22mo that wakes each day at 5am - any tips please?

[sare83]

Hi all, I haven't posted much on this site but I thought I'd give it a go - any help really appreciated. Apologies in advance for huge essay!

Does anyone have any tips/advice for an early riser - 5am is generally the norm.

My DD is 22 months and I am 26 wks pregnant. Quick outline of our day is:

Wake at 5am. Unless she is absolutely screaming the house down we don't get her out of bed til around 6am. This may sound awful, but we want to try and instill in her that anything before 6am is still bedtime. She generally chats to herself, maybe the odd moan or two but nothing major. If we're lucky she will sometimes go back to sleep (I presume) but only ever til 6ish at the most.
Get her out of bed about 6am and read books/watch cartoons in our bed til 6.30-7ish. Again this sounds like bad parenting but being awake from 5am every day is bloody exhausting so anything for another half hour of being chilled is good for us!
Downstairs, breki etc etc. We do playgroups/gym club/park/walk in woods etc or activity of some sort most mornings just to wear her out. If I didn't do this she really kicks off for her nap - god knows why as you'd think she'd be exhausted!
Nap around 11.30. Anything from 1 hr - 2 hrs at very best.
Lunch, afternoon etc etc, dinner 5-5.30, then bath 6.30ish, bedtime 7-7.30.

DD is very spirited/full of beans. She has always been very clued up and never wanted to miss a thing. She went from 2 naps to 1 nap at 8 months old, which I know is pretty early. She has had a couple of phases of not napping at all during the day between then and now, but currently she is doing well with her day nap. She has always seemed to be able to cope with very little sleep.

We have tried making bedtime later, which makes no difference whatsoever. And most of the time she is so good at bedtime I don't really want to rock the boat here. If she has a very late night, such as special occasions, again she still wakes at the crack of dawn!

A couple of weeks ago we decided to remove sides from her cot (to get her ready for toddler bed she will be in when she moves to new bigger room when baby has nursery). We fitted a bed-guard and bless her she loves her 'big girls bed'. She knows how to climb in, but hasn't yet climbed out - which surprises me. We tried giving her milk in her room as soon as she stirred at 5am and putting her back to sleep but this has never worked - when she's awake, she's awake!

Anyway - I know compared to some this isn't a problem, but 5am is SO bloody early!! I am SO envious of people that have children that sleep 7-7 and then nap for 2 hours a day too. I know the age-old problem of comparing your kids is not worth it but I just wish our day started later.

I am starting to freak out that the baby is going to pick up on DD's sleep pattern - and I'm dreading having another early riser.

I know I sound like I'm making a huge fuss but does anyone else have this problem? Any tips? I don't think she'd get or pay any attention to a gro-clock yet, and the only other tip I've read is to set my alarm for 4am and stir her, so that she settles back to sleep again and hope she sleeps for longer - but I've never ever woken her from sleep since she was born, I'm definitely in the 'never wake a sleeping baby' camp so I don't really want to risk this.

Is this just a case of suck it up and deal with it? Or has anyone else had a similar toddler and they've grown out of it/got better/tried something that helped?

Thanks so much!

Sorry My 2yr old wakes up between 5 and 6 each day. Occasionally she will go back to sleep until 6.30 but 6am is usually the latest. DD1 used to wake up at 5 every day but now at 5 will sleep until 6.30 some days. Mine have both gone to bed quite early though so I do get an evening which I prefer.

My DD also has an early nap (anytime from 10am) because she wakes up so early.

I think the way I cope is that I know I prefer to have some time to myself in the evening and on days I have to work, we all get up pretty early anyway (DP's alarm goes off at about 6.20) and I know they would probably wake up once he starts moving about.

Gro clock won't work until she is about 4.

Could you make the most of long evenings and have an earlier bedtime yourself for the time being.

Thanks for your reply Zappo, much appreciated.

I think I have just got an early riser and I guess I need to just deal with it. On the days I work we have to be out early too so it does do us a favour at times, but god wouldn't a lie in be nice? She woke at 6.15 the other day and that felt like heaven - and I imagine that's really early to most!

My OH is up at 5am for work so there's a clear link to her waking early - however some days she won't stir when he's up (and bless him he doesn't turn on any lights, he creeps to bathroom and straight downstairs and it can't be helped)

You are right, I do like having the evenings to ourselves and most of the time she is as good as gold at bedtime (probably because she's so exhausted!) so I can't grumble there.

I'm sleeping really badly at the mo so I think that's why I'm finding it harder. And I'm just panicking about the new baby being disturbed by her in the morning. Silly really as who knows what will happen.

I worried more about DD2 disturbing DD1 when she was born.

Actually come to think of it newborns tend to wake up at about 5am too! My DD1 was 3 when DD2 was born and was then sleeping in to a more reasonable 6am. So when DD2 woke up I would feed her/put her in a bouncy chair get myself a cuppa and watch TV until DD1 woke up. Just being able to sit down for a bit on waking helped me prepare for a full on preschooler bounding down the stairs at 6.

It is hard when you are pregnant though as your sleep is disrupted in a different way and you have a lot less energy to deal with a toddler. I did find pregnancy really exhausting near the end.

IME unfortunatly you just have to suck it up for a while. Go to bed earlier, nap when she naps and try to cram in as much sleep as possible.

DD is 2.5 and has a gro-clock that she is aware of and wants to see the 'Mr Sun' in the morning. Doesn't stop her wanting to get up yet but might be worth introducing sooner rather than later so she gets to know it.

DS is now 6 and from the age of about 4 was able to understand that if there wasn't a '6' at the front of the clock number (digital) that it wasn't morning and he should play in his room.

Don't worry about passing on sleep patterns - DD would sleep in until 8am if she could and occasionally does. I think it's unique to each child and they get used to the noise!

Watching with interest:DS is 20mo and we had "blissful" lay in till 6.15 (ha!) today. Which I wouldn't mind except DH & I were both off work last week with the 5.45 alarm switched off and he had us up screaming by 5.30 each day.

I did leave the radio on in his room on low tho last night, usually I creep in Nd turn it off when we go to bed. Will try this again.

Thanks Zappo, and Mercedes. Yes you're def right, I need to man up a bit!! I think I'm just worrying about the next few months ahead, I feel sleep deprived a lot of the time now let alone with a new baby. But that's a whole other subject and not my DD's problem bless her.

In fairness she is a really happy contented little thing most of the time - the usual toddler tantrums here and there but she's not a moaner so I think she's just got a ridiculous body clock. Grrrrrr!!

Thanks again

If a later bedtime isnt an option then I suggest you bring yours forward a bit so you are less tired.

Dizzy - isn't it ridiculous when 6.15 is bliss?! I get so frustrated when people moan about being up at 6 and that being early!

Leaving a radio on is a good idea...white noise might help.

sare83 I don't blame you for worrying - it's times like these that you realise why sleep deprivation is used as torture. You need to take every opportunity to sleep - don't do anything else when you could be sleeping and you WILL get through this stage. It's not easy and I think it's easy for people who have civilised children who sleep to not realise how hard it is - just take care of you and your bump.

Oh, and enjoy early morning television . It's quite nice in the summer....

Sare83 - I had an early waking ds too, like your dd he woke at 5-5.30 & napped early at 11-11.30 because he woke early. Like you i tried later bedtime but he got overtired.

Dont think there is anything wrong in keeping your dd in bed til 6am, or chiiling out in your bed til gone 7, its a good idea to encourage her to keep resting & lets face it, getting up so early is knackering! We used to do same!

However, we did crack our early waking eventually & I'll tell you how. Its a misconception that they need an early nap because they wake early. Yes perhaps if its a one off, but if they are regular early birds, an early nap can in fact perpetuate early waking. So I disagree that its something you have to live with - in your dd's situation something can be done!

Look at it from this perspective: Your dd gets up at 5.30 & is ready for a nap 6hrs later at 11.30. If your dd got up at 7am she'd be ready for her nap 6hrs later at 1pm. So if you ^want^ your dd to get up at 7am, you need to push her nap to a 1pm start. This will break the cycle of early wakings & early bedtimes & she will wake later.

This cannot be done overnight. If you suddenly keep her up an extra 1.5hrs she will get pretty overtired. I would suggest pushing her nap 15mins later per week,doing it gradually she should still take a decent length nap & avoid OT. If you stick with it consistently (bearing in mind it will take several weeks), eventually her wakeup time will follow suit.

Trust me this does work, ds is case in proof . At that age we eventually settled on a routine of

Up 7am
Nap 1-3/3.30pm
Bed 8pm

Hth.x

My two dc are 5:15am. Every day. Occasionally they sleep till 5:50. I just have to go to bed earlier.

My dd was like this. We coped in the early days by going to bed early. Then we made sure she learnt the numbers 6 & 7 before any others, and gave her a digital clock and a lamp she could work herself. Once first number on clock was 6 she was allowed light on and to read/play quietly in bed. Not to disturb us till first number was 7. Helped loads! At 10, she's still usually awake by 6am. And she's a fantastic reader!

I agree with zappo my DS goes to bed at 6pm and is out like a light at 6.15 and wakes up at 5am. It irritated me at first but then thought about when I go back to work and how it's only a bit earlier than my alarm.

I do try to take some comfort that its helpful we're commuters so no strangers to the hours before 6. I do still get jealous when I'm on my way to the station between 6.45 and 7.15 and hear people's alarms going off!

Like the idea omama of pushing back DS's nap more consistently: if there's something going on he will stay awake, fairly happily, until around 1pm but hadn't connected that to later wakings - will keep note.

And foundapound "teaching numbers 6 & 7 1st" made me .