Waking up 4 Am!

Updated on January 21, 2009
M.B. asks from Tucson, AZ
4 answers

My 28 month old just switched to a big girl bed from her crib. We had a friend who needed a crib and we felt our daughter was ready. She never had sleep issues. We expected to have the crib until mid February but something came up and the friends needed the crib, so one day our daughter woke in a crib and went to bed that night in a big girl bed (twin). She had no warning. So, the first week she fought staying in bed when we put her down but she got tired of trying. My issue is not the putting her to bed but the waking up SO VERY EARLY! She now wakes up at 4:30 am on average. She's wide awake and full of energy. Happy too. The first thing she says is "hungry". So, I can't get her to go back to bed for anything. During the week i is hard because I get up at 4 to get ready for work and then get the kids up and going by 6. She tends to get in the way. THen of course, weekends suck because we're up at 4:30!!! Any suggestions? We have tried keeping her up later but it's not working.

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So What Happened?

She's getting better, sleeping until about 5:15 now. We tried food before bed, we tried keeping her up later (she is always been in bed before 7), all the stuff advised by all of the wonderful mom's on this site. When she's ready to get up, she gets up. Like this morning, she was up at 5. Never called out for me, just got up and came in to my bathroom with a big smile. I offered her milk if she would go back to bed, "No Mom, I woke up". :-) Gotta love um! So I guess the only thing left to try is the alarm clock idea. We'll see. :-) Thanks to all of you!~

More Answers

F.H.

answers from Phoenix on

LInda, thanks for clarifying, I have had a rough couple days so I'm feeling overly sensitive I guess! We need all the support we can get! Thanks and have a great day!
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UPDATE after seeing Linda's response...moving my daughters bedtime DID work, I didn't appreciate that comment. M., I hope you find to work for you, lack of sleep is h*** o* all of us, including your daughter! Good luck!

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I remember my daughter doing this after since birth to age 2 she slept straight 12 hours thru the night, literally, 7 pm to 7 am! Then all of a sudden she was waking up at 4 or 5 am! I just started to put her to bed later, like at 9 and then she slept "in" and stopped waking up early. I guess when they get to that toddler age they don't need 12 hours and it was her body telling her that. And maybe a healthy snack before bed might tide her over so she isn't hungry. I hope you find something that will work for you!

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S.L.

answers from Tucson on

You could try an excellent, pure and SAFE herbal formula called Calmazon. It is made of herbs that are proven effective as well as wild-grown and pesticide-free. If you are interested in the herbs in the formula or any other information you can contact me or check out my website: www.shootingstarherbs.amazonherb.net.

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L.M.

answers from Albuquerque on

It may be your daughter is short on sleep and she is waking up earlier as a result. Moving the bedtime later doesn't work -- try moving it earlier. Look into the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child by Dr Weissbluth. It's my sleep bible.

Faith, relax :o). There's no need to take things personally. My comment was in regards to M.'s last sentence. If a later bedtime worked for you great. I personally had a better experience with an earlier bedtime.

That's the beauty about Mamasource. It's all about varying ideas. M., consider all the different opinions and decide what works for you.

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N.S.

answers from Phoenix on

"Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" is my sleep bible too! I give it to all my friends for their baby showers! Both my 3 year old and my 1 year old sleep 12 hours at night and nap well during the day. Early bedtimes work best. If you do an early bedtime (6:30-7:30) and she's still waking early in the morning, then just don't allow it. I ignore my children if they wake up before 6am. They ALWAYS go back to sleep. My 3 year old woke up at 5:30 the other day and I told him it wasn't time to get up yet. He protested, but I insisted. He ended up going back to sleep for 2 more hours. The book I mentioned earlier recommends not letting them wake before 6.

One mom on mamasource had similar issues and someone gave advice to put a clock radio in the room and set the alarm for whatever time is your acceptable wake up time and tell her she cannot come out of her room until the music starts to play. If your daughter knows she can't come out of her room until the music goes off, she might not be so motivated to wake herself up that early.

Good luck!

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