3 yo suddenly started waking at 4:30/5am help!

[LauraP12345]

DS has always been a good sleeper. Bedtime is 7/7:30pm and he usually wakes anywhere from 6-7am. He doesn't nap in the day for the last month or two as he just wasn't going to sleep anymore when we put him down for a good shirk but we try and get him some chill time in the day. The last week he's started waking anywhere from 4:30am and we're shattered! I'm currently 6 months pregnant and working evenings a few times a week. The only change is the time of year and he's excited to open his advent calendar cause he asks for it when we go in. He also was saying he wanted a light on at bedtime and was scared of the dark but I think that was just him trying to delay going to bed and I don't. Want to make his room any lighter to wake him even more! If he's happy enough I've tried leaving him to go back to sleep but he doesn't or he starts shouting or crying for me so I have to go in and try telling him it's still night time but he just doesn't go back to sleep so I can't either! I'm a really light sleeper so the slightest squeak and I'm done for. I just don't know why it's suddenly shifted or how to move it back. Im going to give him his advent after lunch or something instead and see if that stops him getting excited about it from that angle.....any advice or anything I can try would be amazing thanks.

Two of my children did this age 3. My youngest now age 4, still wakes early (hence me being up). One of them would even wake through the night because she didn't like it being dark and I'd have to sit with her. In the end the thing that worked was a red light bulb which lit the room enough for her to feep safe but kept it dark enough for sleep.

With my 4yo sometimes there's a corelation between an earlier bedtime and earlier waking vs a later bedtime and later waking. Other times, like this morning there isn't and she'll wake at 5am despite not going to bed until 8pm.

We use a gro clock- it worked very well for two of our children, although our 4yo just totally ignores it. I have always led them back to bed and just keep putting them back if they're up before the sun comes up on the clock. I'll put books in their bed if it's nearly up. What do you do when he wakes early?

Is he cold?
Or got cold hands/feet?

I have one of those. Worse when they aren't well (he seems to catch a lot of viruses). I've been up since 5. He didn't sleep well last night too. No advice but sympathy. Could be some sort of developmental milestone linked regression, not sure. 💐

@MaverickSnoopy thanks for your reply, I've literally just bought a groclock to see if that helps. I'd been considering it a while but it's worth a shot! If he wakes up early we always leave him to see if he'll settle back to sleep, I don't go in unless he's getting upset or shouting and then I keep everything very minimal - no lights on, minimal talking and just tell him it's not morning yet and to close his eyes and go back to sleep for a little bit then I go back to my bed once he's calm which is pretty quick. He'll just start chattering away or call for me again is the problem, won't settle back to sleep. I've got a monitor on next to my bed as he's still in his cotbed and we have doors shut at night due to pets. Even if I have to go in to him I don't get him out of bed until after 6am so he knows it's not waking up time. I know kids wake early but he's always been pretty regular his whole life with his sleep so it's odd for it to suddenly change overnight! Hoping it's just a blip cause he's so tired by late afternoon/evening now he's waking early...

My 3yo did this, started waking up very early and sometimes in the night due to being “scared” I felt the same way about a night light but in the end we put a very small nightlight in their room and it instantly stopped. If you think the advent calendar could be causing it too, could you move opening the window until after breakfast so there is no benefit to waking up early?

@lightand I dont think it's a temp thing, I have the heating on a timer at night so it does come on and warms things up for a bit through the night. He's got his winter duvet too and is always snuggled up in it.

@ScornedChicken Thanks! Luckily im a morning person anyway but it's tough after working the night before and my OH is always busy with work and hates mornings so it's not great for the mood 😅 hoping it's just a little blip and he'll get back into routine soon....

@RainbowCat26 Deffo going to move the advent opening to a bit later than in the morning as he is asking for it straight away! I've got a growegg thing from when he was small that I was considering putting on as a night light for him if he continues talking about the dark. Just worried about the light making things worse with him waking!! So tough to know what to do 😒

Mine are 5 and 2.5 and keep waking about 5-5.30 every morning, it's relentless and exhausting, makes for such a long day. They ignore the Gro clock. I'm wondering if it's a mix of excitement for Christmas, along with having coughs/colds etc. Anyone have a magic solution?!

If he wakes at 4:30 initially set your growclock for 4:35. I know it seems madness but your making it achievable. Then the next day do 4:40 and the next next 4:45 etc, just small increases because otherwise it won't work for you.

@Littlepixie85 Exhausting isn't it. I could manage when he was having a nap if we had a bad night but now he doesn't want to sleep in the day I'm a zombie trying to get to bedtime. I was thinking the same, it's all Christmas excitement and he's had a bit of a sniffle but nothing major. His birthday was end of November too and we went away for a week so I'm wondering if that might have been part of it and thrown him out of whack. All the things we start considering when we aren't getting enough sleep 😅

@pompomsandtinsel Thanks for the groclock advice! I'll make sure to start it gradually....hoping it'll be helpful. He's a clever boy so I'm hoping he'll understand and go with it 😅

Mine share a room too so wake each other at stupid o'clock. I might try the
Gro clock trick, nothing to lose! We did have a period of 6.30 wakings a few months ago and didn't appreciate how lucky we were!

@Littlepixie85 I didn't know how lucky I was getting up at 6:15am before haha. Deffo worth a shot with the gro clock. I got 15% off the one I just ordered on the tomee tippee website by signing up with them. Fingers crossed it'll help a little!