2 year old waking at 4am !!!!!!

[teabag]

My ds will be 2 next week and for the last two nights has decided he wants to get up at 4am!! He's always been a good sleeper wanting to go to bed at night always between 7/7:30pm and sleeping until 6/7am without a murmur.

When I go into his room he's unzipped his sleeping bag and is stood up wanting to start the day. The first night I got him some milk and after a huge trantrum he eventually fell asleep in bed with myself and dh. This is only the second time he has ever been in bed with us at night. Last night I left him to cry in his cot for an hour ( 4:30 - 5:30am )before he finally went quiet until 6:30am.

Has anyone else encountered this problem and if so what did you do about it??

Thanks

[LHP]

Yes. I've had this, ds just turned 2 and always slept 7-7 no problem. He decided ha wouldnt go to sleep at bedtime so we did cc over 3 nights, then about a week later he started waking at 5am. At first i thought that getting up at 5 to play train sets was ok, but the novelty soon wore off! so we tried cc again, and like your ds he went back after an hour for about an hour. Is he still having a daytime nap? I'm gradually having to face the fact that maybe he doesnt need an hours kip in the day anymore, and since i've cut it down, he's been sleeping in in the morning more, sometimes til 8 or gone. Still haven't worked out which suits me better though. Also, is he teething? Thiose back molars play havoc with sleeping/eating.

[Blu]

Oh, poor you Teabag!
Yes, we have had that problem, and still have sporadic outbreaks, and I am afraid to say that we haven't found a foolproof way to do anything constructive, we've just muddled through. We did try to be very low-key, not let anything exciting happen, and keep emphasising the 'it's night-time' line. We sometimes took him in to bed and trapped him, not letting him get up and not responding to talking, ear-poking and other endearing toddler antics, and sometimes lay down alongside his bed in his room. At 28 months we have put a bedside lamp on a timer (a great tip from a MN thread) and he understands that if the light is off it is still bedtime. That doesn't necessarily deter him...toddler enthusiasm gets the better, but it seems to help dilute his outrage when he is put back to bed!