to ask you this...

[cjt110]

I know IABU but is there ANY way of getting your child to sleep later?!

DS (2.8y) doesnt nap in the day, goes down to bed at around 7. Without fail wakes up no later than 6 daily. Sometimes as early as 5am.

I was an early riser too apparently so I now feel so sorry for my Mum having to deal with it all those years.

Is there any way at all? He wakes and will immediately get upset - a whole other thread - and shout for me or his Dad. Mostly we'll bring him up to our bed or go downstairs with him but there have been times (the 5-amers) where we have been so exhausted we've just given him his tablet to watch in bed, along with a drink and some fruit and gone to doze on the sofa (his room is next to our lounge) just to get some more rest.

I wouldn't have said 5am was that unreasonable... you could always try urging him to bed later and ensuring he has black out blinds!
Ours have always been early risers !

He has one of those blackout things that suction onto the window and dark curtains - the separating door/wall is like frosted glass but the lounge curtains are also dark.

He is a very active kid - yesterday we were out all day and he was running around and playing etc. He goes to nursery twice a week and will be upping this to 3 days in Sept. He literally doesnt ever sit still.

None that I discovered in the 4 years of 5am starts that I endured.
On the bright side she now sleeps til 7am quite often.

I agree with keeping him up later in the evening, of course that might result in him still waking early and being cranky to boot.

In my experience no, my daughter even in a shuttered room and late nights would be up fairly early. My eldest daughter (and my youngest) get up at five. My eldest is now 11 and still up first in the house. I was the same. I had a morning paperround from 13 to give me something to do.

Problem is Navy he becomes very tired if we try an 8pm bedtime. And as selfish as it might sound, I don't get any time to myself if he's up til 8. The last few days he has napped in the day and hasn't gone down til around 9pm. With me following 30 mins later. And he is on the go until he sleeps so I don't get to rest. Oh and even with those late bedtimes, he was still up at 6!

Yes, bed at 8. How I did it was wait for the clocks to change. Then I got the benefit of the extra hour without him having to adjust to anything IYSWIM.

I really feel for you, my youngest didn't sleep through the night until she was 3, she would wake up asking for milk several times so I know what it's like feeling tired especially when you are on the go all day.

Anything is worth a try Navy! I am just struggling a lot at the moment. Very tired myself due to health conditions and I find that I get anxious on an evening when he's yo-yoing in and out of bed.

Maudlinmaud Yes I would say he's only just begun doing 7-6 in the last few months and he's 2y8m!

Do they still nap? I'm sorry this is happening. My DS is 4 and still
Doesn't sleep through. It's fucking awful.

DS is exactly like this - I have no advice, I think he's just an early riser. I am too - if he wakes after 6, I've usually just woken before him and feel fine but the 5am mornings are a killer. We think he might go longer if he went to bed later - several of our friends have toddlers who sleep later but they find every bedtime is a battle, taking up to two hours to get their child to go to bed, whereas DS goes down without a murmur at 7pm every night. We've decided the trade off is worth it - early mornings suck but later evenings would suck more, for us.

Honestly cjt it was a sense of humour which kept me sane. Tbh my sleep pattern still isn't right and it's years down the line She on the other hand will sleep through alarms most weekdays but is up with the larks at the weekend.

Just sympathy from me as my twins are the same.

Have been having a bit of sucess with grow cloc and bribing with toy cars to stay in bed until mr sun (6.15). Ours were goin to sleep earlier and earlier and I was focusing on the idea of it being good to get them into bed when they are tired to avoid overtiredness. But then they were going to bed at 6.30 and up at 4.30!

So now sleep is between 7 and 7.30 and even though we might have a few rough nights we are trying to keep at a slightly later time to hopefully solidify a sensible wake up. 6am onwards i think is reasonable and like you earlyish bed time allows for a good evening.

Moanyoldcow Not usually no. There are days where he's cranky as anything because he's tired and he will fall asleep in the 5 minute journey home in the car. If he is woken from his nap he's insufferable and really upset so DH lets him sleep. He might have say an hour or so, sometimes more, meaning he may/may not have a later bedtime. Yesterday he was very active all day - outside running around etc and fell asleep on our longish journey home. He had about an hour or so and still went down at 7. Waking at 530 this morning.

NavyandWhite not on a regular basis as we usually eat at 6pm. I dont think he'd eat a bowl of porridge so soon after his tea, but again, worth a try!

Redredredrose that extra hour definitely is a killer! 6am I can deal with and myself am finding waking at 6am just before him but 5am.....!

Maudlinmaud I have developed a deep distaste for "Show me Show me"... That shit is too jolly for 6am when you'e already been up for eleventy billion hours lol

Bestbees How old are your two? DS is quite clever so I think he might get the idea of a grow clock, I just worry if he's too young?

in my experience they do start to sleep a bit later as they get a bit older. 5.30 is annoying but common- I would suggest that you carry on putting him to sleep when you do (or maybe just half an hour later, but nothing much), and invest in getting him to obey a gro clock. They are brilliant, although it can take a few weeks of putting him back in his room in the morning, but it is worth the persistence.

My DD understood and obeyed the groclock by 2.3 - your DS isn't too young for it.

Mine are 3.5. We had it from about 2.5. They always understood it but didnt care! So wpuld come in and tell us it was still night, or cry and want to come in with us even with bribery. I am soft so accepted that they still needed us at night. It is working now along side bribery and a clearer understanding of how if they dont sleep i am too grumpy and tired to play with them! I have also worked on teaching them t read or lie quietly if they wake earlier which only seems to be possible recently!