22-Month-old Suddenly Waking up Early?

Put him down a little earlier so that he gets the same amount of sleep he did when he was waking up later. My 22 mo and 9 mo old both get up around 6 am and I consider it a blessing! They go down around 6:30 or 7 pm. It seems logical that if you put him down later, he will sleep later, but I have found that, like you, it just doesn't work! As for you, go to bed a little earlier. Also, try not rushing in right away. My baby will pop awake at 5am sometimes but he will babble and go back to sleep until 6am. Doesn't always work, but 6 am is about the earliest I can deal with them!

Sometimes they just go through phases. I agree - to early to give up a nap since he's down to one a day. Sounds strange, but is he staying up later? Sometimes sleep deprivation causes them to sleep less, and putting them down earlier gets them back on schedule. Maybe worth a try? My neighbor used to put some books or other safe toys in her son's crib (once he was in bed) so when he woke up, he'd play quietly...
Good luck.

He's at an age where separation anxiety can be high because he understands that you're somewhere just not where he can see you. If he's happy once you come in, that may be why he is crying. As far as the early waking, 2 of my 3 kids are like that and have been since they were his age. It's actually an advantage now - they are up and ready for school with very little issues while my oldest is always dragging in the mornings. It's just their internal clock, and it may be so for your son.
Maybe try bringing him into your bed for that last hour. It might help him stay happy and let you get a bit more rest. If that doesn't work, you may just want to go to bed eariler yourself and spend that extra hour in the morning doing something constructive (you can do a bit of your 'afternoon chorses' or just spend time playing with your little one, both are good choices)

C.,
Since you have tried putting her to bed a little latter and it didn't work. I would try putting him to bed earlier and or rearranging his nap time. If he is having one nap, it should be close to noon probably right after lunch or an hour after. Try putting him down 11-12 hrs before he is waking up. Once you can get him to sleep that long again, then you can slowly move his bed time/wake time up by 15 mins every few days till you get to a reasonable time.

The other thing that I do when my kids wake up to early
is go in and comfort them. It might sound funny, but I make sure that I look tired, whisper and not open my eyes all the way. Saying something like,
"it is not time to get up yet, it's still sleeping time".
Right now is a good time to be doing this because the sun is on your side.
"See it's still dark outside".
Depending on the persistence of the child, you might get them to lay back down and go to sleep. Or you might have to say,
"Mommy is still sleeping, you can sleep or you can look at some books in your bed and then sleep".
Make sure they are not your favorite books, because some destruction might occur.
To make sure that the sun is not waking him up, you might want to invest in room darkening blinds or curtains. They are great for summer months especially.
good luck
E.

i used to give mine a snack, like a sippy cup of milk or a cheese stick, a few books and stuffed animals because those are allowed in bed in our house, put on some music in my kids' room and go back to bed. i could usually get another half hour of sleep. when they got old enough to play quietly in their room without fighting i could get closer to an hour of extra sleep.

Well all kids are different but my daughter is an early riser and I have tried EVERYTHING to get her to sleep later and nothing seems to work. It's just the way she is. The only thing I can tell you is that now that she is getting a little older (will be 3 in December) she goes through phases of sleeping better. It seems like for a while she will wake up around 6 or 6:30 then for a few weeks she will switch to waking up around 7:30 or 8. So I just take it as it is and I'm glad that least she does sleep in sometimes. But I know those early days suck soooo bad. The only other tip I have is that when she does wake up early I give her some milk in a sippy and a granola bar or something easy to eat and sit her down in front of the t.v. then i go back to bed and that gives me at least an extra 1/2 to an hour before she wakes me up again. So you could give that a try too.