Two Year Old, 5:15 Wake up Call

Hi R.,

I think a lot has to do with the time change. My 2.5 year old and 9 month old are doing the same thing now. Try preventing a nap and putting him to bed later. Makes for about two cranky days, but the a.m. should start later.

Good luck,
L.

Maybe his second set of molars are coming in?? My son did the same thing for a few weeks and then we saw he had two more molars. He went back to his old schedule after a few weeks.

It's the damn time change :( My youngest is going to be 7 & it messes her up so bad w/sleep. Maybe try 15 mins later each night to see where that gets you in the morning because earlier may only work backwards - the later you put him in the later he may stay alseep. Good luck!

I'm conviced its the time change too. My kids (2 year old twins) are waking in the 5 o'clock hour now and its so frustrating! I had finally gotten them to take their nap at a decent time and now that they are waking at 5:00/5:30 am they are ready for a nap much earlier.... as the saying goes, "just when you think you've got them on a good schedule, things change!" I've also tried adjusting bedtime (earlier or later) and nothing seems to be working. Yesterday they took a 3 hour and 45 min nap - and I had to wake them (it was getting to be too late in the day)! I'm convinced they were just making up some lost sleep due to their early rising. Hang in there - I wish I had some magical advice. But just know, you're not the only mom out there who is frustrated with early risers! Best wishes :)

Time change did the same thing to my son....he's never been a great sleeper to begin with... and now this.... we've had to do a cry it out session a few times (especially after he is sick and up all night.... have to re-train him to sleep again) this morning it was 5:30 when he woke up.... he wasn't crying but calling my name.... so i decdied to leave him in there... i still heard him over the monitor, and i wasn't really sleeping...but he was in his crib until 6:45. they do have toddler clocks that you can set that it glows a red color when it's night time, and a green color when it's day time....so you can say when you wake up if the light is still red, you need to go back to sleep. my son is 2y, 4mo and know's his colors.... so this might be my next step.

i already have a black out shade and curtain on the 1 window is his room, i've elminiated the night light... i can't get his room any darker.....

My boys wake up early too (they are 2 and 4 years old) and there is nothing that I can do about it. I've tried putting them to bed early and late. I've tried moving their nap schedule around and I've tried eliminating their nap. Nothing has worked. They are just early risers. I finally decided that if they wake up before 5 am, it's still night time and they have to go back to bed. But 5 am is the start of the day - for them. I turn on a one-hour show, set them up on the couch with bowls of dry cheerios, and go back to bed until 6 am. (This is easier with a 4 year old than a 2 year old, I know).

I also worried about preschool, but my early-rising, nap refusing 4 year old did just fine. Once preschool started I was able to put him to bed earlier because he was so tired at night. I would have preferred him to sleep in rather than go to bed early, but his body never slept in. I'm betting that your son won't always wake up as early as 5 am, but he might just be an early-rising kid. I'd put him to bed at his normal bed time and let him get up at 5 am.

I know it's so hard, but it won't last forever. Good luck to you.