2.5yr old waking before 5am most days and refusing to go back to sleep. Any ideas out there??

[Flummoxedandtired]

My daughter has always been a pants sleeper, but for the most part would usually get up around 5:30am (which I didn't like, but now long for!).

She's started waking at 4:51am. Like clockwork. Every day. Thing is, we used to be able to get her back to sleep by going in and giving her a cuddle, but now she just launches into a full blown tantrum within seconds of his trying.

Her room is pitch black, she has white noise playing all night, so really don't think it can be noises or light seeping in.

She is usually in bed asleep for 18:30. With nursery and no longer napping, she is just absolutely spent by the end of the day and is usually begging to go to bed sooner. Every now and again I'll cave and let her sleep earlier by 15 minutes but it just means she gets up 15 minutes earlier!

We are currently trying a Groclock but that in itself is causing issues. We are fully in the tantrum phase and literally anything can set her off, including a clock with buttons that she mustn't press.

Anyone have any ideas!? Much appreciated

I was going to suggest a gro clock but I see you’ve already got one.

Maybe move bedtime back an hour? She do seem to expect her to stay in bed a particularly long time

I suggest a 10 min power nap before dinner, a new bedtime of 8pm, and being super strict with the Gro clock regardless of tantrums.

Stay strong!! Good luck.

Take her swimming at time time or take her to the park and play outside before bed, one changing her routine slightly and 2 giving her physical activities. If you can’t do it at tea time then sometime after 3pm. Alway got better linger sleep with some good walking, playing in the water or park

Why isn't she sleeping at nursery? I'd be inclined to let her sleep at nursery then give her tea, bath, put her to bed around 7.30.

My DD always went to bed at 6.30 and woke at 6.30. But she had a nap during the day around 12.30-1.30.

4:50 is so early

Thanks all!

Shes a super active little girl and doesn't stop from the minute she's up. She's outside most of the day as she goes to a Montessori/forest school setting.

In terms of squeezing in a little nap, I would LOVE her to, but she absolutely will not nap, doesn't matter what I do. Last time she napped in the day was when we all had norovirus!!

It's more than she just won't let herself! She dropped her naps by about 20 months as she was just too busy.

I would say that she still 100% needs one, but you can lead a horse to water...

I feel for you OP. My DS gets up at 3am, sometimes 4am if I'm lucky. He goes to bed at 8.30pm.

He's also on medication to help sleep! It's never worked

She is usually in bed asleep for 18:30. With nursery and no longer napping, she is just absolutely spent by the end of the day and is usually begging to go to bed sooner. Every now and again I'll cave and let her sleep earlier by 15 minutes but it just means she gets up 15 minutes earlier!

I think this is your answer DS was a bit like this, over tired at bedtime, although 4:50 is really early. Although you can't make her nap you could do some quiet time after lunch ? Snuggle down with some books/ quiet toys or an audio book ?. You mention nursery is she there 5 days a week ? Sadly I also think they sometimes start waking early to "catch" you before work, I think both of mine did this to some extent.

I have read tgat early waking is the hardest of the sleep problems to overcome, not sure if that makes yoy feel better or worse. Also go to bed early (8:30-9pm) yourself at least twice a week.

She's in from 9-3, four days a week. They are brilliant and offer lots of quiet time for those that can't manage a nap.

I'm at a loss really! She is just so chronically overtired all the time, which of course makes the tantrums worse!

Yoto player and a timer?

On the odd occasion my toddler wakes up early I put her back to bed tell her she can listen to her yoto until the timer goes off. Increase length of timer over time.

Yoto’s are great it gives them some control over what they listen to (different cards) and keeps my daughter in bed.

She might also need a night light. My daughter was fine with pitch black and then she started being a bit difficult about going to bed now she has a night light (a moon she can tap on and off) and it made an immediate difference.

I’m really sorry but I genuinely believe there is no way to overcome early waking. They just grow out of it eventually. And the good news is at 2.5 you are nearly out of it. Mine was always a super early waker, and closer to 3 he would start sleeping later. The groclock did help though, even though we already had it for months.

@edgeware

I’m really sorry but I genuinely believe there is no way to overcome early waking. They just grow out of it eventually. And the good news is at 2.5 you are nearly out of it. Mine was always a super early waker, and closer to 3 he would start sleeping later. The groclock did help though, even though we already had it for months.

Not necessarily. Mine is almost 4 and waking at 3am, sometimes 4am if super lucky

He's happy and full of beans. It's just one of those things. As horrendous as it is for me!

If she is asleep by 6.30 pm, she is getting around 10.5 hours sleep, which is okay for her age. It would be better if she napped during the day of course - would she go to sleep if you take her for a drive in the car when you pick her up from nursery? That way you could put her to bed much later, as a pp suggested

In any case, I would start pushing her bedtime back by 10 minutes every 2 days or so. She will take weeks to adjust, so you have to go very slowly. But if she's had all the sleep she needs by 5 am, there will be no way of getting her back to sleep and the only solution is a later bed time.

OP my 2.5 year old has just started doing this! Very similar situation with nursery and just not napping. Today she'll be wiped out before 5pm and I can't even get her to nap after nursery by picking her up and detouring because she knows how to get home and get angry if I take a wrong turn.

No idea how to fix this, she used to be a very late riser really hoping it's just another phase.

I’m really sorry but I agree with PP- I don’t think you can really change it or have any real influence over it. I think all you can do is wait for it to pass. I completely understand how difficult it is- DS 3.5 is a permanent early riser. 5.30 on a good day, most days from 4.30 and when the clocks go back it becomes 3.30 but he is just made that way. Changing his bedtime is worse I find because he still wakes at the usual time but having had less sleep. I think he’s just made that way- I’m a natural early riser as well and would always be up by 6.30 at the latest anyway. All you can do is control how you deal with it- your day shifts earlier- I accept I can’t get anything meaningful done after work or in the evenings as I’m too tired so all my jobs are done in the morning and I’m regularly in bed at 9pm. You have my sympathy though

My 8 year old has always been the same. Hes up today at 5.50.we just let him watch YouTube now amd sleep on ourselves. Im an early riser too. He used to wake anything from 3-4am so the current time is late for us lol. Doesn't make any odds what time he goes to bed either

My daughter was like this. She'd be in every day 4.50/5.00a.m. and with a new born it was killing me! Get an 'ok to wake clock' the buttons on the front are fine to touch, the important buttons are inside the back. My daughter loved a milk every morning and I'm afraid when she came in before the clock said, she wouldn't have a milk. I felt mean because it upset her, but it took 3 days. She would play quietly in her room after that, unless she had an emergency/nightmare/wet bed. Good luck.

Same again this morning, 4:46am! Up in the night too. Maybe it's a developmental leap or something?

My DS used to do this. It was because he had a bowl movement at that time of day and nothing we did would change that. He ended up with a 5.30pm bedtime.

He's 9 now and I miss the 5.30-5am sleeps. Now the wee shite can stay awake until 11pm sometimes and I have to wake him at 7.45am to get him to school.

And I'm afraid, like others, it didn't change at 3. He was in school before he started sleeping later. The only comfort I can offer is that that's better than the 18 months his sister spent going to sleep nicely at 7.30, but then waking up at 11pm/midnight and staying awake until 3/4am. I honestly thought I was going to die during that phase...

Hang on in there and, yes, go to bed early if you get the chance!

(As you can see the early mornings broke me permanently. I'm the only fucker awake atm. It's my mumsnet time!)

*bowel movement. Thanks autocorrect

I think they do grow out of it to a degree anyway. DS was pretty much going past 6 by the time he started school at 4.5. Like your Dd was very active and only ever gave me 10.5 hours at night, so had an 8pm bedtime from reception, Dd on the other hand loves her sleep and would go 6:30/6:34- 7 until yr 3

She really needs a week of "emergency naps" in order to allow bedtime to move significantly later. I'd aim for 8.30pm.

By emergency naps I don't mean anything long term. But every day for a week take her on a drive or whatever to force s day time nap.

Not especially helpful, but do you know that you can ‘lock’ the groclock so they can fiddle with the buttons and it doesn’t affect the time?