3.5 year old waking at night and/or wanting to get up early.

[Pixxipunch]

Hey,
My 3.5 y/o daughter has been waking up several times a night for about 2 months now. We used to think it was because her sister would cry (12 month old DD), so this woke her up. But some nights her sister will sleep through and she still will wake up.
Sometimes it's because her teddy / dummy is on the floor, sometimes it's for no apparent reason and she won't say why.
Her sister is also waking up earlier (regression?) so even if it is 5.30 she wants to get up. It's summer so it is light at that time - so I've taken to showing her my phone and asking "can you see a 7?". "No?" It's not time to get up now, Mummy (me) will get you at 7 - she does lie back down, but will sometimes call out on and off until 7am.

She doesn't nap, so I'm worried about her disturbed / lack of sleep. She goes to bed 7pm and we have pretty much had the same routine since she was a baby. Bath (with her sister), story, cup of milk, brush her teeth, bed.

She still wears a nappy to bed, could it be she wants a,wee? The feeling of weeing in her nappy now feels odd to her?

I ask if she needs to go to the toilet/ask whats wrong but I can never get any sense out of her.

Is she going to bed too early?

Me and DH are feeling sleep deprived to the max especially as her sister wakes up a couple of times too... help!

They both have blackout curtains so its pretty dark in her room! Thanks in advance

Also this seemed to start around the time that I started work... so I'm not there 4 bedtimes a week now (which I miss, as always loved the bedtime routine!)
But I had a week off recently and it still happened

I went through this a while back with my DD the same age. I fixed it by making sure she had a wee immediately before bed, then found her nappy was dry in the morning and she slept through. We decided it was probably that she was going in her sleep and that was waking her. Once we had sorted that, we took her out of nappies altogether and she is now sleeping even better, until 7 each morning. Might work for you!

Also, some nights if she cant go for a wee immediately before bed I actually take her out of bed and put her on the toilet before I go to bed myself - she barely wakes up and can't remember it the next day! I learnt this because one night she just couldn't go and then she wet the bed at 2am!

Get a grip clock and be firm. Tell her if she wakes before 7 she can get a toy or a book but needs to look at/ play with it in bed. She's 3.5 which is plenty old enough to follow this.

Wrt waking in the night, straight back to bed and no talking every single time.

Ditch the dummy, it could be disturbing her if she loses it in bed.

My early waker wanted an alarm clock. It removed the worry he wouldnt get up () and did make the morning better. I'd go for a groclock, or since you've started with the 7 on your phone thing, a digital clock with a large display, and block out the minutes (or you'll reach 5.27 "Mummy, Mummy, there is a 7 on my clock).

Thank you both, will try these things.
I definitely think the weeing is doing something.

We tried ditching the dummy at Christmas, all was silent at first, then I heard wimpering, so I went up and she sat up, shaking and crying. I felt awful, so I caved. I think I'll try it over the summer holidays.

I was thinking of investing in a glo clock - has anyone used them? Do they glo massively at night though? As she is used to sleeping in the dark?

Thanks

** a GRO clock, not get a grip clock!

Great idea Sunshine Spring!

Haha LoafofSellotape I thought you were telling me to get a grip at first.

Oh, and the getting up to play thing - make it clear there is an earliest time this can happen too, or they will get up in the middle of the night to play. Maybe 6 to play, 7 to get up, anything else, lie quietly in bed (I try never to tell him to sleep, just to rest).

I wouldn't be so rude!!

You can turn off the backlight on the gro clock