Toddler waking at 4.30am

[showersandflowers]

Help. 2.5 year old dd has decided 4.30am is a perfectly acceptable time to wake in the morning and we disagree. She doesn't nap and goes to bed at 6pm and has always slept until about 6am (which seemed the perfect amount of sleep for her).

We tried putting her to bed at 7.30pm but she still woke at 4.30am and was hysterical from exhaustion by 9am. Last night we tried 7pm and she still woke at 4.30 today.

Room is pitch black, white noise, right clothes for the weather, she's not hungry (she always refuses breakfast).

How can any human feel naturally like they have to wake at 4.30?!?

Send help and suggestions, please. I will try them all.

How many nights did you try 7.30 bedtime for?

If you Look at the guidelines you'll see your child is actually getting enough sleep for their age albeit on the lower end but 10.5 hours also fine for almost 3 year old.

I'd suggest trying 7.30pm bedtime consistently for a week or two in a row and see how it is from there

I know it sounds a bit odd but could they be hungry? Try swapping the afternoon snack for something like a small sandwich or a round of cheese on toast. My DF did they and her (rather tall) DD suddenly started sleeping again.

@RappersNeedChapstick dd barely eats to be honest, she's one of these toddlers that survives of air and the occasional yogurt (but only if others are eating it too). I did however take inspiration from a neighbour who has stuck up thick cardboard against their front door. The front door had glass panels that let in light and we kind of thought that it can't possibly affect her because it'd be the thinnest slither of light to come up the stairs and into her bedroom under the door. But this morning she slept until 6am! Huzzah!

That's such good news. I noticed that if I such all of the doors upstairs mine slept longer too.

My daughter did this for a while. We treated it like any other night waking, absolutely not getting up at that time. We kept her in her cot and lay on the floor next to her and just lay there with our eyes closed (usually with an ear bud in and dozing) she mostly didn’t go back to sleep but it reinforced that it was still night time, eventually she started going back to sleep after an hour or so and then stopped waking up until a more godly hour. If she cry’s and stand up just keep repeating it’s not morning time yet. If by say 6am she’s still awake get up cheerily say good morning, open blinds and give a cuddle. There is absolutely no chance I was going downstairs to start my day at 0430.

although in saying this I think you will have to look at your overall day schedule because 6pm is far too early to go to bed if you want a reasonable start time. I would keep him going until half 7, and even if he gets up at half 4 do as above and let him have a short nap during the day until he adjusts to a later bed time.

We found the solution! Her nappy has been leaking every morning for the last few weeks. She was in 4s and we tried a few different brands. Out of desperation I bought a pack of 4+ and a pack of 5+s. She's been in the 5+ the past two nights and has slept until 6.30am! It's a miracle. I think she was waking so early because she felt damp (makes sense).