2 Yr Old Waking at 5Am and Not Going Back to Sleep!

I don't have a solution, but both of my girls go through periods of early rising. It will last for a week sometimes a month and then they go back to their regular schedule (sleeping from 7-6:30). When they do get up early(5 am) and refuse to play in their room (they are 4 and 2) they can come downstairs but only read books. I keep the lights dim, and just give them a book. After a week of being bored by being up so early they went back to their normal wake time. Good luck getting through this little phase!

Does she have her 2yr molars yet? My little girl has been in her big girl bed for about 4-5 months now, and just the other day started waking at like 3am. I could not figure out why she wouldn't go back to sleep. I've learned that if I can explore the possibilities with her until she knows I know why she's up, she goes back to sleep. Wierd. But, for a couple nights it was her first 2yr molar cutting through. Then it was that she actually recognized the need to go potty in the night for the first time. About this age (we're at 25 months, but a little advanced), they start recognizing different things more and start being more and more curious. So you might just try asking her (even at 5am) what do you need, do you need water, do you need to potty, do you have an owie, do your teeth hurt, did you get scared, do you just want a hug, are you COLD; things that would prompt her to tell you why she is awake.

Then don't keep her up, resolve the problem as quickly and minimally as possible and put her straight back to bed. If she wants water for instance, let her have a sip or two, then put her to bed. Trust me, she doesn't need the whole cup, just a sip to cure a dry mouth. Otherwise, you'll be up again in an hour for a potty break or diaper change!! If she just wanted you, hold her until she is really conked, then put her back to bed and go back to bed (usually takes about 5-10 minutes). She won't need this all the time, just needs to know you're there when she does.

Also, be aware of the cold thing. It's been proven that if we are cold in the night, we tend to have bad dreams (which they say kids start having dreams about 18-24 months). We often miss that having the AC on so high in the summer is ok because it's so hot, so we still dress summery. If you do, put socks on her at night to help. Otherwise, I use the lightweight one-piece pjs with the long sleeve arms and footies. They work great to keep her from getting too warm and also to keep her warm enough to sleep well.
Generally, resolving whatever the real need is conquers the issues. We're back to sleeping through again after just those two short-lived interruptions. :)

One last thing: my parents made the mistake of telling me that when it's dark we sleep, when it's light we wake up. They daylight savings time hit, and I never could sleep past sunrise, regardless what time it was. At the first hint of light I was up and ready to go. I went to my neighbors house and run their doorbell at 6am one summer to see if my friend could come out to play. My neighbor brought me home, woke up my mom, and told me never to come over again before 9am. :D Didn't matter what time I went to bed either. It lasted until I was like 19 or 20. Love those foundations. Anyway, if she's doing this in the summer when the sun rises so early, you might consider putting darker shades in her room (or something over her window) and see if she'll stay asleep longer. Then you'd at least know if she's picked up that concept somewhere.

Oh, and I sometimes have to stay in the room when I put her to sleep for a little bit still (occasionally), I'll rest in the rocking chair; like a little nap for me before going to clean up the house and get me ready for bed. But she has sporadic nights. I was just happy to get past the falling out of bed! Even with a rail, she figured out how to push it over so she could get out and then she would fall out. We gave up on the rail long ago, but she doesn't so much roll out anymore. :)

Best to you.

When is she going to bed and how long is she napping? Kids do gradually need less sleep (sadly for tired overworked parents!) and less of it during the day. Does she maybe need to go to bed later or take a shorter nap (I'm assuming she's down to one nap)? I know it's hard to give up that sleep time anywhere in your schedule, but it may just be adding up to enough by 5 a.m. I can sympathize--ours has always needed less sleep than her average playmate.

Good luck!

This sounds crazy, but is worth a try. Try putting her to bed earlier. It worked for my oldest when she had that problem. I did it because I was exhausted and ready for bed myself. I decided that I would rather go to sleep then and wake up early. To my surprise, she slept LATER than usual. I continued with the early bedtime and all was well. She became a 12 hour sleeper! Good luck!

My son has always been an early riser. We ended up buying a clock online that helps us tell him when it's ok to wake up. You can set the time (we set it for 6am) and the color changes from nightlight yellow to bright green. If he awoke before 6am, we'd tell him to look at his clock and ask what color it was. When he said yellow, we'd tell him to lay back down until the clock turned green, and we'd leave the room. Sure enough for weeks, right at 6am he'd call for me to come get him. Now he sleeps til 630am (he's 2 1/2). I've also heard there's a Thomas the Train clock that opens his eyes at the time you want your child to get up.

I've also heard putting your child to bed earlier may help although that didn't work for us. Good luck!

Stop laying with her in her bed. It's not helping and it's counterproductive. What I did with my kids that woke up before I wanted to get up is to tell them that it is okay for them to be awake but, if mommy or daddy isn't up, they can play with their toys as long as they stayed in their bed. It worked great since playing with their toys is what they wanted to do anyway.

Both my boys, wake every morning between 5:30 and 6:00. The only time it bothers us is on weekends when we would like to sleep in. The rest of the week they have to get ready to leave to go to daycare when we leave for work.

Some children are early risers, mine stay in their room till me or their father tells them to get up.

If she had a favorite blanket in her crib put that on her bed, it might help make her more secure for sleeping in the new bed. Do not by anymeans sleep with her, keep her on her bedtime routine put her in her bed and close the door. If she wakes in the night as long as she isn't crying, then let her play in her room she'll go back to sleep when she is ready.

Aw! I'm sorry to hear! Being a zombie all day is no fun.

How about leaving a snack and some water in her bedroom so she can take care of her hunger, and leaving some quiet toys for her to play with, and teaching her to play by herself for a while? Do you feel like she's able to do this safely? (I haven't yet entered the world of parenting a 2-year old, so I wouldn't hazard a guess.) Could you leave a baby gate at the door so she can't explore less safe areas outside of the bedroom, but can call you if she needs you?

My son, who is now 3.5 years old, goes through these periods now and then. Sometimes it seems to help to adjust his bedtime and sometimes he just needs to work through it, as painful as that is. He started to give up his nap just after his 2nd birthday, but started to go to bed much earlier (around 7 pm). To get him to rest a little, I put a DVD on for 1-2 hours after lunch and that helps him not be too miserable in the late afternoon. It may be that you need to shorten her naptime to 1-2 hours if it's longer, or she may be going to bed too early or too late. It's strange, but if a child goes to bed too late, they often get up too early in the AM as well. No fun! A great sleep book is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Weissbluth. Good luck.

Try reading Marc Weissbluth's "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." He covers all sorts of sleep issues, from infants through to high school! And he says that the goal is a well-rested family, not just a well-rested child. :) His advice has been very helpful with our two boys, ages 2 and 5 months.

Could she need more of a transition between beds? Is her crib gone? Try putting the mattress on the floor or something similar. It may be too much of a change for her going from one bed to another right away.