My 4 year old wakes at 4am!

[CarlyBen21]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has experienced the same sleep issues as I’m having with my 4 year old daughter! I’m at my wits end trying to work out how to help her. She is currently waking between 4-4:30am every morning and just incapable of going back to sleep. She’s clearly not ready to start her day at this time as she’s so tired. Because she’s starting school in sept I thought it was probably time for her to stop her nap (she would still happily nap for at least 2 hours!) The 4am wakes started when I cut the nap (probably due to being overtired) but even previous to this she was waking around 5ish, I thought cutting it would help but it has made it worse and it’s been a few weeks.
Do i persevere and hope she starts to sleep later or should I give her back her nap?
I’ve tried all the obvious things, gro clock, blackout blinds, white noise, you name it!
Please let me know if anyone has had the same issues. Thanks

What do you do when she wakes? She's old enough at 4 to be reasoned with. I definitely wouldn't get up with her but get her to stay in bed and rest looking at books etc. she'll probably get bored enough to go back to sleep and realise nothing exciting happens if you wake up at 4 and it doesn't mean more time/ attention from mummy

Thanks for your message. I don't get up with her, she comes out of her bed when her clock turns green. Her room is dark but I can see in the monitor that she is awake. She tries to go to sleep but just can't. If she was happy enough throughout the day then I wouldn't worry but she's so tired and I just don't know how to help her x

I'd give her, her nap back. 5am is a perfectly normal time for some small children to wake up. DS was still napping when he started school and had been in afternoon nursery for a year before hand. If he didn't have a nap when tired his night time sleep was worse. He has always been an early riser and even at 13 very rarely sleeps in past 7am.

Luckily they do get to the age where they can get up on their own, get their own food and watch TV for a bit before you have to get out of bed.

I spent many a morning from 5 or 5.30am playing with DS after realising it was just his normal wake up time and any trying to get him back to sleep/be quite just didn't work for him.

Thank you for this. I keep hearing how strange it is for her to nap at this age and struggle to find others that also still do!
Maybe I'll just keep it as she's definitely better with it

I have nearly 4 year old twins and they will still have a nap maybe 3-4 times a week. I just let them as they obviously need it - you're not alone!

Do you think she might be getting chilly? It's the coldest time of the night and that can cause them to wake.

Or might she be hungry? I find a banana before bed helpful.

My 4yo naps about twice a week, but only at home never on nursery days. I figure that if she sleeps, she needs it.

Shes also an early riser, so I’d do anything you can to get a bit longer in the morning! September is still a long time away for little ones.