why has ds started waking up early??

[mad4mybaby]

For the last month my 20 month old ds has started waking up an hour earlier so 6am as apposed the exceptable 7am! He had a cold so i cant complain as he wasnt well but now he is fine and it is driving me insane. He is always asleep by 7pm and has 1 1/2 hours nap so i know he gets enough sleep in 24 hours but he wakes grumpy so i know he hasnt woken up when he WANTED to. Have tried leaving him in bed but moans and whines and then crys till get him up. He doesnt wake in the night or anything and putting him to bed later makes it worse not better so not going to change bedtime. He has a black out blind so it isnt the sun or anything. Any ideas??

[blissa]

I can sympathise mad4 he sounds just like my ds at that age except for him an hour earlier has 5am! And he was the same in that he would scream until I went to him and was grumpy until he usually fell asleep on the school run!

The only thing I did was to make the cotbed into a bed and put a stairgate over the door so at least he could get out and play instead of standing in the cot screaming- made the early hour a bit more bareable!

He's 2.2 now and is a lot better although I think he's always going to be an early riser. Afraid to say I think it's just a phase you're going to have to ride out. Good luck x

[Notyummy]

I can sympathise. DD is 20 months this week and has slipped back into her 6ish waking, after a few months of 7am (or later!) waking. It is a pain, although she rarely wakes at night, and is asleep by 7 30pm, so I suppose it could be a LOT worse!

We have decided that it is a phase (we have had 5am and 6am in the past for a period of weeks/months). I don't think she is cold/hot/in pain and she usually wakes in a reasonable mood. She sleeps between 1hr and 1 1/2 hr during the day. Sometimes she will fall back asleep for a little while after she has woken, and sometimes she is prepared to play in her cot for a while. We also have blackout blinds.

Well, I guess that doesn't help. You are not alone! Repeat to yourself...'it is just a phase, it is just a phase....'

[Smee]

Why not try cutting his nap time down in the day a bit? Nothing too drastic, or else he'll be grumpy in the day, but wake him ten minutes earlier and see if that shifts the morning wake up time accordingly. Might not work, but it's worth a go.

[lilQuidditchKel]

Hi I have 24mo DS who was waking earlier and ealier until (gasp) it was touching on before 5am.

I cut his nap down (which was admittedly long at 2-3 hours, but he seemed to need it). It has been a limited success.

He now naps at most 1.5 hours, is cranky as hell upon being woken from his deep sleep, and sleeps as long as 5:45 a.m.

Sigh.

Am certain as soon as he must attend school he will suddenly want to wake at 10am...