Toddler wakes at 4am

[letsdothis123]

Hi Team.

My son is nearly 18 months old and for the last 2-3 months he's been waking up at 4-4.30am. And not waking up like 'not sleeping/fussy' (he didn't really sleep through the night till he was 1) but he wants to get upup... its morning, rise and shine.

So when he wakes at 4am we attempt to get him back to sleep but he's just ready to get up. I know babies are morning people, but 4am is a little extreme. I cant keep him up later, I've tried. Even when I've managed to, he still wakes at the same time so it's a waste.

I'm guessing there's nothing I can do but any suggestions?

Thanks! Xx

I would guess something is waking him. Is his room dark? Are there birds nesting? Heating/boiler coming on?

Both mine are early wakers. At this age they were still in a cot and breastfeeding so I'd give them a feed and then put them back in the cot with a light show to watch and I'd go back to bed. Mine were happy with this and sometimes went back to sleep. Wake up time was 6am and we'd make a show of saying good morning and opening the curtains.

Treat it as much like the middle of the night as you can and try to keep them in a routine with a proper wake up time that suits you. It won't always work but it gradually gets better as they start to understand it's no fun before wake up time.

When are his daytime naps?

Agree about looking at daytime naps. At that age ours were awake by 2pm at the latest and the nap was limited to an hour and a 1/4.

Also it’s worth trying making the room totally dark, we had blackout blinds, blackout curtain linings and a blanket over the top of the curtains as there was light seeping out from around the curtain rail. Can you move bedtime later?

They do grow out of it.

I'd give a bottle and walk out. Maybe leave him with an iPad or something. 4am is utterly horrific.

That said, some babies do just wake up really early. 4am is on the extreme side but loads of toddlers are awake for the day at 5am.