early morning wake up calls...

[welshchick21]

please help...!! my ds wakes up about 5.30 am every morning. im begining to become totally exhausted!!
he is 17 months old usually eats well but lately is just picking/snacking!! i think he wakes hungry but i dont want to give him breakfast at 5.30 or get him back into the habit of breakfast bottle feeding!!

He has a lunchtime nap (between1-2hrs) and sleeps well through the night, going down from about 7pm'ish (he's so tired he cant seem to stay awake much past 7pm!!)

any ideas on how to over come this very early morning wake up call???

ps. I have black out blinds!!
pps. i am also aware that i lucky he is generally a good night time sleeper (but he only slept from 6 months!!!!!!!)

do you give him supper just before bed??

toast or cereal.??

Milk and into your bed before he's got a chance to realize that he's properly awake.

Or go to bed earlier yourself and reconcile yourself to an early start. 7 til 5.30 is quite a long time for a 17 month old to sleep - sorry if this isn't very helpful!

i would also agree 7-5.30 is good. some dc are just crack of dawn types wether or not you like it.

have you tried leaving some soft toys in his bed to play with so you get an extra half hr while he plays to himself?

My DD (now 2.5) was the same from about 8 months. I tried everything from supper to putting her to bed later, using disposable nappies at night (I'm a real nappy girl usually) cutting out naptime, but none of it worked. We gradually left her longer every morning as she wasn't crying - sometimes she would go back to sleep after an hour or so! I recently bought a kidsleep clock which has a bunny that "wakes up" at the time you set, which has been a success as she now doesn't get out of bed 'til 7 even if she wakes up earlier. Best £35 I have spent, but your LO is probably too young to grasp the concept just yet. Just wanted to let you know that it won't last forever.

Mine did this for about 4-5 months and then suddenly started waking at 8am !!

if you do think it's hunger then something like some fruit or porridge at bedtime might be helpful...