22mo waking whole house up at 0530 - any tips?

[BotBotticelli]

22mo - who previously usually slept until 0630 - is giving us a hideous string of 0530 starts at the moment.

It's pretty grim for me and DH (both work FT), but I know it's likely to just be a phase and aren't too stressed about it for our sakes.

BUT he is waking his older brother up too (his brother is 4, in separate rooms) and it seems so unfair on the 4yo who then looks knackered and is tired and grumpy all day, and struggles at pre school.

Any tips? How can we stop the baby from waking the preschooler up?

Baby is miserable when he wakes, crying and whining so we can't ignore him in his cot (which we would if he was just babbling), so we always get him up and bring him into our bed, but it's this walking around the house that wakes up my oldest son.

Help!!

[FATEdestiny]

Assuming you are being as quiet as possible with DC2 and he isn't scream8ng or running around the place, the best way to tackle this would be your DC1's light sleeping.

White noise is great for blocking out background noise, so that walking around doesn't wake him. A bedside fan is good for white noise, or an untuned radio. It's about having a constant stream of no use so he doesn't wake to little sounds elsewhere.

Blackout curtains (put up higher and wider than actual window) may help light sleeping in the morning too.

With regards to DC2's early waking, what's the rest of his routine like, in terms of bedtime and naptime?

[BotBotticelli]

Thanks that's a good point - ds1 is a light sleeper in the mornings...probably because he is historically an early waker too (not had a lie in past 0700 since 2012 here!)...and he's approaching his "morning" just before 6 anyway. But undisturbed he will normally sleep until 0630 ish.

Both kids have sucker black outs stuck to their windows AND a blackout roller blind above that so I don't think it's the light waking DS2. He is pretty grumps at the moment all round so I expect his final 4 teeth might be on their way.

He has a fairly normal routine: one nap per day after lunch which is usually between 60-90 mins and never after 3pm...

[Need9HoursSleep]

My 22 month old is waking early too for the last month! If you find a solution please let me know

[bambisims]

With went through this when my son was around that age. We made sure the room was completely black and then if he woke before 7am (he was waking at around 5/6) we would go in and follow whatever steps we would follow if he woke in the middle of the night. So shh'ing, putting Ewan on, give dummy and say it's nighttime go back to sleep. (Then repeat every few minutes if he kept crying, we did intervals of 2, 5, 10, 15) Took about 3-5 days of being strong but she soon started waking at a normal time again. We also have a daughter and luckily she didn't wake but if she did I would just help he go back to sleep. I think a few days of you other dc being Woken is better in the long run for you all!!

[ElspethFlashman]

Give him one of those toys that's belly lights up when you press it and plays lullabyes. Instead of crying, he might play with that instead.

[googietheegg]

I have the exact same situation!! I've been giving him a bottle so he goes back to sleep...