20 months and still waking at 5am! help!

[zuki1506]

Anyone got any grand ideas we can try to attempt to get my son to sleep longer later in the morning? He wakes at 5am ish every day and I'd love to get him sleeping later as he is 20 months and we are having another baby soon and are all exhausted from the early mornings.

We've tried earlier bedtime, later bedtime, milk as soon as he wakes at 5, leaving him in cot until we want to get up (he never goes back to sleep - just plays very loudly so we don't sleep either), toys in the cot, no toys in the cot (!), getting him up and making it very boring, changing nappy and then leaving again in case it was that. Nothing has worked so far.

He still naps for 2 hours most days (1 hour when at nursery twice a week but 2 the other days). Days when he doesn't nap he is exhausted and very grumpy so I feel he still needs the nap.

He is off to nursery this morning on 10 hours sleep and won't nap there until midday so will have been up 7 hours by then (feel bad for him as he will be so tired by that time). Any ideas appreciated.

Thank you!

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but waking at 5 at 20 months old is very normal. If you've eliminated the possibility of external causes waking him (hunger, cold, noise) and have tried playing with moving bedtimes, then I think you may just have an early riser. My DS1 was exactly the same and at 5 still rarely sleeps past six (5.45 this morning). Things did improve a bit when he dropped his nap, but I really wouldn't force nap dropping on yours if he goes down for naps/bed and still clearly needs it (DS1 napped till nearly 3- partly I suspect because of the short nights).

Honestly, the best advice I can give is to accept it, adjust your expectations, go to bed early and take turns with the early morning start while the other person gets a lie in. It's horrible and exhausting but it will get better. It's also what CBeebies is for .

totally normal for children up to...well, teenage, I suppose?! Then you can't get them out of bed for love nor money

once they get a bit older (school-age ish), you can get a bit of a lie-in at weekends by teaching them to get a yogurt out of the fridge and turning on the TV by themselves.

Mine is exactly the same! Usually wakes at 4am, can be resettled till 5am but then gets up. We stick him in our bed with Peppa on the iPad until we get up!

He goes to bed at 7pm but doesn’t usually drop off till after 8pm.

My DD is 19 months and sleeps till 8am...because she doesn't go to bed before 10pm! What time does your son go to bed usually? I have a similar issue to you but in reverse - we're desperately trying to get her down earlier, but because she stoically sleeps 10 hours (on the dot!), the saving grace is that we have a civilised awakening! We've tried all sorts of things to bring bedtime earlier but no joy - I wonder if some babes are just hardwired to sleep/wake at certain times? Most of my NCT pals' toddlers are super early risers though, so if it's any consolation, I think your situation is more common. I feel your pain though - I'm due in 3 weeks and am dreading evenings with a nightowl toddler and newborn. Best of luck with the new arrival

Thanks everyone. Good to know it's more normal than I thought (all my friends' toddlers sleep 12 hours at night). Will continue chugging on in the hope that one day we get to sleep until the blissful 6am! Think it's just late pregnancy making me feel like I can't do it (spoke to hubby who has suggested I sleep at my parents for one night this weekend to try and get a solid 8 hours in which sounds like a plan).