What do you do when your 17 month old wakes at 5am?

[SnowWhite26]

Hi.
Just that really. My 17 month old can sleep till 6. He will do this for a week then for about 3 weeks he wakes anytime between 5 and 530. He won't go back to sleep. I have tried ignoring him but he just gets louder I have tried feeding him that does nothing I have gone in there and said night time every 5 mins until 6 nothing works. What does anyone else do? Also does anyone else's baby wake an hour earlyer for a couple of weeks then a week of 6am i dunno why this happens. Help! Thanks x

Hes also obviously not quite ready to wake up as is currently curled up in a ball in his bed. I offered him a drink but he didn't want it. If I stroke his head this works for a bit but he might start snoring but as soon as I leave he wakes up crying. He is just lightly moaning atm. But I no he won't go back to sleep and eventually start crying. It's so frustrating as I don't sleep now as am waiting for him to wake up so am knackered. He can sleep till 6am so why won't he!

My 18m old wakes up between half 4 and half 5 every day. I have just learnt to cope with it and we get up and start our day. He's in bed for 7 and doesn't night wake anymore.

Dancebaby- 430? You must be so tired and have such long days. What time does ur lo nap? My prob is my lo won't drop his morning nap. If we go in the car in the morning he will always drop off for 20 mins then we try and get home for an afternoon cot nap. I have a 4 year old though so this isn't always possible as we are out and about. They share a room so I don't sleep properly as am listening out as last week woke consistently at 6 then from Thurs Fri and today 5am. This will be for next week or so prob then it might go back to 6am. I try and exercise him. He has napped for a bout an hour on car trips in last few days coz that's what helped the 6am wakings as he didn't sleep so long. I dunno what to do. Maybe he's over tired. :(

My 11 month old has started waking up at 4am every day! Apart from this morning will not go back to sleep. Doesn't matter if he goes to bed at 7,8 or 9 it's al the same. At breaking point right now, but we just have to plod along, it can't last forever right?!

My 2 year old is up between 4-5am every day! We've had phases of 6am before but then she settles into 4-5am again, no matter what the bed time! You just have to go to bed early and get on with it. I usually have some tv on for her at first to ease myself into the day! The mornings are looooong though. We're always counting down to playgroups etc that start at 10am.

Apple mummy-do you leave lo in cot or get them up? What do you do at 4am? That's awful. I just get so bogged down Reading all the stuff. My daughter who is now 4 and sleeps 7-7 most days used to do 630-530 until she dropped naps at 2.5 which was horrid but consistent thats what I hate about this he can go till 6 one week but then randomly 5 the next. I try and keep him in cot to as near 6 as possible but he's been going since 5.05 this morning. He started get shouty about 530 so I stroked hair and now is getting really grumbly. I feel it must be confusing as I get him up in the dark at 6am quite happierly but make him stay in bed from 5am. He doesn't no what the time is.

Ups and Downs does ur lo still nap?

My DS started waking around 5 at about that age and is still doing it at 4. We have tried everything! We are now just waiting until he is old enough to entertain himself in the mornings.

My 18 month old son was awake from 4:40am today went into his room at 5am because he was full of beans, shouting for me. I usually leave him until he starts shouting or gets alittle upset in the hope he goes back.
He too has a week or two of waking between 6/6:30am after 12hours sleep. Then a few weeks from 4:30am. Looks like its the start of that from today. My son naps 11 till 12:30 sometimes till 1pm asleep for 6:30pm most nights with no wake ups unless he's not very well. So he still sleeps really well its just the early waking because its such along day.

Emrys-Do you get up with him?

We stay in bed with some videos on the table snow. I refuse to get out of bed until 6. This is possible now he is 4 but up to 3 I was having to get out of bed at 5.

Yeah she has 1 hour nap. The problem with early waking is she needs the nap earlier though! So can be 11-12 at the moment.

We used to go and get DS when he woke after 5 ish and put him in the floor of our room with toys while we got back into bed. He went through a stage of waking at 3 ish, we eventually worked out he was having a growth spurt and was hungry - if we took him down and gave him first breakfast he'd then go back to sleep. All we found helped when their little is going to bed earlier so you can cope with that early a start.

Once he got to about age 2 we got a gro clock and through gradual tweaking of when the sun came up we got to a better rising time

My 2yo is an earlier riser. Tv is my friend at 5am. We also implemented a 5:30 swap over so whoever's turn it was to get up got up at 5:30 and it was the other parent's responsibility until then. Eg my husband was up at 5:07 this morning but didn't wake me till 5:30. I did the same for him yesterday.

DS has always been an early riser. Can go till 6 but more often than not its between 5. 15 and 5. 45. We just get up. He went through a phase of 4.30 wake ups so anything is an improvement on that. We just go to bed earlier. It'll pass and it's not his fault, he's only 16 months.

It’s not ideal but would you consider bringing him into your bed till 6, that way you can both lie there, - just keep saying “shhhh it’s still night time”, that way you sort of get to keep resting and it reinforces it’s not get up time yet. (Mine does this and will usually lie relatively quiet till we say it’s morning time - like you he goes through phases of sleeping till 6 on occasion).

My DS went through a stage like this around 14 months and I thought that the 5am wake up would never end, but one day after a few months, they just did. I'm now regularly rushing around in the morning as he lies in!!

We would either just start the day by putting on the tv and I'd make coffee, or if I was feeling exhausted then a small bottle of warm milk (which he only usually has at bedtime) might get him back to sleep for a few hours. Sometimes I'd also bring him into my bed but that wouldn't always work. I also tried putting cartoons or a film on my laptop so that we could cuddle together and I could at least delay getting out of bed.

Hopefully it passes!!

Drink lots of coffee...we did get 6am this morning but often get 4.45...

Bring him into bed with you. Both dds went through phases like this, DD1 would sit at the bottom of our bed and look at books/play. Dd2 used to have a cuddle and go back to sleep. There’s no way I’d be getting up so early to start the day.

If I bring him into he'd he jumps Al about and Wakes oh to. We try and take it in turns to get up. Would def plonk him in bed with us if he went bk to sleep though lol x

Yep my LO used to wake up at 5 every morning at that age - dh and I used to take it in turns to get up. When it was my turn I would go downstairs get toys out and then lie on the sofa dozing for about an hour. If desperate I would put some baby tv on (this was usually following a disturbed night).

Dd1 was 17 months old when i first got her a groclock. Explained that it was NOT getting up time until the sun came up. Set it for her usual wake up time to begin with do she “got it” then increased by 10 mins every couple of days until it was at 7. At 7, without fail, i go into her. It worked for us - if she wakes earlier she plays quietly in her room or tries to go back to sleep. She has never tried to come into our room before 7.

Get up, make coffee and get him some food. Settle both of us on the sofa with the tv on low, and have some gradual wake up time.

Groan, sigh, make a cup of tea. Ds used to say "tea?" at that age and ask for biscuits.

I used to put on an audiobook for him of fairy tales and he would usually go back to sleep for a bit listening to that.