17month old waking at 4.30am everyday

[yellowspot]

17 month DS has gotten into the habit of waking at 4.30am EVERYDAY ready to start his day.

He's never really been great with sleep - lots of night wakings. But in the last month or so has started sleeping 7-4.30 without needing us during the night.

Some mornings we can get him back so sleep but it can take up to 1.5 hours! Other mornings, like today, he's up giggling ready to play at 4.30 but has crashed out asleep by 7.30am?
Have tried keeping him up until his usual nap times but he's that doesn't seem to make a difference.

Naps are generally good, when he's not gone down early he'll sleep from 11.30 ish for up to an hour and a half. So I don't think the problem is too much day time sleep.

He eats VERY well. We've also started given him a little snack before bedtime to make sure his tummy is full. He doesn't want food when he wakes up.

We tried controlled crying and had really bad results so I'm hesitant to leave him in his cot when he wakes at that time.

Any tips or advice? I'm not expecting him to sleep 7-7 but a slightly later wake up would be so welcome!!

I have no real advice but want to say we are in the same boat! Controlled crying worked so well with our 17 month old for night wakings but nothing works when she wakes at 430/5am which she has done now for weeks. She’s recently dropped her morning nap but sleeps for 2 hours every afternoon. This has perhaps given us to nearer 5am every morning now, and today we had a 530am lie in 😂. So maybe gradually pushing the daytime nap later night help a little? I think the 18 month sleep regression and molars have perhaps played a part a bit more recently but while she used to wake up crying she now is happy so I think maybe she’s just had enough sleep after 10.5 hours. I’ve been frantically googling for weeks and from what I’ve read it’s very common and am hoping it’ll gradually improve! Sending solidarity!

I had this with both of mine. Generally pretty good sleepers really but at about 18m had a phase of about 3-5 months where they got up for the day between 4 and 5. Every day without fail.

Unfortunately I don't have any advice, I just went with it. I'd taken them downstairs and snooze beside them as they watched cartoons, pottered about playing etc.

I used to get really fed up and resentful of wasted time so eventually I started using the time for useful stuff - an online shop, pay bills, catch up with emails, meal plan. Then I didn't like it was such a waste of my time.

I'd end up in bed early every night to compensate but did get used to it. Wake up time crept forward of its own accord over 6 months or so.

Sorry maybe not what you want to hear, but I decided not to fight it, just to go with it. It is incredibly hard at the time though. I remember the feeling of absolute rage every morning at 4.30am when I'd stomp through to their room in a huge grump.

Then I didn't feel like it was such a waste of my time.

@violetfern what time is your little one having a nap? Generally he'll stay awake until his lunch time nap. But like today there are times he just doesn't make it and the whole day is messed up. Do you think he needs a later nap than lunch time maybe?

I didn't think maybe sleep regression but this has been going on for months so I'm not so sure 😫.
@TonightMatthew the rage is real isn't it!! I feel so annoyed by it but I know it's not really his fault as he doesn't understand

@TonightMatthew yep same I’m asleep by 830 most nights! Since I’ve become ‘resigned’ to it it is easier to deal with

@yellowspot generally we aim for lunch 12ish then asleep by 1245/1 although she can have a 10-15 min snooze in the pushchair if we are out for a walk in the morning. It’s so hard when I think back I’d have given ANYTHING for more than 3 hours sleep in a row so I just try and look at how far we’ve come xx

Early mornings are so killer! I would try with all your might to not let him nap before his usual nap time - early naps just reinforce early wakings as they catch up on sleep then. Also worth considering an earlier bedtime. If we sleeps 11:30-1 it's a long way to go til 7 - could you try 6:30pm? Or you could shift the nap later like a previous poster said - 12:30 then aim for 7/7/30 bedtime.

We've tried shifting bed times earlier and he'll just wake up earlier too. It's all so confusing.

Despite being up from between 1-2pm until 7 he's still bouncing off the walls at bed times with a lot of energy. I'm starting to think maybe he just does only need 9.5 ish hours of night time sleep?

We're in bed by 8.30 most nights too

I'll definitely try harder to keep him up in the mornings like you say @hodgepodge21 and see if that helps. In think him being moody in the mornings until his normal nap is the lesser of two evils if it means he might sleep longer. Thank you!

If you feel like he just needs less sleep I'd try for gradually shifting his whole routine later. So aim for a 12:30/1pm nap - with a 7:30-8 bedtime. At least then he would wake at 6ish rather than disgustingly early just shift it gradually by 10-15 minutes every day over a couple of weeks!