Hi ladies,
Any suggestions for getting my little guy to sleep later? Most other toddlers around his age seem to wake up after 7, at least, that I know of. We've had a few instances of that, but for the most part, he's up at 6am. And in the last few days, he's been up at 5:30.
He's happy and wide awake and does just fine during the day (typically takes a 2 hr nap in the afternoon). I, personally, would just like it if he slept later! :)
Bedtime doesn't seem to matter. He goes down between 7:30 and 8, sleeps fine through the night.... It's just the super early wake up.
Any suggestions? Or is this one of those things that I should just "suck it up"?
Hi Melissa,
I may not have a good answer for you, but just wanted you to know that I am in the same boat as you. My daughter goes to bed at 7:30 and takes a nap from about 12-2. She is up most mornings at 5:30... we feel lucky if she sleeps til 6:00! I don't know what to do either, but I usually just try and ignore until she really makes a fuss. Good luck!
M.
My daughter is 20 months and wakes up around 6.30am , she has a 2 hr nap in the day (12.30-2.30) and goes to bed at 7pm. She just wakes at that time in the morning , she is happy and talking away to herself but I don't go in and get her until 7 (usually when she starts to make a fuss). I would say ignore him until he makes a fuss , if he is happy then no need for you to get him up , and you manage to catch a few ZZZzzzzzz's.!!
Try putting him to bed an hour or so later, you'll probably have to do this for a week or more before he adjusts his wake-up time. Then just push back the nap accordingly so he's not overtired in the evening. Worked for me! Good luck!
If he's taking a nap before, say, 12:00 then I'd say push the afternoon nap back later in combination with some ignoring in the morning. We just plain won't respond to our children before 6:30, and they know this. They can be awake before then, but that's their business! The other thing that will help is the time change coming in about 3 weeks. This will make 5:30 into 6:30, so if you just don't shift your child, it should partially solve the problem. I remember I couldn't *wait* for that spring time change with my son at that age!
This answer might not be what you want to hear, but keeping him up later is the only thing that I found to help with my daughter. She just turned 2, and is also an early riser. During the week, it's ok, as we get at 4:30 am to get her ready and get ourselves ready for work and daycare. However, mommy likes to sleep in a little bit on the weekends, and she doesn't always comply. So we've resorted into letting her stay up with us on the weekends to help her sleep in a little longer. She's only able to hang in there until about 9-9:30, but it's nice to look at the clock and see that I've slept in until 6:30-7:00 the next morning.
Good Luck!
My 23 month old is exactly the same way! We put him to bed around 8pm and he always wakes up between 5:30am-6am. He takes a 2 hour nap (sometimes less) in the afternoons and that seems to be all the sleep that he needs. I used to worry about it and try to get him to sleep more, but he is a very happy little boy and this seems to be enough for him. I know most children sleep more than this but I think you have to look at each child individually and figure out what works for them. Or actually they will let you know what works for them!!
Most kids this age wake between 6 and 8. He's on the early end so while that can be a pain, it's normal. Your bedtime is fine; putting him to bed later just denies him of the restorative sleep he needs each night and can likely backfire, with him waking up even earlier. A later bedtime does NOT guarantee a later wake time! When he wakes up, what do you do? Do you go in immediately or do you let him have some time to himself first? Perhaps put a few toys and soft books in his crib to keep him entertained when he wakes (that worked wonders for us!). If you find he's waking up earlier and earlier, however, let him just chill in his crib before you go get him because if you keep going in earlier and earlier there's a chance he will get so excited about the early morning arrivals that he'll continue to get up earlier and earlier to play with his most favorite people in the world!
I have a 15 month old who is very similar. She wakes lately anywhere between 5 - 6:30 and is still taking 2 naps.
I did read a book that said an earlier bedtime actually can help them sleep later. Although it seems the opposite--it did actually help when my daughter was an infant--she would sleep in a little later.
In our case, I'm planning to end the 2 naps/day after our vacation. However, you may want to see if you can either have him nap earlier in the day or shorter if it seems feasible.
Good luck--I feel your pain.
AE
I just went through this same issue. My almost 22 month old started doing this around 19 months. She goes to bed between 7 and 7:15 and was waking up around 7am (with around a 2 hour nap in the afternoon). Then all of a sudden she was getting up between 5 and 6. I tried to leave her but she was crying and screaming and I didn't want her to wake up my 3 year old. Sometimes she would fall asleep as soon as I got her, other times she'd just be up. In the past few weeks she has been making it until 6:30 again, and sometimes even 7 am :). I'm not sure if it's just a phase or what (my older one never had this issue). Anyway, if you can, my dr. told me not to get her until I want her to get up. And/or shorten afternoon nap. Good Luck- I know what you are going through :(
That's exactly how both of my boys were. Even if I put them down later, they still woke up early. If they ever slept until 7, that was a HUGE treat. The norm was around 6 - 6:30 but 5:30 was not that unusual. Unfortunately, I do not know how to change your child's schedule. If you can figure out a way, please let me know. I am expecting my 3rd and am not looking forward to that. LOL
May be try cutting his nap in the afternoons to an 1hr. How old is he? Keep is bed time the same and see how that goes. If they sleep less threw the day some kids sleep longer in the mornings. Good luck.
All babies are different. There is no normal.
We've talked to our pediatrician at well-baby visits about our son's poor sleeping habits. He can go to bed at midnight and still be up the same time the next morning.
Just like we, as adults, have our own circadian rhythms, so do babies. I'm guessing he's just an early bird. So, my suggestions would be either to put him down later in the evening or to let him play it out in his crib if you need more sleep.
I guess my opinion is different - we get so little time with our kids, and all they want at this age is our attention, love and affirmation. I'd rather know I spent that time engaging with them and catching-up on my sleep later in life.
Perhaps you and your husband can take time switching mornings when he's awake early to take him down, get him fed, dressed, etc. allowing the other a few more minutes of precious sleep?
