DS1 is 22 mo and has mostly slept well - goes down easily at 7pm and sleeps through - but always woken early between 6-6.30am. Then about a month ago he started to wake around 5.30am and is usually wide awake, raring to go showing no signs that he could go back to sleep. We weren't best pleased but could cope. Then the last few days he has started waking about 4.30am - again wide awake.
His room is reasonably blacked out and I give him a snack and 6oz of milk before bed time so I don't think it's hunger. People's advice seems to vary between put him to bed earlier or put him to bed later so I'm totally confused! He naps for about 2 hours around 12.30/1-3pm, often waking himself but we always wake him at 3. We tried putting him to bed earlier but 3 nights a week I collect him from nursery and we get home at 6 so it was impossible to get him fed/bath/bottle and in bed for 6.30 plus I felt I was really missing out on time with him.
I don't like to leave him in the cot once he is awake as he vaulted out once when I had taken his sleeping bag off and I'm worried that he'll do it again. We've got a gro clock but therefore haven't used it.
What should we do? Try harder to get him to bed early? Move his bedtime back? Cut the nap? buy a toddler bed and use the gro clock? Any words of wisdom or voice of experience gratefully received - thank you!