2 year old waking up crying every day at 5am

[Cafeaulait27]

since August our 2 year old has been waking suddenly at around 5am, hysterical and won’t go back to sleep.

he has one lunchtime nap and that has gone from a few hours to 45 mins with hysterical crying either side.

there have been periods in this time where he has gone back to normal for about 5 days (eg wakes up happy at 6.30/7, naps for 1.5-2 hours and is not crying).

it’s so sad, he has always been such a good sleeper overall (other than illness and teething etc)

we tried tweak ingredients his bedtime to be half hour later which initially seemed to work for about a week but he has now gone back to the crying and early waking and not napping.

he seems to be overtired but not sure how to break the cycle. Do we just need to ride it out? Could it be developmental? His speech is coming on loads. Or could it be weve just been unlucky with illnesses and teething one after the other? He does seem to be coughing a bit.

aside from the fact we’re a bit tired from the early wakings, it wouldn’t be so bad if he woke up happy. But he seems to distressed around sleep overall and it’s really sad to see him like that every day.

he is eating well and seems happy enough during the day, although he does seem more cranky.

would be great to hear from anyone who has been through this, when does it end?!

How old exactly?

My eldest dropped the afternoon nap around 2 years and 3/4 months.

Started waking from the nap crying (for about 30 mins - was a nightmare)

So may yours needs to drop the lunch nap which will allow more night sleep

I should say- he’s more cranky when he first wakes up for a while which suggests to us he’s still tired. He also gets grumpy near his nap time but then fights the nap, then wakes up after only 45 mins crying again.

also ignore the word ‘ingredients’ around bedtime above!

I agree he sounds overtired. What time is he going to bed? Sometimes we've found an earlier bedtime helps to 'reset' our toddler once in a while.

No advice but we are also going through the exact same with our recently turned 2 year old. We have quite a few good days/nights and I think we are through it but seems to start happening again shortly after. Exhausting!

I believe there is a 2 year sleep regression so I'm just riding it out for now!

@weekschart he’s just turned 2, dropping a nap doesn’t seem to be the answer as he seems shattered. whenever he goes ‘back to normal’ he sleeps til 7 and has a lovely lunch time nap and he is much happier and less tearful/grumpy

@chocopuffs he is currently going to bed at 7.30, it was 7pm, maybe we should try even earlier for a while? We did 7 for ages which is what used to fine, then when all this kicked off we started doing 7.30 which has been going on for about 3 weeks now, it seemed to work for the first week but maybe that was just a coincidence.

@Missmatchedgirl grim isn’t it! Just how long to these regressions last 😫

@Cafeaulait27 it's worth a try! Especially if he's not napping as long, an early bedtime might be what he needs to catch up on sleep. I would try settling him for 6.45, so he's asleep at 7ish.

My DS went through this when he was around 2. He definitely still needed to nap but we found he was happier to wake up if he napped in his pram so we started going on lunchtime walks. He didn't sleep past 5:30/6 until he was past 3 and dropped the nap completely though. I hope you find some way to get you through this stage!

it wouldn’t be so bad if he woke up happy. But he seems to distressed around sleep overall and it’s really sad to see him like that every day. Obviously we all prefer it when our kids don't cry and seem content, it can be things like confusion, frustration, separation/loneliness that cause young children to cry.

Is he in a room on his own? If so, might he be more settled if his bed was in your room?

@JumbledE thank you, it’s a bummer!

id love him to sleep til 7 and have a nice long nap like he used to but the thing that’s worst is the fact he’s so upset when he has these early wakings and short naps 😔 it’s rubbish waking up at 5am to blood curdling screams every morning 😬

@MidnightOnceMore he goes to bed at bedtime with no problem at all, so I don’t think being left is his issue (at least not at bedtime) so I think he would still wake up at 5 if he was in our room and would instantly want to get us up. We don’t have space for his cot bed in our room unfortunately either and he’s too big for a normal cot now.

I agree with previous posters about being overtired. I would do a one off early bedtime of super early, maybe asleep for 6!!! It seems crazy but he's so tired. It's not even 12 hours from when he normally wakes up.
Then go to 7om afterwards, although see what the early night does first.
My 2 3/4 year old has mostly dropped his nap now and I can see he's getting gradually more tired. He will sometimes nap in the car in a weekend. Sunday nights we seem to manage the early night. It's tricky in the week with work and nursery routines.
Good luck

I also agree he sounds overtired. I would go back to your 7pm bedtime. For a few naps can you take him in the car or push in the buggy so you can get him back off again after 45 mins? Or slip into his room? Sounds like he's forgotten how to link sleep cycles and needs some help. If he's waking up from his nap cranky I'd suggest that shows he needs more sleep.

Our daughters sleep always goes up the spout with bugs etc. it is quite possible just a phase you'll need to ride out but I wouldn't cut the nap out.

Thank you everyone, he went off to sleep at about 6.50 tonight.

he was hysterical at nap time again with my MIL (we were both working today) and managed to get out of his sleeping bag. In the end she took him around in the push chair and he slept for 50 mins.

is it bad that I’m too tired to traipse round with him asleep in the push chair every day? It’s the last thing I want to do when I’ve been up since 5 and playing with him, I just want a sit down and a tea haha.

he seems to have FOMO. I’m off work tomorrow and we thought maybe we could try giving him a blanket instead of the sleeping bag and tucking him up with a favourite teddy, in the hope it’ll encourage him to want to stay in his cot.

do you think this could work or will it confuse him? He likes his cuddly toys but has never taken them to bed other than when playing.

Update - he woke at 5.20 crying and we waited 5 mins, he laid back down and is now still asleep at almost 7am.

we didn’t fall back asleep but lying in bed is nicer than getting up! Hoping he’ll have a good nap today.

That's great news! Well done. Can total understand the lack of enthusiasm for marching the streets with him - it was just the only way we could get my daughter to nap longer than 45 mins for quite some time.

Personally i'd stick with your normal naptime routine today and use the sleeping bag. Especially as it's not that warm. Hope he does a bit longer for you.

Hi there, I just wondered how you got on with your little boy? We’re having the same situation with my girl who is 2 yrs 2 months. Ours has been since we got rid of her muslin 2 months ago that she sucked on. Wakes crying hysterically in the mornings. So hard to leave her as she shares a room with her 4 yr old sister. Help!!’

Give her back the muslin?! It's her soothing aid and can't see what harm it would be doing?

It was really affecting her teeth already- pushed forwards . Dentist worried about long term impact