Ok ladies I am in desperate need of help. For the last month or so my 2yo has been waking up at 530 or 6 EVERY morning and staying awake. It used to be that he would sleep until 7 or 730 and I thought that was perfect. Within the last 3 months he started sharing a room with his 4yo brother and I don't know if that has anything to do with it. My 4yo would sleep until 8 if allowed but as soon as the 2yo wakes up he goes and wakes up his older brother which makes the 4yo cranky for the rest of the day cause he didnt get the sleep he needs. I put the 2yo down at 8 and the 4yo down at 830 at night and they both sleep through the night great its just this early morning rising is killing both me and my 4yo. Any ideas on getting him to sleep later? I don't 7 is asking too much is it?
Thanks in advance for your help
Boy do I know how you feel. All of my kids have different sleep patterns even though we have a pretty strict routine around here. The only thing I think would work good for you is to switch the bed time. Put the older one down earlier and the little one down later. Maybe they will come closer in wake up times.
Good luck.
Ugh, I can so relate! We are going through the exact same thing with our nearly 2 year old (Sept. 4) - sometimes he gets up at 5 and is ready to go for the day. I'm hoping it is just a stage since I've heard from a lot of my friends that their kids did the same around 2.
Oddly enough we've found that when we put our son down for the night earlier he actually stays in bed longer in the morning - like a 6:30 bedtime means a 6 am wake up - yeah, 6 is considered "sleeping in" around here!
I think the light is a wonderful idea and if this problem continues we will be getting one once our son is old enough to understand the concept - I don't think he is really there just yet. One tip I read in a magazine is to plug a nightlight into a timer (like you get for Christmas lights or when you are on vacation and want your lights to go on and off as if you are home) and then tell your child that when the light goes off then he/she can get out of bed. The tip also recommended setting the light to go off pretty early (like 30 minutes before usual waking time) and then slowly adjust to the ideal time - like 10 minutes later each morning.
I know it is a drain to have a little one suddenly waking up for the day much earlier than before - I just try to think of it this way - we are such fabulous mommies that our kids just can't wait to start the day with us! With that thought and lots and lots of coffee, somehow we will make it through the days. Soon enough our boys will be teens and impossible to stir out of bed before 2 p.m.!
Best of luck to you!
One step ahead has a light that changes from green to yellow to red. You can program it for any length of time you want. I set mine so that my daughter has to sleep when the light is green and can stop sleeping when it is red (since red means stop). Make sure you get the power cord as it eats batteries very quickly. It has worked wonders. Now that she is just "resting" instead of naping it tells her how long she has to stay in her room too.
How dark is their room? We started having the same problem with our kids a couple of months ago. We realized they were getting up because their room was getting too light in the morning. We got some black-out shades for their room and it worked like a charm! They immediately started sleeping until 7:00 - 7:30 again.
Both my boys are early risers. Always have been. If they sleep past 7 I start to wonder if they are sick. LOL! You can't always change a kid's natural rhythm, but you may be able to adapt it a bit.
If he's waking up happy, he's probably had enough sleep (unlike the 4yo who obviously still wants sleep.) Maybe you could try pushing back your 2yo's bedtime - later to bed, later to rise? If you 2yo naps during the day he probably won't need more than 10 hours at night (which is his 8 to 6 schedule), and I wouldn't suggest taking out the naps yet - his body still needs one. But maybe you can get the 4yo to lie down for quiet time too. (My son started a day care program at 4 and state law requires nap time for kids under 5, he suddenly was taking naps again!)
You may want to find another sleeping arrangment. Is there any way to have him not sharing a room? That way, he can wake up without disturbig his brother, and maybe you can get him to play quietly for an hour.
Good luck! Hang in there ... it's challenging right now, but things will even out over time.
C.,
I don't know if this will help you at all, but both my boys are early risers. We just taught them that the time to wake up is 7. We taught them that they can't get out of bed until the first number on the clock is a 7. When we first taught them this, they would try to sneak out of bed early, and we would simply take them by the hand and bring them back to their room, show them the number on the clock and tell them to wait in bed until it says 7. I know some moms that leave books or cars near the bed to play with until the appointed time. We don't do this because the boys share a room and if one wakes before the other we want them to be quiet. Since we have been very specific about what is expected of them and have been consistent, we have no problem with early risers. Actually, my youngest who just turned three, has been my alarm clock for at least a year now. He comes in my room at "7-o-o" just about every morning! Our older boy is seven now and has followed this rule since he was two. Now, he can get up to go to the bathroom if needed. The three-year-old still needs help going to the bathroom, but he happens to have a strong bladder so this hasn't been as issue.
T.
Every child is different, but the biggest help I have found for any sleep problem at any age is the book, HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS, HAPPY CHILD (Dr. Weissmuth). Two things that may help are putting him to bed even earlier, believe it or not, and making sure you have a blanket or heavy drapes over the bedroom window. That way the room stays darker longer. He may be waking early simply because he is overtired. Ideally, a 2-year-old should be getting about 11-12 hours of sleep at night, and taking a 1-2 hour nap. I know its really hard to move the bedtime up in the summer, especially when there are fun activities that your four-year-old can enjoy. It is also a huge challenge getting two kids to sleep well when they're in the same room, but what options do we have? Eventually your four-year-old may simply learn to sleep through the two-year-old getting out of bed in the early morning hours. I just put my two kids in the same room about a month ago, and we're STILL adjusting. Best of luck to you. Check out that book from the library, though. It is really helpful.
The light and birds of summer always make at least one of my kids early risers. I just set up some rules of things they are allowed to do until others wake up: read books, get certain snacks from the fridge (sometimes I prepare a sippy cup of milk the night before), I might get up and put a music cd in for them. When one of my boys was 2 I had to restrict him to playing/reading in his bed (otherwise he got into things he shouldn't), but even then, I was usually able to buy myself another half hour of sleep. Otherwise I give them a cup of milk and sleep on the couch while they watch a little TV. I had to resort to that a lot during my last pregnancy, but they were fine and I was able to function much better.
C.,
There are some great ideas on here already, I just wanted to second some of them...
First Darken the room, there are some great darkening products from blinds to curtains, or if on a budget you could use card board or foil. I just saw in the one step ahead mag (online too) 2 blackout drapery liners for 40.00 you can cut them to whatever length you need. 60"L x 27" W
(I also liked the idea of the night light that changes colors to let them know when its okay to get up.)
Second, get a clock with a face. I put masking tape (cut thin and colored in) to mark the time they are allowed to get out of bed. Of course bathroom is fine, but if its not past wake time, they have to get back in bed and close their eyes.
Third as soon as I hear them up, if its not time, I take them by the hand and tuck them back in bed, whispering that its not time to get up yet. This may sound funny, but I try to look sleepy still, so they know that even mommy is not ready to get up.
Fourth, get a white noise machine or a fan to put in their room. It will drowned out any birds or cars or laundry starting etc...
This has worked very well for my three girls and I am sure it will for the fourth too when he is older. They sleep from 8:00 until 8:00 or some times 9:00 if I let them!
my first and second sound just like yours, the second was a very loud child and didn't get the concept of not waking the other up for a while. But we practiced a lot on trying to be quite and whispering and holding still, even when it wasn't time to sleep. This helped quite a bit.
Good luck, may sleep be with you!
E.
Count your blessings and put them down earlier. You might stand to go to bed earlier yourself, too. Our two (6 mos and 19mos) both wake up at 6 and sometimes a tad earlier. Putting them to bed later has no effect. So we put them to bed around 7pm, and I go to bed around 9:30pm. Good luck.
My baby is only 7 months old so I can only relate somewhat. However, he was getting up at 5 or 6 everymorning for a couple of months earlier this summer. I installed blackout roller shades in his room and he now sleeps past 7 most mornings. And his naps went from about 20 minutes to at least 1 hour! They were 50% off at JC Penny, I found the ones I wanted online, then went to the store and had them order for me to avoid shipping and handleing and any possible hassels with returning them if they didn't work out. Was the best $20 I may have ever spent. Hope this helps out.
when any two of my kids share a room, I can guarantee early risers...so if possible don't let them share. It gave me two hours back in my morning and even more when putting them to bed. Even when putting them to bed at different times, the one who went to bed latter would wake up the other one...nightmare!!! So Separate if possible. I gave up my office/craft room to give my sanity a break! And less fighting as they got older.
