Waking Early

I had the same problem with my son when he was about 1... it seemed to me that when he would stir in the early a.m. and see it was daylight, he would immediately decide to get up. I got a brown lightweight throw blanket and put it over the window, so it literally looks as though it is night in the room all the time. This worked like a miracle. He would stir or wake a little and believe it was still night, so he would allow himself to go back to sleep. Of course you can buy room darkening shades (which in my experience don't work that well) or heavily lined drapes (they work ok), but a dark colored throw is a cheap, temporary solution that you can clip to the curtain rod with clothes pins, or thumb tack to the wall if you aren't too squeamish about the little holes. It's easy, cheap, and completely removable if you are getting company or something and don't want a throw hanging on your window!

Amy J will tell you to fill your kid up with healthy food all day long to ensure she is not waking due to hunger... that may work too, but maybe the two things in conjunction will work wonders! Hi Amy... :)

Hi M., LOL it depends on your child...some kids can sleep in, some kids rise with the sun. I have always put our children to bed at 9pm and they always slept in til about 9am...now that they are all teens they sleep until noon with no problem (if I let them!) I think part of the sleep thing has to do with your own schedule as well; I worked nights the entire time I was pregnant with my girls and they are really night owls when given the chance and always have been. Best wishes.

Most of my friends with 2 year olds (and ours is now 27 months) agree that they do like 11-12 hours at night. So mine goes down between 9-10 and wakes up between 8-9. Most of her friends are similar, but go to bed earlier and wake up earlier.

Also, there is a LOT to be said for blackout shades and white noise. We have run a fan or humidifier in my daughter's room since birth and we recently swapped out the blinds/curtains in her room for room darkening, cordless cellular shades plus new curtains that I made with a blackout liner (available at Jo-Ann or Bed Bath & Beyond).

The shades are fantastic! Besides keeping light out, they REALLY help with the hot morning sun. I shopped around and the best deal is to measure your window, take it to Lowe's, and as about the Levolor Trim N Go line. They make them in snow or ivory, lined with a metallic coating to keep the sun out, and they cut them to order for MUCH cheaper than any custom window place I checked with. You want the shade to fit as tightly as possible, so give them the actual measurement and they will cut it down for clearance (I think maybe 3/8" or 1/4" narrower?). We're so happy with them, we're doing all the bedrooms with them!

Well good luck with sleeping later, we no longer get that luxury LOL!!! The hours your daughter sleeps is about normal, my son is 18 months old and sleeps anywhere from 8pm to 8am. For my son and I, it is true that if he goes to sleep later like around 930 than he sleeps until about 730-8am. Si i would recommend a 9pm bed time that way she will (hopefully) sleep until 730, but i wouldnt expect any later than that, LOL!

Your child requires a certain amount of sleep every night. If you establish a regular schedule of her going to bed at 8:00 and waking at 5:30, then she probably needs about 9.5 hours of sleep. If you move her bedtime to 9:00, she'll sleep until 6:30. If she goes to bed at 9:30, she'll most likely sleep until 7:00. Anytime you CHANGE a bedtime or schedule, it won't even out immediately, but if you do it regularly, her sleep needs will accomodate themselves to the timing -- you might also want to adjust the time of her nap to an hour or hour and 1/2 later.

When our girls started doing that, we started putting them to bed later and cut the naps down by 1/2. It really took a big chunk out of my "me" time, but it was easier to do that than to wake up at 6 a.m. w/ 2 yr old twins who were ready and raring to go.

Hi M.,
I think they key is that you, as her mom, know when she is sleepy. She needs to go to bed before she crosses the line from sleepy to nasty/overtired. Letting them stay up later, thinking they will be really tired and sleep in longer generally doesn't work well. It normally backfires with an earlier waking time. I think when they are overtired, they sleep less restfully/soundly.
She still naps. Doesn't sound like a 90 minute nap is too much. Make sure she doesn't nap too close to dinnertime (up before 4-4:30). You may have more success with later sleeping in if you bump her nap to a bit earlier.
Make sure she has a snack & is full when she goes to bed at night.
Frustrating, I know. When my son would be up with the chickens, I would make sure he went to bed earlier that evening. Good luck!

The answer to sleeping longer is always food! Take it from my step sister-mother of 12. With this advice, mine have slept like stones since 3 months. You must feed her more during the day-all day long. Add a couple of feedings/snacks even though she seems fine and not hungry-kids often don't eat enough and seem fine. Be sure it's healthy food and not sugary of course. Just more right before bed isn't enough. It takes a few days, but once her body realizes it has more food, she will sleep longer. Guaranteed! My mother in law recently visited and refused to follow my wishes and feed my son enough(18 months)-she kept insisting he didn't need snacks etc, he just ate breakfast (4 hours before etc) after three days, he started waking up 2 hours earlier and also a couple of times during the night. For the first time since he was 3 months old! He's extremely healthy and not overweight, same with my slender daughter, and they get ALL their sleep thank god.

I think all babies/toddlers are different. I also have a 22 month old, and it's very rare that he goes to bed as early as 8. He takes a pretty long nap in the afternoon, and just isn't tired enough by 8 most nights to get a good night's sleep. If he takes an especially long and/or late nap, we might not put him to bed until 10:30 or so! But then, he'll usually sleep until at least 7, often more like 8:30. I would worry less about the exact time or what the books say and how tired your daughter is. If she wakes up happy and doesn't seem cranky and tired during the day, then she's probably getting enought sleep. If you want her to sleep later, then it seems to me that you'd have to put her to bed later (and possibly move her nap later as well). Maybe some kids will just wake early no matter what, and so if she continues to wake early for several days with a later bedtime or becomes sleep-deprived, then maybe she's just an early riser and there might not be anything you can do. But I don't think it hurts to try.

every kid is different, so you have to see what works for you and your family.

I get home from work around midnight, so I need my kids to get up as late as possible. We actually keep them up until 10pm or so... but they aren't in school or anything yet. Mine get up early (for me) anywhere from 7:30, and recently as late as 9:30am(!!!!!). The 9:30 am was when they went to bed at 11pm. The average is 8-8:30 though.
Now sometimes, my younger daughter will still wake up early even if she stays up late, but I think it's more because she hears her sister get up (my older one doesn't nap, and usually goes to bed before her sister).

Anyway, it's trial and error! You can always try room darkening shades, some sort of white noise maker (like a fan). I would try bumping her bedtime up by a half hour each night and see what works. Good Luck!!!!!!!