We're going backwards as well, please help!

[oneplusone]

Hi, DS is nearly 18 months and a while ago he was waking at 5am every day or even earlier and I tried everything to get him to sleep later to no avail. But then all of a sudden he started sleeping til around 6.30am by himself and his nap time changed naturally from a long morning nap to an afternoon nap (1 til 3).

BUT the last few weeks he's gone back to waking at 5am and I'm exhausted. His nap is still after lunch (yesterday he fell asleep before lunch as he had woken up so early) but how do I get him to sleep longer in the morning? I thought with the darker days he would sleep longer anyway but he seems to have gone the other way and is waking earlier.

Please help, I just can't bear to get up in the dark at 5am with him any more!

What time does he go to bed? Is he sleeping longer then 2 hours in the afternoon and does he have any more naps in the afternoon?

Hi, well today for the first time EVER he slept til 7am having gone to bed at his usual time. But I think it was only because he was tired as he was up for about an hour the night before.

Regarding naps, these can vary from just an hour to 2.5hours, but he only has one nap each afternoon.

Will wait and see what time he's up tomorrow but i don't hold out any hope for another 7am start!

I do sympathise. 5am is the middle of the night! It sounds mean but what would happen if you just left him? Would he eventually get the message and go off to sleep again? Or maybe he'd scream the house down! I did find with my three that if I let them continue their naps after around 2pm it was always difficult to get them to sleep well at night. They'd go to sleep later and wake earlier, strange as that sounds.

Hi SW3, i have tried leaving him to scream but he just screams the house down and doesn't go back to sleep so have resorted to bringing him into our bed with a bottle of milk in the hope he'll lie quietly til a more decent hour. I know I've probably created a bad habit which i'm now trying to break but it's just soooo hard to think straight at 5am when it's dark.

He naps from around 1 til 3 and goes to bed at around 6.45 and probably falls asleep around 7ish pm so no real problems getting him to sleep at bedtime.

Agree with SW3! You're important too and it sounds like you are at the end of your rope. Install a baby gate somewhere between your room and his and childproof (again) anything he can get to in the space that that leaves him. You will still be able to hear him if he genuinely needs you. If you feel brave enough, you could feed him, give him a cuddle, put some fresh toys out for him before going back to bed.

What about trying to bring his nap forward slightly, so he's not sleeping after 2pm. It sounds a bit Gina Ford (are we allowed to say that name on here?) but it might work. He's probably looking forward to his 5am milk, but hey, if it keeps him quiet for another couple of hours it might do the trick until he's old enough to be reasoned with and/or bribed.