My son is 27 months old and he used to sleep until 7:30-8:00 consistently. For the past two weeks, he has been getting up between 5:45 and 6:30, which would be fine but he starts crying and carrying on and wakes up my 5 year old. This has got to stop because my 5 year old will be starting Kindergarten in the fall and will need all the sleep he can get. I just don't understand why my 27 month old is now waking up so early. Nothing has changed, same bedtime and routine. There are times, like yesterday, where I put him down for a nap and he refuses to take one. He definitely needs one because when we went somewhere in the car later, he fell asleep in his carseat. I just don't know what to do. Before he had no problem going to bed around 8 and sleeping 11-12 hours. When he started getting up earlier, we tried putting him to bed at 9 to see if that would make him sleep later and he woke up earlier. So, then we started putting him to bed earlier at 7:30 thinking that maybe the earlier bedtime will help him sleep longer as some sleep experts believe, but he is still waking up around 6:15. I really miss the 7:30 wakeup times. Is there anything we can do to help him sleep in later?
I searched for the typical sleep patterns for 2 year olds and WebMD had the information below. It's looking like my son is on the end of needing less sleep now I guess. I just need to find a way to keep him from waking his brother in the mornings. I just wasn't prepared for this, especially not now when I'm expecting again and already completely exhausted!
1-3 Years Old: 12 - 14 hours per day
As your child moves past the first year toward 18-21 months of age he will likely lose his morning nap and nap only once a day. While toddlers need up to 14 hours a day of sleep, they typically get only about 10.
Most children from about 21 to 36 months of age still need one nap a day, which may range from one to three and a half hours long. They typically go to bed between 7 and 9 p.m. and wake up between 6 and 8 a.m.
Don't put him down to nap. My 6 yo still sleeps in the car all the time-I don't see it as an indicator that he "needs a nap". Some kids will just fall asleep in the car.
we put blackout curtains in my daughter's room, which minimizes the light coming in and helps.
Does he know his numbers? Another thing that worked for us was to put an alarm clock in her room, then above it put the time in the same block numbers and when they match, she's allowed to get up.
If you need your child to sleep more at night, then shorten his nap. A child need so many hours per day so as long as they get it in it does not matter, I just would not give up the nap all together.
My son is also 27 months old and he has been waking early for the past week or so, but I think it's related to his 2 year molars coming in. He had an unexplained fever on Monday that went away and never came back and he has just been generally crabby. Checked his gums and sure enough, they are swolen in the back. So, it could just be that your son is getting his teeth in or something and it's making him uncomfortable enough in the mornings that he is waking and won't go back to sleep. My son goes to bed at 8pm and was also sleeping in until 7-7:30am. Now, it's more like 6-6:30 and he has been waking up my daughter who is 4 1/2. We have the exact same situation, it sounds like. The one other thing that I do is try going in to tell him that it's too early and that he needs to go back to sleep. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. If he starts to have a big fit when I leave the room, I will go back and rock him in the rocking chair for a little while, but won't let him get up and play for the day until 7. This morning he woke up at 6, then settled back down until about 6:45, so he might be learning that I won't get him up that early. I wish I had more advice for you, but we're going through the same thing and I'm not sure how to really fix it either. Good luck! I'll be checking your other responses to see if there are any other good tips in there!
Oh, and I think it's too early for them to give up their naps. OVERTIRED kids will have even worse sleep, so I am keeping the nap for sure. We have quiet time for my daughter (4 yrs) and she will still end up falling asleep at least a few days per week. I guess all kids are different though and some need more sleep than others. I just don't think my sanity is ready for my son to give up his nap!
my daughter, 2 1/2 yrs, used to sleep until about 8 in the morning. This past winter she changed that to about 7 in the morning. Then in may she changed and now gets up at 6. When her brother is with us, I have to get her out of the room and get the door closed right away so she won't wake him up. I would much rather sleep until 7, but i get up at 6.
She naps still every day and sleeps about 3 hours in the afternoon, and goes to bed at 8. Some kids need the sleep and others don't. You could try as someone suggested giving up the nap, but I would say he is still to young. But every child is different, and they let you know if they need it or not.
if you are going to try giving up the nap, it may take until your 5 year old starts kindergarten to really get back into a schedule.
My son is 34 months old. We have a nightlight in his room connected to an automatic timer, it goes off at 6:30a.m. (this is late for him). He knows he needs to stay in his crib until the light goes off and then he can call for us. He has some books and trains in his crib when he goes to sleep at night so in the morning he can play if he wakes up before the light goes off. This was suggested by our pediatrician and works great!
I don't really have an answer but my 24 month baby does that every once in a while, sometimes for a week, a then she goes back to her normal routine on her own.
There was only one time it was obvious that something was bother her, since the days were so hot we set the air, but at nights she would get cold. As soon as we set up 2 numbers down, she start sleeping all her hours again, of course then my other baby (my husband) complain how hot he was, lol.
EDIT:
My daughter goes to sleep between 9 and 10pm, wakes up around 8am and takes a nap around12 or 1 for 2 hours.
My guess is that he's basically grown out of his naps. That's about the age my son stopped taking naps. He would still fall asleep in the car though, on occasion, but would be ready to go after the car ride was over. I would keep his bedtime the same and keep him going all day -- I'm willing to bet within a week, he will be back to sleeping 11 hours at night, but not sleeping at all during the day, except for the occasional catnap in his carseat.
I know you already feel like you have an answer, but let me offer one more. --- Sometimes we have to "reset" our kids. At least that's what my husband and I call it. --- It seems to us that sometimes both of our kids fall into a rut of doing something strange like waking up at 530 every day. We noticed that when we went to visit my hubby's parents and they stayed up REALLY late that we came home and they slipped back into a better routine than they were in when we left. --- It might be worth a try before you give up and get used to the early wake-ups sticking around. :)
I have a 28 month old, they only need 11-12 hours TOTAL. So, if he sleeps 11 hours at night, don't expect a nap, etc.
Sounds to me like your little one is starting the process of giving up his nap. It's awful! If you remember when they transition from two to one naps, it takes time, and they will be grumpy, have melt-downs, etc. as they make the transition.
We have quiet time in our house, have since my daughter was 18 months. She sleeps maybe 1 out of every 10 days. There is nothing you can do to force them to sleep, all you can do is be patient. And yes, they will fall asleep in the car, and may do so for years to come.
