Need to Sleep Later!!!

I read somehwere that no matter what time kids go to bed, they'll wake up at the same time, so I don't think pushing his bedtime back later would help.

A friend of mine put a lamp on a timer. She instructed her daughter that she was not to wake mommy up until the light went on. That meant it was time for everyone to wake up. If she woke up sooner, she was to entertain herself or go back to sleep. Then *all* you need to do is reinforce it (which may take a few days to have him fully trained and understanding that you mean it). Good luck. I know how tiring it is for you, but stick with the training, and he'll get it!

try cutting out the nap. I know it's hard. He will be grumpy for a few days, but he will sleep longer at night. This exact thing happened to a friend of mine, and this is what the doctor told her to do. It has been wonderful for them. Good luck!

I have a babygate up on my 2 year old daughter's door at night. When she wakes up early, she has toys, a sippie cup of water and books to keep her occupied. We just tell her loudly enough so she can hear to go back to bed when she calls for us instead of going to her room. This has created a good habit in that now she usually goes back to sleep instead of playing. Good luck!

My son is three and a half and does something similar. As frustrating as it is, it is part of them being kids. Try black out shades in his room to keep the sun from waking him.
Also I have a rule that my son is to stay in his own bed and be very quiet until he hears mom or sister wake up. He shares a room with his sister and she is a sleeper so I want him to be as quiet as he can for as long as he can.

He can get up to pee, which is typically what wakes him up and he cannot go back to sleep and he can get a book but has to lay in his bed until I say it is time to get up. It took some time but he is now doing it. Another thing that worked is when I went to bed I sometimes get him up to pee then he sleeps in longer.
I can hear him when he gets up to pee so that typically wakes me up, which for that it is fine. I hate shutting their door or mine though I should, hee hee. He gets up almost like clockwork at 5:45 to 6:15 am when we don't have to get up until 7am! Yesterday I wore him out...I mean let him play outside for like two hours and he slept until 7:15 this morning!!! He is going to bed at 7:30, so I think too letting them burn off a lot of steam during the day helps a lot with sleeping longer.
Put a baby gate on his room too, so he cannot leave his room, even with that and the door closed. Even do a chart for every morning he doesn't scream out or wake you all up reward him with a sticker to motivate him to stay put!

You may be fighting a very good habit, but given his age I think there is a solution. My sister in law has her kids stay in their room when they wake up, so as to not wake mom and dad. Their son is three, so I think this may work for you too. Their kids know that is the time to read books, so they have a good supply in there. If it were my son I would also leave him a little water and possibly some food so he can handle being 'on his own' for an hour or two.

Good luck.

I had this exact problem with my son (now 6). He was getting up at 4:30, ready for the day! It was crazy! So we came up with a strange solution, but it worked, and we use it with our 3 year old still. We got a outlet timer (you know that kind you use for Christmas lights or when you are going to be out of town). Ours is a digital one. You plug it in and plug a night light into the timer. I set the timer for an appropriate time (for us it's 6:30). The night light turns on at 6:30 letting my daughter know it's okay for her to get up. If she wakes up and the nightlight's not on, she knows she needs to go back to sleep. Good luck, I hope you can get some more sleep!

Instead of trying to find a solution...count your blessings...going to bed at 7:30 is a blessing....maybe you need to work with HIS schedule instead of trying to make him adjust to yours. Trust me the early rising won't last long...just wait until he is 13. Grandma from Nebraska

C.,

I'm wondering if you've tried cutting out one of his naps each day? He's probably old enough now to only have one nap a day (even though two is nice). If you cut one out, maybe he would sleep long? Just a thought.

You might try shorting his nap. The other thought, is slowly adjusting the bedtime. 15 minutes a week and see if eventually you can get to a 8 or 8:30 bedtime that would let him sleep that extra 1 or so. 15 minutes shouldn't make him too grumpy if he still gets up at the same time, and doint it a week at a time will let his body adjust. GL!

Does he take one 2 hour nap each day or 2 one hour naps each day??? At his age he should be taking one nap a day. Make sure he's getting a lot of exercise during the day so that he is exhausted at night. Also, give him a snack and/or milk before he goes to bed. When he gets up at 4:30 or 5 --- give him some milk and/or a snack. Then have him go back to bed. Have an alarm clock in his room. Set it for 6. Tell him he has to stay in his room and be quiet until the alarm goes off. He can sleep, look at books, or play --- but he can't call out for mom/dad. Last resort, let him watch a kids show until you are ready to get out of bed. My 18 month old has also been getting up early in the morning. Sometimes we just put him in bed with us and he falls back asleep. I feel for you and I can relate.

From the sleep book that I have followed and LOVED and many of my friends and family have loved (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child), it says that sleep begets sleep. Try slowly putting him to bed earlier. 15 min at a time to start. My kids have always gone to bed at 7:00 (with naps - my daughter had two naps a day until she was almost 3) or 8:00 and get up at 9:00. My daughter recently started waking up too early - 3:40 to 4:00. I noticed that we had been getting them to bed too late - 8:00, so I moved it back to 7:30 and it has really helped - I am slowly moving back to the 7:00 bed-time and I have been loving it! If she gets to bed too late, she still wakes up too early.
Another thing that has helped is that we don't go get our kids out of bed until the time that we want them out. That helps to train them as well. they wake up and play quietly or even go back to sleep because they know we are not coming in to get them (my 3 year old just comes and wakes us up now, though - she is in a big-girl bed now).
Hope this helps and that you can start getting the sleep you need.

Oh, I thought I had it bad--my son gets up at 5:45 or 6, which to me is unbearable...I would refuse to get up at 4:30! That's still night time!!! What happens if you don't go to him? Would he go back to sleep? Have you thought about putting a tv/vcr in there and teaching him how to put in his own movies? (dvd's might be too complicated)I know a lot of people frown on letting the tv babysit their kids, but this would be an instance where I believe it would do more good than harm!!!
Otherwise, I wonder if you took away his nap, what might happen? Or shortened the nap time? I bet he naps two hours because he is so tired.
Good luck. I feel for you!

I'm surprised no one has yet responded that you should try moving your son's bedtime EARLIER in order to get him to sleep later. I've read a lot of sleep books, and this seems to be the general recommendation from the supposed experts these days. _Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child_ suggests moving the bedtime earlier in 20 minute increments (3 or 4 nights at each time) until you find the magic time that will make the child sleep later.

Maybe he just wants more time with mommy and daddy since you both work.

My child has a sydrome called
smith Magenis Syndrome, where she has inverted melatonin. She is 3 years old, and has always gotten up between 4 and 5:30. When she wakes up in the am, she doesn't cry...just talks to herself and waits for us to come get her out of her enclosed bed. Not sure if this is what your child has, but thought I'd let you know...

I found out that my daughter was waking up ar 3:30am because of a train way off in the distance. I moved her bed to an inside wall and put up a thicker blind on the window and this worked for us. Now she wakes up because we have a neighbor that gets home at 4:00am but she is old enough now to go back to sleep on her own.
Hope you find a solution,
B.

One thing you can do is put a baby gate on his door so that he feels like it is open but still may preoccupy himself with his toys. If he isn't in a crib this is a good way for him to still walk around his room or depending on how your house is set up put it at the end of the hall so that he is still safe but not confined to his room.