If you had an early waking toddler - what did you do and when did it improve?

[milkyman]

My 2.5 has recently dropped his nap and goes to bed at 6.30pm. He is waking at 5 am, it used to be 6.15.

He's still in a cot. He's fine from sleeping 13.5 hrs a day in total to 11 hours!

gone from

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Hi milkyman do you think your DC maybe still needs either a short nap in the day or even a nap every other day. I always find my DD has early wakenings when she's not had enough daytime rest. 5am is so early isn't it I really can't cope with that time of day. I hope it improves soon for you.x

We had this! We have just introduced a Gro Clock. It has magical powers. He now gets up at 7am on the dot. It's heaven compared to a 5am wake up.

He's 2.11 and in a toddler bed since he turned 2. No naps.

Oh and he goes to bed at 7pm - bath at 6.30 followed by story and bed.

I think 6.30 is too early for bed. Can you push it back to 7-7.30?

Trouble is he gets toi tired. We tried but bedtimes were v stressful as he was overtired

Gro clock.

Took a few days but dd got it (she is now 2.6)
Now she still wakes earlier then I'd like but she usually plays in bed til she sees the sun.
This morning she was sat on the edge of her bed waiting and when the sun came up she literally screamed 'MUMMY!! THE SUN!!!!'
Which was a shock over the monitor.
Also means I've no idea what time she actually woke but I got to sleep til 6.45 so that's fine by me.
She still naps though.

It's only £20 and worth every single penny!

Just thought, my dd goes to bed at 8pm. Any earlier and she wakes early.

Like I said she still has a 2 hour nap during the day and then just before dinner I give her a quiet time as well.
Often if it's got to 7 and she's starting to create I'll let her have some iPad/tv time.
Bedtime starts at 7.30 and she goes easy as she's tired by not overtired.

But still- gro clock. It is annoyingly magical

Would it work with a nearly 2.5 old who has limited speech. Do you think it would also be worth putting him in a bed so he could get up and play? He often mentions the room is dark? I'm wondering if he'd play if we left a light on?

We've had this too. We tried:
Black out blinds and black out curtains
Gro clock
Making getting up as boring as possible
Sticker charts / rewards
Moving bedtime.
Starting school.

None made the slightest bit of difference. We've accepted now (at nearly 8) that dc1 just doesn't need much sleep and that early mornings and eye bags are just the way it is going to be.

Apparently when they hit teenager-dom we won't be able to get them out of bed for love nor money. Will let you know in five years!

DD 2.4 doesn't need much sleep. She goes to bed at 8.30 and wakes at 6.30. Nap is 1 hr or sometimes nothing.

When we put her to bed at 7 she was waking at 5.

That said... it doesn't sound like your toddler is like DD - if he's needed 13.5 hours up till now it seems unlikely he'd suddenly drop to 11 hours.

Could there be something waking him at 5? Light? Noise of some sort? Overtiredness?

What about taking him out for a walk in the buggy just before or after tea, see if he drops off. If so then a 10 min naptime might be enough to get him through to a slightly later bedtime and ensure he's not overtired. We do that on days when DD won't nap after lunch. It's only a temporary thing while she's getting used to managing without the nap but I think they do need some kind of transitional step.

I wouldn't allow/encourage him to get up and play in the mornings until you are sure he doesn't need the extra sleep.

If my dd wakes up really early I give her a bottle of milk in the dark and she quickly goes back to sleep

Wake up time was getting ridiculous here. 4.55 was the new normal. I was prepared to try anything but was also too bloody tired to do anything.

What unintentionally fixed it in the end was a later bedtime for a few weeks, around 9pm I think. DD had always gone to bed around 7 sometimes 8 at the weekends. But because she was so tired from the ridiculously early mornings, she was sleeping for hours in the afternoon which pushed back bedtime. At first, she was still waking early which meant even longer nap and even later bedtime.

After 2 or 3 weeks she naturally started sleeping later and still does regardless of what time she goes to bed. On no nap days she might sleep from 6pm until 8am. On nap days 8am until 7am or thereabouts. I nearly cried the first morning I saw something starting with 7 on the clock.

I changed dd into a toddler bed about a month back. So far she hasn't figured out that she can get out without permission. This was the bit I was dreading.
I don't feel a toddler is capable of making the conscious decision of 'going to bed' if they are just given the choice to play quietly. You might find him asleep on the floor eventually.
If I did that with dd she would just scream and cry as she would want me to play with her.

The gro clock can be quite bright. Your can change its brightness to suit you. It is also her night light now

I changed dd into a toddler bed about a month back. So far she hasn't figured out that she can get out without permission. This was the bit I was dreading.
I don't feel a toddler is capable of making the conscious decision of 'going to bed' if they are just given the choice to play quietly. You might find him asleep on the floor eventually.
If I did that with dd she would just scream and cry as she would want me to play with her.

The gro clock can be quite bright. Your can change its brightness to suit you. It is also her night light now