5am is too early

[katierocket]

I know this has been covered lots of times before but am desperate for any advice/help.

DS (2yrs) has always been early waker (6ish) but is now waking up 5-5.30. He has blackout blind, is not cold, has drink of water in his bed etc etc

He just wants to get up. ANY suggestions would be really welcome. He starts off just shouting us but if we leave him, after about 10 mins he starts crying and screaming. thought about controlled crying but it could take hours to work and I have to work some days.

he goes to bed about 7ish but we can't keep him up longer than that as he is hysterically tired. He has about an hours sleep in the day

Katierocket, what time does he have a sleep during the day? If you're currently putting him down for a nap at say, 12.00 noon, why don't you put him down a bit later - around 1.00 or 1.30 - so that he can last a bit longer at night. Then if he goes down at 8.00pm instead of 7.00pm, you may be able to get him to sleep that bit longer in the morning.

On the other hand, if he's anything like my ds was at 2, perhaps 1 hour's sleep during the day isn't enough for him. He could be getting overtired & therefore not sleeping very well at night. Do you think he would sleep any longer during the day? Just a thought.

the problem is its a bit of a vicious circle because when he gets up at 5am by noon he's knackered. know what you mean about overtired children not sleeping that well but he does sleep OK just gets up early.

When our DS was 2 we got him a bunny clock from The Great Little Trading Company. It is an alarm clock but you can set it so the bunny wakes up - its ears pop up and its eyes open. It took a while for DS to get the message but if he does wake up early he now stays in his room until the bunny wakes up. He does wake us up still (he is 4 soon) by talking and calling out but mostly we don't have to get out of bed anymore.
I know you said you don't want to but if you have tried everything else Controlled Crying might be your only answer if you really want to solve the problem ... but do try the Bunny Clock first....
HTH

thanks ghosty - bunny clock sounds good - TBH I'll try anything!

Katierocket - most kids have phases where they get up earlier - how annoying though!
DS (3 1/2) has those at every season change. Right now he wakes at 6 every morning but his normla time is 6:45/7
There isn't much I can do... I know he will revert to his usual time in a few days/weeks. (he did have the 5AM one too but not anymore)
DD - who is similar of age to your DS goes to bed at 18:45, I have JUST dropped her day nap (she may fall asleep in small car journey though) and she wakes at 7:15 (or earlier if DS makes too much noise when he plays).

What about giving your DS some toys in his bed ? It takes a patience... but you have my sympathy.

thanks pupuce - I do kind of realise it's a phase but I am so tired and am just not sure what to do to make it stop. I suppose we could accept it as a phase but then worried it might go on for months! It's funny isn't it but there is SUCH a difference between 5 and 6.30 or 7.00. even though it's couple hours.

ACtually I was given (or did I give it myself ???? ) some advice which was quite helful.... GO TO BED EARLEIR yourself..... it will make it easier to deal with

I know - depressing though. just dropped a very tired ds off at nursery (he's now been up for 4 and half hours). nursery nurse said to me "god, you look knackered." err...thanks.

poor you katierocket, I was feeling sorry for myself becase dd woke up at 6.30 this morning. Hope you get it sorted, I agree 5am is beyond the pale.

We have this problem, and I'm quite nervous because last year when the clocks went back, DS's own body clock did NOT, and we had a few mornings when he was wide awake and raring to go by 4.45 a.m! No amount of altering bedtimes or day time naps made any difference, just led to weeks of a tired grumpy baby, too irritated to eat properly.

So this year we are preparing. He is in a bed, and can climb over a stairgate, so imprisonment is not an option. If he wakes before 6.30 my DP goes in and lies on the mattress which is on the floor alongside his bed (for when he falls out...) and will not allow him out of bed. After an initial furious protest over this infringement of his civil liberties, he lies down singing and mistreating Bear, and does now understand the concept of 'too early' and 'it's still dark outside'. If he has woken v early he sometimes drifts back to sleep.
I am going to get one of these bunny clocks, he is 26 months, and I think will get the idea.

Horrible,isn't it. Ds woke at 5.45 this morning and I felt sick! I think an earlier, longer nap and a slightly later bedtime might help.
Good luck!

just looked for bunny clock online - 10-14 days delivery time!!! I haven't got that long - I'll have collapsed by then!

Katierocket, so much sympathy from yet another knackered person. We have had early waking now for 2 weeks. 5.30, 5.45, 6.00 and finally this morning 6.30. Anything after 6 I can cope with, before is just a bloody nightmare. I know this sounds really weird but I remember the same thing happening last year before the clocks went back, don't know why, doesn't make any sense because you would think that because it's darker in the mornings they would sleep longer.
I agree that it is probably just a phase. Can you bring him into bed with you until 6 and tell him that it's sleep time so no tv, or chat or stimulation and if he speaks or anything put him back in his cot ? We did this if dd woke anytime after 5.45. Anytime before then she had to stay in her cot and normally cried for about 5 minutes but then would go back off. If she didn't though we brought her in with us but under strict instructions that if she spoke she would be back in her cot.

glad to hear not alone tillysmummy - we've tried the bringing into our bed, dark, quiet, no talking etc but he just jumps about. Its funny isn't it how psychologically after 6 i can cope with it (just) but before is just vile.

I'm being thick her but do the clocks go back or forward. If it's back surely I'm in all sorts of trouble- won't that mean he'll wake up at 4??!

The clocks go back which will in theory mean that he wakes does wake up earlier yes. Nightmare. I am sure it will rectify itself though. Can't remember what happened.
Guess if he won't do as you say when in bed with you you may have to do the controlled crying. We had the night from hell with dd the other day she was up half the night (hasn't done that since she was a baby, she's now 2) and in and out of her cot bed. We ended putting one of the sides back on it to keep her in ! She screamed and screamed, and we did just leave her. After about 10 -15 minutes she did go back to sleep again. It's the only way I think. Especially at this age when they will try anything on. Not nice though and I felt miserable about it.

I have always been an early waker (as is ds - see clocks changing thread). My mum always put toys, plus a drink and biscuit by my bed, so that when I woke up I could keep myself entertained until a decent hour. With the bunny clock, it might just work.

well, DS gone to sleep now having slept twice in nursery today because he was so tired. I don't know, easy life, I am so tired I think am going to bed about 8 oclock. Pray for a good result in the morning (I'm not asking too much I'd be happy with 6.00, well ok, maybe 6.30)
fisil - did put books and stuff in once but he ended up playing with them about 11pm at night!

Good luck katierocket. Im keeping fingers crossed. Keep them crossed for me too.

So what do you do when they're too young to understand? e.g. 5 weeks old!! How do I convince DS that he has to wait another hour for his feed in the monring. And if I can't, does this mean all his sleeps and feeds will be one hour out all winter??

Soooooo not looking forward to the clocks going back....

BR

My two have always been early risers too, and still are on and off. Often it has been a phase, and it was just grin and bear it until they get through it. Last year ds2 was getting up at 6 usually, and changing bedtimes made no difference at all. ... Things that have helped us are:

Not putting the heating on until the time you want them to get up - and explaining to them that it's cold, and they would be warm and snug if they stayed in bed. (Have to be old enough to understand the explanation).

High beds: My two are in bunk beds, and if the one on the bottom starts playing up at night/early morning, we swap them over. .. they always sleep better at the top ... probably a male thing - they are just too idle to be bothered to get out.

Definitely recommend alarm clocks of any kind. We got a (normal) alarm clock in summer, and it has helped a lot ... they get a sticker if they stay in bed until the alarm goes off. (It has also encouraged them to get up and get dressed quickly).

Morning (or is it afternoon now). What time was everyone up. DD woke at 5.20am and didn't go back to sleep. Chatted and cried until 6.15 when I got her up.

hi tillysmummy
my dd is younger than your dd, just turned 1. last night was horrendous.
i have succumbed to giving her a drink if she wakes at 11pm but if she wakes between 3-5am nothing and she howled this morn for 1hr 20mins. no tears and when i lifted her (i know u dont do that either) briefly it stopped. can i just ask you do you let them cry for long periods in the night or would you go to them like it was c/crying?
then she woke at 6 and i gave her morning bottle and she was by this stage in my bed..
then it all goes out the window for the day she wants more milk than usual and wont eat her breakfast because the milk came first

i am worried this is going to become the norm

she did up until 2 weeks sleep from 7/8pm to 6.30/7 with 1 stir.

i hope i am not hijacking your thread with a different angle on this thread

it was 6am - hurray! how sad is that..? when 6am feels like a lie in! Tillymummy - poor you.

I'm definitely investing in bunny clock. glad tohear the fact that changing bed times makes now difference - so many people (who have children that get up at 8am btw) say "well just put him to bed later".

Hi Hermykne, sorry for not replying yesterday we went to stay with a friend. I don't really know the answer. It sounds like a phase,it certainly normally is with dd just a phase or teeth related etc. I would try not to give her anything in the night except water if you can then there's no encouragement for her to wake up. Re the leaving her to cry. I hate leaving dd and thankfully she never does it long, just about 20 mins normally. I don't go in with her although with cc they say you should. DD gets angrier if I go in. I will go in once or twice and tell her it's bed time and mummy is going next door to sleep and she understands so I don't need to reassure her that im there. In your case I don't know ? Did you leave dd to cry for 1 hour 20 or go in to reassure her ? I always found with dd (and that's only the way she is so not the same for everyone at all) that if I went in she got angrier and we started the whole process all over again. Whereas if I just left her she normally settled down after 10 at worst 20 minutes. Sorry not much help. Hope it has helped a bit....

hi tillysmum
checking up on diff threads, that night i did go into her every so often, when she cried for 1hr 20mins. shes not been that bad since but still waking 2/3 times in night she gets nothing now after 7pm til the 6 am (approx)waking, today it was 7.30 but still up at 2/3/5am.
so i think i just have light sleeper