hope it helps!