5am wake ups killing me

[dorris88]

My 2.5 YO has been waking up anywhere between 5-6. It's killing me! I'm she's always been an early riser like 7am is a lay in.

She used to wake earliest 6:30 but normally closer to 7.

She still naps for about 1.5hours 1-2:30. Without her nap it doesn't change her wake up time, is too grumpy to properly eat dinner.

Open to any suggestions,

She has a gro clock (which she used to listen to lol) now she just wakes and winges until we come: I've tried to leave it and see if she realises we 'won't come until the clock says it's morning' but that didn't help.

She has black out room.

🤯🤯😣🙏🏻🙏🏻

What time does she go to bed? I would try cutting a little bit off the nap, not dropping it entirely but reducing it by 15 mins and see if that helps. She's starting to need less sleep so shave it off the day time nap

Some kids are just early risers. You should try going to bed a bit earlier!

Make bedtime and her whole daily routine an hour later - treat it like a clock change.
If it’s currently breakfast 7, lunch 12, nap 12.30-2, tea 5, bed 7
Make it 8, 1, 1.30-3, 6 and bed at 8.

We had the same with both dc. I spent years getting up at 4:30, 5, 5:30. Didn't matter what we did, nothing changed the wake up time. Now I have basically devoted my life to exhausting dc mentally and physically, they have an 8pm bedtime - so asleep between 8:30pm and 9pm, they still get up at 6am, but slightly more normal.

My eldest is 5 now, youngest 3. We have a rule that they are not allowed downstairs until 7am (they can read the digital clock). For the sake of my mental health I am absolutely unmovable on this rule - they can come in to our bed for a cuddle but no going downstairs. They whinged for a while, but they got used to it. I don't see having to play quietly together in their shared bedroom as a punishment.

@HalloHello thanks for being so helpful xx

Thanks everyone else x

Sorry no great advice but tons of sympathy. Ds1 was similar, and nothing we tried helped. Then he became a teenager and can now sleep until lunchtime.
I just used to refuse to get out of bed - he could come in with us but I would not come downstairs before 6.30 (that was the absolute latest we could hold him for!) Dh and I took it in turns to have lie-ins at the weekend and I used to doze on the sofa with CBeebies on at silly o'clock on a Sunday.

Get rid of the gro clock, the blue light disturbs sleep. If you need a night light then get a red one.

Move her whole schedule later by 10 mins each day. So breakfast, lunch, dinner 10 mins later.
I actually wouldn't move the nap later though.

I actually think @HalloHello had given you the most useful advice TBH. Instead of pissing about with your toddler's habits (which IME doesn't make any difference), do something you can actually change to make some beneficial difference. Like go to bed earlier yourself.

Alternatively, just leave them to get on with entertaining themselves until 7am.

One of DDs mates (13) gets up at 5.30am. Some people are wired that way.
Saying that most toddlers do grow out of it, so chances are yours will.

At 2.5 it's probably time to cut the nap and go through the horrible few weeks of grumpy afternoons etc.