<Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn> Why is my toddler suddenly waking so early and how can I make it stop?!

[DitaVonCheese]

I swear DD is a secret MNer because the day I updated an old thread saying she was finally sleeping through, she started waking in the small hours (I don't mean she started waking early when she slept through btw, just took me a while to update an old thread).

She's a bit over 2.5 and doesn't nap any more (or if she does then she basically stays awake for the rest of time ). Nurses to sleep within about ten minutes atm around 6-7 pm. Sleeps soundly through the night but for the last two weeks or so has suddenly gone from waking at a perfectly civilised 7 am or so to 5 or 5.30 am. Through the last 2.5 years of broken sleep at least I always had the fact she slept relatively late to cling to!

Two or three mornings she's also woken at 4 am, I think after a nightmare as I wake up to hear her sobbing in her room then go in to find her trying to collect all her toys together (think end of Crackerjack) so she can carry them into our room.

I just take her into our bed and nurse her and do my best to snooze but I'm 33 weeks pg and not sure how much longer I can do this. Also she's almost comatose with exhaustion today (she is pestering me to nurse so suspect she's about to nap). I can't nap in the day as she doesn't nap!

I don't think it's a light issue as she has blackout blinds in her room and the problem actually started more or less the same day as DH put up a blackout blind on the landing to stop morning light from there reflecting into her room. Also light/early morning waking has never been an issue before.

Just seen the thread about playing outside just before bed, so might try that.

Any other suggestions? And sorry it's so long

I'm sorry, no suggestions, but my 2 yr old dd has just started doing the very same thing, we were all up at 4am yesterday, and like a bag of cats for the rest of the day! So you have my sympathy, and will be watching thread with interest!

Well I've just put dark paper over her window to shut out the last little bits of light and we're going to look for ladybirds in the garden once she's out of the bath and into her pjs :)

DH has pointed out that last summer she was in our bed and in a different house, so early waking might not have been as noticeable (also was probably hard to spot as she was waking up every few hours anyway at that stage!).

Good luck to both of us for a 7 am lie-in tomorrow (egads, when I was pg with DD I was working evenings and was rarely up before noon ).

Happening here too! I've just got a night light and a timer so that we can tell our DS that until the light comes on, it's not morning.

That's the theory but anything to stop him waking up at 5.30am (and more importantly, waking us up then! ).

My DS (2.1) has always been a pretty poor sleeper (awake every couple of hours or every hour when his asthma is bad) started waking at 5 - 5.30 ish as the mornings got lighter (despite a blackout blind). We've had some success with a Gro clock and have managed to explain that it isn't morning until the sun shows. We've set it at 6.30 which is much less painful for us.

6.15, practically a lie in Still room for improvement though ... Might try getting a radio alarm clock and telling her it's not morning until the music comes on if it doesn't get any better.

I'll also be watching this thread as my DS2 (2.4yrs) has now learnt to climb out from the cot and this has been the day that I have been dreading. He awakes at any of the crazy mentioned times and can't settle. I've moved him to a bed to make it special, but to no avail.

The alarm clock could be a great idea, let us know if it was successful.

3.30 am

Went in to her room because she was sobbing and on her feet (trying to pick up all her toys to bring to our room again) and noticed an eerie glow from behind the curtain. It was the bloody Gro egg thermometer thingy which is there entirely pointlessly which had turned blue, which is needlessly bright, so I'm wondering if it's been that waking her up and freaking her out Will be putting it in a skip today!

1.30 am On the plus side, eventually she's going to lap herself and start waking up before she actually goes to bed Also 1.30 am is kind of manageable because it means that we still get a reasonable chunk of sleep (unlike the other night when I slept from 1-3.30 and then 5.30-6.45). Problem is it takes us all ages to drop off again.

Light cannot be the problem - was pitch dark in her room at 1.30 am last night and she'd actually put the light on so that she could collect all her toys and animals together. Unfortunately she had a complete meltdown because I was trying to dissuade her from trying to carry everything she owned into our bed and because she then wanted to climb in by herself and I was worried she'd slip, then both DH and I snapped at her, then she just lost it. Argh. We've both (DD and me) been vile today.

Starting to wonder if it's just anxiety about DC2 or something? Or molars maybe. Can't go on like this :(

PS Sympathies S&C - I've never suffered from the first trimester exhaustion but that plus non-sleeping toddler must be a killer. Can you nap during the day? Or get your DP to do some night-wakings?

"think end of Crackerjack"

I've just started doing pre bedtime walks to see if my ds1 and ds2 (who share a room) will sleep later.

We have also just started leaving out bowls of dry cereal and beakers of water in their room as they seem to be hungry. To early to tell if definite success but it seems to buy us a bit of extra time (they were waking at 5/530, now it's post 6)

I'm showing my age

I think we've gone beyond early morning waking now. I was kind of right though - she's already woken up this evening (at 10.30, my prediction was 11.30), so maybe now she'll sleep the rest of the night?

Worth a try?

We did do it on Sunday night and tbf it was her best night for a while. We drove home this evening for an hour in evening sunlight so maybe that will have an effect? But yes, might try again tomorrow ...

6.45 Don't know if it was the evening sunlight or she has actually just moved her wakings so early that she's lapped herself, but we'll be playing in the garden this evening fo' sho'.

Well my DS2 (who iscurrently the early riser) was all set to sleep past 6 however DS1 decided he needed to pee at 5.30 and refused to speak quietly or gobacktobed, so DS2 was woken up early. But think the walk is making difference. Have done tonight's, they're watching 10mins of fireman Sam, and then it's bed!!

Good luck tonight!