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Original poster

2yr 11mth Early Riser, any ideas?

14 replies

TettyLouBar · 11/05/2011 07:35

Hi all.
DD has only just begun to drop her day nap in recent months and it seems to be having a knock-on effect on her night time sleep. She goes to bed at 7pm and started waking earlier and earlier and insists on staying up.
She woke this morning at 5:20 and is now yawning and whinging like crazy because she hasn't slept enough. She was so tired yesterday she was horrible all day and I lost count of the number of trips to the naughty step which normally has desired effect the first time around!

I would be quite happy to let her play in her room in the mornings if i thought she could do it quietly, but she screams and shouts and wakes up her little baby sister in the next room until I take her down stairs.
So far we've tried ignoring her and asking her to go back to bed, physically putting her back to bed over and over until she stays, getting her to lie in bed with us, I even set a timer on her lamp to come on at 6:30am and told her that she isn't to get out of bed until she see's the lamp flick on. We've blacked out her room so the light doesn't wake her.
I will be on my own for 4 months from june as DH away with work and I am just trying to make her sleep a little later. Not asking for miracles!!
Any suggestions?
Sad

OP posts:
fairy1805 · 11/05/2011 09:25

have you thought about maybe putting t.v in her bedroom?? not a very popular idea but it depends on how desperate you are!

Ealingkate · 11/05/2011 09:28

Can you put her to bed later?? My 2yr 11 mnth old goes down around 8

Original poster
TettyLouBar · 11/05/2011 10:56

hmm, tv. I can see the logic, but I think I'll give that one a miss for now fairy, she'd have it on all through the night!!
ealing we used to put her down a little later, but it made no difference to her rise time Sad
I just want her to sleep later for her own sake, she's not coping very well with the tiredness Sad

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Teleaddict · 11/05/2011 11:54

I know it sounds counter intuitive but have you tried an earlier bed time? In my experience over tiredness can result in an earlier wake up time and an earlier bed time can make them sleep later! Will she still have a nap if she is tired? Could you let her have a nap say every other day to try and reduce the tiredness?
Also, how about setting the timer for her lamp to come on about 10 mins after her wake up time so 5.30 and build it up to 6.30 gradually? It is quite a big jump from waking at 5.20 to staying in bed until 6.30am. Have you tried a reward chart?
You have my sympathies as I know how difficult it is trying to tackle early rising. When our DD did this we resigned ourselves to it and went to bed earlier ourselves! She now wakes between 6 and half past which is bliss after months of 5am starts! Nothing we did affected this!
Good luck

Original poster
TettyLouBar · 11/05/2011 19:35

Thanks teleaddict we read your post just before tea time so we decided to put DD down at 1830 this evening and see what happens. Might try it for a few nights in a row and see if it has any effect.
Someone once said to me on here " sleep breeds sleep" and I found that when DD napped well during day she always slept better at night. But it's just so hard seeing her struggle to get through the day but flatly refuse to have a nap Sad

Will let you know how we get on... Hmm

OP posts:
Teleaddict · 11/05/2011 20:25

Fingers crossed for you! I remember when dd was about 18 months my mil put her to bed at 4.50 pm because she was tired! This was at a time when she was waking at about 4.45am already and I dreaded the next morning but she slept until 6am!

jandmmum · 11/05/2011 20:34

you could try one of these worked for DS

Original poster
TettyLouBar · 11/05/2011 21:17

teleaddict thats amazing! I just wouldn't have had the guts to do that! Maybe its just what DD needs. She been an utter grotbags to be around for the last few days- grumpy and really really naughty (well...more than normal!)
The other night she fell asleep on sofa at 4:45pm for around 40 mins, she has NEVER done that before ever and isn't the type of girl that switches off when things are going on around her for a nap.
I was amazed she did it. But when she woke up she was in even more of a bad mood, refused to eat tea and whinged and cried all through the bath. I hate putting her to bed when she's like that.
Fingers crossed I don't hear her until 6:30 tomorrow morning, bliss!

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Original poster
TettyLouBar · 12/05/2011 16:17

teleaddict you a genius, down at 1830, stirred at 5am, I crept in and tucked her in tight. woke at 6:30am. BLISS.
Hope it keeps up! GrinSmileGrinSmile
Thankyou!!!!!

OP posts:
HelloPiggy · 12/05/2011 16:32

I've had similar experiences with my 3yo DS - he tends to wake earlier if he's had a late night. He' sleeps from 7pm-7am every night. Howver, every couple of months he starts waking earlier - 6.30, then 6, but I never let him out of bed until it's 7 o'clock. Because I always stick to this he generally doesn't make much fuss. However, he doesn't have any siblings to wake up!

Even at the weekend he slept from 6pm-7am one night, I couldn't believe it.

Hope this is the start of a better sleep pattern for your dd!

Teleaddict · 12/05/2011 18:51

That's great TLB!! Hope it continues, you can prob push bedtime back to 7 eventually. My dd has starting waking early again, 5 this morning. I've put her in bed at 6.30 pm so let's hope it works! You just get used to the 6am lie ins (!!) and then they change again!

Original poster
TettyLouBar · 12/05/2011 20:09

She fell asleep in car this afternoon on way back from soft play, I carried her into the house and plonked her on the sofa and she slept for a full hour and has gone down tonight at 1845. I'm hoping she'll have another really good night and wake up refreshed. She's so much more pleasant to be around when she gets enough sleep. The entire day is horrible when she's over tired and she can be soooo nasty and naughty and unwilling to do anything.
Lets see what happens tomorrow morning....Hmm

OP posts:
Teleaddict · 14/05/2011 16:17

Hi tlb, how are you getting on? I tempted fate by replying to your message, after months of 6.30 starts and the odd 7am, we now seem to be back on 5.30am! The only plus side is that we are away for a few days and were out by 8am which means we have done lots today!

Original poster
TettyLouBar · 14/05/2011 21:23

well it all went pear-shaped this morning....5:18am start for me Sad
Gonna persevere with the early nights and try and encourage her to play in her room for a bit in the mornings. I'm so tired today.
DH is off to colder climates for 4 months in early June and I really dont want this to be still happening. Especially as her baby sister sleeps through at 15wks and doesn't wake most mornings until 8am!?!?
Hmm I'm going to stay positive

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