Mumsnet Talk

DS2 is 13 months old and a good sleeper on the whole.

He goes down at 7pm and doesn't wake horrifically early, it's usually between 5.30-6am, but I've just gone back to work and it would make the mornings a whole lot easier if I could get him to sleep reliably until 6.30 in the morning.

My main concern is that leaving him in his cot would end up being very noisy and ds2 would wake - he goes until about 6.45!

Any ideas on how to get ds2 to sleep for a bit longer?

I don't know about actually sleeping, but this is what we do to get ds2 to be quiet for a bit longer..

Leave a bottle of milk (yes, I know. Badbadbad, but hey) in a freezer bag outside his room. When he squawks, run in, give him the bottle, run out again.

Leave a selection of cardboard books in his cot/bed for him to look at/ tear to pieces.

Put earplugs in. (In your ears, obviously. Would be silly otherwise. Although I only do this if dh is around. I have no shame.)

Put him to bed an hour later?

Some chidren won't sleep longer than 10-11 hours at a stretch.

We recently had early morning problems with DS (2) - 4.15 am was the worst but regularly 4.45ish. Then one day he went to bed an hour later than usual and slept until 6.30 . I was dreading the next night but actually it was OK - he went to bed half an hour later than normal and then was back to normal (ish).
Not recommending it as it could backfire but you might be pleasantly surprised! Ours coincided with a trip to the cinema and meal out so we'd have done it anyway.

The trouble with that plan is that he's absolutely hanging after a day in nursery and there's no way he'd stay awake for an extra hour!

We've got a hectic day tomorrow though and will probably be late home so will see if it has any effect!

Thanks for the responses