Help!!!

[clurina32]

DS2 has started waking ridiculously early - 4.30/5am for the last few days in a row. We are talking wide awake, happy as larry. We have been having constant battle with sleep, at the moment she is waking about 2am, I either sshhh her back to sleep or give her a drink. Now she's waking early too :( She goes to bed quite early (I did this originally as advice from someone else) and is normally asleep by 6.30/7pm. She has a 1.5hr nap normally 12.30-2pm (sometimes only 1hr) - never been a great napper.

I am so freakin tired. What do I do? Running out of ideas...

You dont say how old she is?

11 hours sleep at night is about right for a child having daytime naps. So a 6.30pm bedtime is going to give you a 5.30am wake up even if she was an excellent sleeper.

4.30-5am is therefore "only" half an hour or an hour early, for the bedtime she's having. Which is in the relmes of normal. You cannot expect anything different. Early bedtime will mean early morning.

I would plan some very busy mornings for 2 or 3 days in a row. Shift her lunchtime nap to 1.30pm or 2pm (aim for a wake up time around 3-3.30) then a later bedtime.

You won't get an instant change in her body clock. She might go to bed at 8pm and still wake at 5am for a while until her body clock makes the shift. But the aim would be an 8pm bed then a 6am-7am wake time.

Hi FATE! thanks so much for replying, I only just saw it. What you say makes lots of sense. I will definitely aim to do what you say. At the moment we are dealing with a double ear infection though....so 2 wake ups has become about 5! Once she's better i'll give it a go, thanks.