14- Month Old Waking up at 5Am

I have heard that sometimes toddlers will sleep less when they are about to make a big developmental change (walking, etc.) I think this was true with our 18 month old son, Logan. I can't always see the change, but he usually fell back into his routine after a few days. If not maybe you can try adjusting his nap schedule. :-(

He may be ready for only one nap a day, especially with it being winter. There just isn't as much activity. My son went down to one nap when he was about one and still does. He's two and a half. Or put him down later at night. He might just not need as much sleep right now but it will change when he hits another growth spurt.

In my experience this is normal and will last for seasons(like a week or two).. not forever.! (hopefully=)!

Try keeping him up a little later in the evening and his afternoon nap shouldn't be longer than and hour and a half to 2 hours.

He may be ready to move to one nap a day.

You also might want to try blackout liners for the kids windows to block out the sun.

He's getting plenty of sleep during the day and 10 hours at night is a blessing. Maybe his afternoon nap can be an hour earlier so at nighttime he sleeps an hour later

I've heard sometimes putting them down earlier will make them sleep later. I know it doesn't sound like it would work, but you could try. Check out the book 'Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child' for more information on why this might work. He suggests 6-8:00 bedtimes. The schedule suggestion in the book helped us a lot, but I'm not into the crying it out part.

You might want to try taking out the morning nap, he may just need the extra time to wear himslf out during the day.

SAHM of 5, good luck!

I would suggest moving his bedtime back one hour. As he gets older he requires less sleep, including shorter naps during the day.I hope this helps and you get the rest your deserve.

Both of my boys went through this phase. I actually put them down at 6:30ish. I did not change that time but would cut out the morning nap. He is about that age where they don't need it anymore. Then just ride out the storm. Eventually they grow out of the early thing and let you get some sleep. Good luck!

I found moving the bedtime earlier by 30 minutes helps, especially once they give up the a.m. nap.

(Don't have time to read all the previous responses - sorry if I repeat)
14 month mama here too! I'm not sure why (I read it somewhere) I like to have him take a nice long nap in the afternoon (11-1+) instead of a short then a long. I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not - just a thought. When my son wakes early, it's usually toilet related, teething, position, or hunger (he still nurses a few x's/day). You know that teething can occur even before any other symptoms, right? My son has just sprouted his first molar - ouch! which is disrutping his sleep now. Is there any change in routine in your family? Work, visitors, new pets, etc.? That could be disrupting his sleep too. Does he wake up crying or can he stay in his crib and play with some quiet toys? I added some toys into my son's crib so that he can play by himself in case he wakes and we're not there asap. HTH's! :)

Hi S., Your son is probably out growing his morning naps now. I would try just limiting it to just one nap in the afternoon and hopefully he will then sleep longer in the morning. Make sure his afternoon naps dont last longer than a couple of hours too, that will help them be more tired in the evening.
The other thing, is he may be going through a growing spurt and his body is waking him up cause of hunger. It may not last and before you know it he may be back to his past sleeping habits.

Good luck!
N.

Mom of three great kids...Ryan 12. Troy 8 and Audrey 3. Wife to an awesome husband for 18 years.

It might be time to cut him down to one nap. Get the book called "Healthy sleep habits happy child" it is by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. It was one of the best investments I have ever made !!!

Hi S.,
Our son (soon to be 1 y.o. in 4 days!) does the same thing sometimes too.
We have been able to change his diaper(cause its usually pretty wet) and then give him a small bottle of water (followed with a pacifier). He will usually rest his head on my shoulder and I am able to place him back to bed.
It typically buys me about 1-2 more hours of sleep. We also put our son to bed around 7:30. Maybe see if he can hold out til 8pm to see if that will make a difference?

Hope that helps! Not sure if your 14 month old still uses a bottle or a pacifier but this worked fairly well for us.

My now 7 year old never slept through the night until she was age 4. She took one nap a day until then. When the naps stopped, she started sleeping through the night. Some children need naps and others need none from about the age of your 14 month old. So try stopping the morning nap and limiting is afternoon nap to no longer than one and a half hours. Go in and wake him up. By bedtime he will be worn out and ready to sleep better.

By the way, we put her down no later than 7:30/8:00 PM every night so she has a consistent bedtime. The advantage of this is my husband and I get to spend time together in the evenings and she gets good sleep for first grade. She wakes up between 5:30 AM and 6:30 AM every day.

Personally, I think making time for the marriage is more important than getting up a little early the next day. We have come to view it as "our" time and after 8 years of marriage, this is a very good thing indeed.

Good luck!

S.

I would say you need to stop the long nap in the afternoon
My daughter was 2 when she stopped taking naps because of not sleeping thru the night...anyway try shorter nap if that doesn't work try cutting out nap

Sounds like my son! He started going to bed at 8:30pm and getting up at 6am. I'm a morning person, so the early hours don't bother me too much...but 5am is a bit early.

His napping schedule changed, though. He used to get up at 6am, go for his morning nap at about 9am, sleep for 30-60 minutes and then go down for his afternoon nap at around 11:30-12:00 and sleep for 2 hours, take another short nap at around 4pm and in bed by 7:30pm.

Lately, he's skipping the morning nap completely, staying up until 1pm, where he sacks out for 2 - 2 1/2 hours and then wants to take another nap at around 5pm or so. With his sister home (she's 5), it throws him off even more because he wants to keep up with her. But, I'm finding that when I know he's tired, I get them BOTH in my bed to relax and he's falling asleep easier (than me trying to put him down and he hears that his sister is still going).

Maybe move his bedtime a bit later (not too late) and encourage a quiet time when you see that he's getting tired. If you need to bring your 4 year old to bed for reading/quiet time with you, do it. LOL Sometimes the only way to calm the little ones is to convince them that there is nothing interesting going on in another room.

I have the same problem with my 16 month old son who has to have his first breakfast between 4:30 - 5:30 a.m. My son sleeps between 6:00-7:00 pm at night and has one afternoon nap during the day. My hubby and I have tried changing his bed time routine and letting him stay up past 7pm, but my son seems to be an early morning person.

How dark is the room he is sleeping in? It is getting lite earlier so this could be the culprit. If his room is light try thermal drapes. It makes a big difference. Also I dont know where you live but it also helps keep room cooler when it is hot and warmer when it is cold.

Hope this helps.

According to Dr. Weisbluth, he would say have an earlier bed time. Try putting him down 15-30 minutes earlier. Sleep begets sleep he says. Although I agree with this, my 18 mo. old has just started the same thing with a wake up time at 4:45. Since she already goes to bed at 6:30 I can't move her bed time earlier. It's a bummer but hoping it will pass. Healthy Sleep Habit Happy Child is the book that Dr. Weisbluth has written. Good luck.

Our children's sleep patterns change continously, you could try keeping him up and not letting him take that nap in the morning and then around 12 lay him down but don't let him sleep past 3pm. Then don't let him take that nap in the afternoon and then put him to bed at his normal 7:30 pm bedtime. See if this doensn't help. If it helps but not enough then try moving his bedtime back to 8pm but he will probably still get up around 6am. You will have to adjust your sleep schedule as well and don't worry, my boys are still getting up around 6 every morning and they are between the ages of 9 and 13. It will all work out for the best if you relax and allow time for the adjustments.

Ahh, nothing is set in stone in baby sleep land. this may be your son telling you he can stay up alittle later or you may need to put him back to bed and lay with him. Sometimes reminding them before they go to sleep to stay in bed if they wake up too early works. My sister has taught her little ones to read a digital clock and they get out of bed when it reads 7:00.

Hi,
It has been a long time for me since my daughter was that young, but, I would probably cut down the long afternoon nap and shorten it up a little. Just try a couple of different things to keep him up a little longer and he will probably sleep during the night. good luck.

:-)

One thing that I learned when my boys were little was that when they develop a habit that you don't like, it feels like forever for them to unlearn it, and when they develop a routine that you do like they seem to grow out of it all too quickly. :-) The "Murphy's Law" of motherhood, I think.

I suggest shortening his afternoon nap and putting him to bed 1/2 hour later (8 pm).

Here's some other sleep suggestions....
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp

Best wishes.

He may be ready to go down to one nap. You could try phasing out the morning one, see if that helps.

I know a lot of people advocate the 7:30 bedtime, but everytime I have put my son down that early, he's up at dawn. I hate it!!! my husband and I go to bed late and sleep a little later than most as well, and I refuse to get up before 8am. I would cut down to one nap mid afternoon, and try a little later bedtime. Early works great for some but not all kids. My son 17mos goes down at 9:30 and sleeps till 9am with a three hour nap starting at 12:30.

My daughter who is a just a year old went through this a few weeks ago. I still did everything the same. I think it was just something that she was going through. I put her down between 8:00-8:30pm and she usually would sleep till 7am. Naps were about an hour in the morning and then about 2 hours in the afternoon. All the sudden she was getting up between 5am-6am annd I was basically having to give her 3 naps a day. I am sure like I said said it is something that she was going through because now she is fine. Just give it sometime.

14 months is when my girls started staying up till like 8:30-9:00 they sleep later and then only had 1 mid day afternoon nap.

All of my 4 girls have done this at some point after they started doing great. I think it starts out as a fluke one night, but babies form habits in about 2 days. My 8 month old just started the exact same thing. So at 5am, I give her the binky, tell her we love her and sing her night time song. she does cry a couple more minutes, but then goes back to sleep. Hope this helps.

T.

S. when both of my boys where where 15 months I had to stop morning naps. What I would do Is give them later naps, so that way they would go to bed alittle bit later at night and sleep in alittle later in the moring...Good Luck

Hi S.,

It could have something to do with the sun coming up earlier. Luckily the switch to Daylight Savings Time is earlier this year. I always had that problem with my kids - they live more by the sun than a clock like we do. :)

My best advice to go in and lay him back down, just like you would if he woke up in the middle of the night. Use your regular routine whether it's silently laying him back down or a kiss or whatever. Hopefully he'll go back down for you.

Best of luck!!!

M.