3.5 year old ds has been an early riser for a long time, usually up between 530 and 6. We've kind of accepted that this is his natural waking time but recently he's been waking 430-5! He's wide awake and can't/won't go back to sleep. I'm NOT a morning person and am finding this really hard, plus am 8 weeks pregnant so even more tired than usual. We dont take him downstairs until at least 530 even if he wakes earlier but we're all awake as he's in bed with us, in and out of our room, talking non stop etc. I'm desperare for more sleep!! I'm grumpy, snappy and irritable with him because I'm so tired, and I hate feeling like this. Dh does his share of early starts but I would just like ds to sleep until a sensible time so we all feel better! On days he wakes early he's shattered and irritable by mid afternoon. Sometimes he'll end up napping. But even on days when we manage to keep him awake all day so he's exhausted by bedtime he doesnt sleep in! A later bedtime doesn't help either - he just wakes at the same time but is tired. His room is dark so its not a light issue.
We've tried a gro clock. He gets the idea but is just in and out every couple of minutes telling us if the sun is up yet. He's also realised that turning it off and back on again resets it to the sun face!!
I'm probably less tolerant at the moment due to pregnancy tiredness and hormones, but if anyone has any words if wisdom I'd be very grateful!