2 year old waking early then grumpy nightmare all day long

[NiceCupOfTeaAndASitDown]

DS has recently had a cough and cold and also been teething I think. Apart from the tail end of the cough I'm pretty sure he's all better now but is waking early every day and chatting, singing, shouting etc until we get up. He's then an absolute nightmare all day because he's so tired and often wakes up crying from his nap and then screams for about 30 mins wanting to be held, grabbing at my legs, falling over, general clumsiness and so whingy and demanding. It's really getting me down.

We also have a DD who is 4.5 months so I'm aware he's got a lot on his plate. On the whole he's awake at 6.20 and just cannot stop talking, I wouldn't mind if he seemed to have had enough sleep but he's clearly knackered and we're all suffering

This morning he was up at 5.30 and by half 6 I'd absolutely had it and dragged his cot into his bedroom (he's still in the room with us and I don't feel any of us are ready to change that just yet especially in a fit of grump like I did this morning) - obviously I don't want to create negative associations but I didn't know what else to do. I'm basically awake from whenever he is and he often wakes his sister as well.

We have a gro-clock and he understands the concept but just says "make it yellow" when he wants to get up, he tries every trick in the book to get me up "I've done a poo" "I need some cough syrup" etc etc. A reward chart was working but he doesn't seem to care about it now.

I know I could go to bed earlier so I get a bit more sleep but I need to feel I've had a little time with DH and to wind down in the evenings plus DD cluster feeds so I'd be awake in bed anyway, just getting cross that I wasn't getting any sleep that end of the day as well.

He's 2.1 and goes to sleep about 7.30, he usually has an hours nap around 12.30 but is tired and cranky all day

I'm not opposed to leaving him for a minute or two but this is not a kid who'll have a little cry and then give up and go to sleep, he'd scream blue bloody murder for work hours if I let him (and has done even with me offering comfort) so even if he were in his own room he'd be waking us all up.

I honestly wouldn't mind as much if he were bright and cheerful because I could accept he'd had enough sleep but he's cranky all day long because he's tired. I'm also terrified of creating any negative sleep associations because he sleeps so amazingly at night, but early mornings and daytime sleep has always been a battle, please help.. I'm not sure how much of it I can take s

He'd scream for hours not work hours. Sorry for repeating myself, so tired and stressed I can't concentrate. I love the little guy so much and when he's had enough sleep he is such a joy, but like his mum he's a bear with too little sleep and gets really manic as well. I don't know what to do : own room? Earlier bedtime? Later? Punishment? I've been using descriptive praise with a little success and have found the reward chart has helped with other things like nappy changes (he no longer runs off then screams and kicks me which is a nonus) but it's not working for mornings any more, he can't even have quiet time to rest

*bonus not nonus!! Is it wine o'clock yet?

Anybody? He's just woken up 45 minutes into his nap and screamed for 25 minutes. He can't tell me what's wrong, I can only assume he's overtired

Sorry cant really offer words of wisdom, hopefully someone else will be along in a minute, but were in a similar situation so you're not alone! DS is two in a couple of weeks and he sleeps badly, wakes early and is grumpy because he's tired all day, it's hard work, especially when you know how lovely they can be. Also the only way I can get him to nap is to take him out in the car, he 'fights' sleep that's the only way I can describe it!
Have you tried putting him to bed earlier?

Sorry bout the typos, wish it was wine o clock here soon but dc2 due in five weeks so decaf tea time will have to do!

Oh bless you op, btdt with the early waking & i know its a killer. To be brutally honest if he regularly gets up at 6.20am after bed at 7.30 thats not really too bad. Obviously if its more often 5 something then thats a different matter! My best advice to you would be to very slowly push his nap a bit later, as early waking is closely linked with the timing of the nap & so if nap is too early then they wake early. So do it at 12.45pm for a week & then 1pm. If he is closer to 2.5yrs you might need to push the nap to 1.30pm. If you are consistent, you should see an improvement in hus wake time in a coue of weeks. Be warned though, a later nap may mean he naps for longer, & that may in turn mean he needs a later bedtime. My ds is 2.6 & when he naps its 1.30/2-4pm & bedtime is 8pm but i dont mind this as he sleeps in til 7, sometimes later.

Poor you. Reward charts didn't work for DS1 until he was nearly 5 - he woke up without fail between 4.30 and 5.30 every morning for 5 years! Now we have got it back to 6.30

We survived it by going to bed early ourselves. Kids all in bed between 6.30 and 7pm, and we're in bed soon after 9. There was no other way.

Thank you for the replies. Yes highland bird it's exactly like that, he's always been a sleep-fighter but has been able to fall asleep easily for several months so it's just frustrating he can't do it at 5.30am!

Im breastfeeding (both) and so don't have much wine but it wouldn't have made much sense if I'd said bedtime because my sleep is not very restful at the moment; I sleep with my shoulders clenched up by my ears!

Omama, do you think that's good? I have no idea what's 'normal'.. I suspect there isn't such a thing as I say if he looked like he'd had enough sleep I'd be fine with getting up earlier but he's a misery all day long.

I think you're right about the later nap, I've moved it from 11.30 to 12.30 with a view to making it an early afternoon nap by the time he's about 2.5. He's only just turned 2 at the moment.

I'm not hugely bothered if his bedtime naturally becomes a bit later if it means he catches up on sleep somewhere, but I'm reluctant to put him to bed later as we've only moved his bedtime earlier recently, he goes down easily so is getting 30 mins extra per day in the evenings, his wakeup time has remained the same

The thing I don't understand is why he was waking at 6.45 for a week and able to be quiet until 7 with the star chart, but suddenly he's back to between 5.30 and 6.30 and just chattering endlessly to himself - I'm sure if there was a fly on the wall they could tell me what's changed but I'm stumped

bedhopper- oh no! Don't tell me that! 5 years! Gosh

Ha, DS1 is a very stubborn persistent character, so hopefully yours won't be as bad as that. This morning DS1 woke up at 5am, crept (noisily) downstairs to lay the table for breakfast (his latest 'thing') and then thumped his way back to bed and went back to sleep till 6.30 :)

I think if he has done the 6.45 thing for a while, he might go back to it eventually. DD (1.10) sleeps through the night now, till about 6.30 but ever few days this is disrupted and she wakes in the night - eventually though she gets back to it, so I think that will be her 'base pattern'.

OP i feel your pain. I've just resorted to buying a Gro clock in the hope that it might help. I am also hoping it has something to do with the light mornings and when the clocks go forward he might go back to his wonderful 7.30-7.30 pattern! I know that many parents would give their right arm for a 6.20am waker, but when you're just not used to it, it's such a shock to the system! Where has my 12 hours a night boy gone??

It's not even so much the early waking, but the fact that you have to find something to keep them entertained at that time in the morning. DS doesn't watch TV. He's bored of all his toys. He wants to be outside and i can't face it that early when not even the shops are open! It feels like a very long day!