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Sleep

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Original poster

2 year old waking at 5am no matter what I try- HELP! ADVICE NEEDED!!

20 replies

jkb · 27/03/2008 14:48

My son has started waking at 5am & is wide awake, jumping up & down in his cot like its the middle of the day! He shouts get up, go downstairs at the top of his voice.
we have blackout blinds in his room- so its not a light thing- but somehow, he just knows its NOT the middle of the night & demands to get up (if he wakes at 4am- he seems to just go back to sleep fine after a sip of water).. now.. im no soft touch- I have tried all sorts- I have said NO- & go back to sleep its night time & let him scream for over an hour (hes so stubborn & dosent give in)- Ive tried explaining to him that its night time- I have tried bringing him to our bed, going in his bed - NOTHING works- he wants to get up & will not give in!
I have tried missing his daytime nap completly (as he currently has about 90 mins - 2 hours)- I have tried doing a later bedtime of 8.30 - 9.00-(normal bedtime is 7- 7.30) no... still wakes up at 5 !! He has a built in clock!

Have any of you had a similar problem? should I just accept that this is his waking time (please God no!)..

OP posts:

Original poster

jkb · 27/03/2008 14:49

forgot to add... that after tryng to just ignore him & say no- its nightime & let him cry- we have had to give in.. he just did not give in & we live in a terraced house- not fair on neighbours to listen to that at 5am!

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ProfessorGrammaticus · 27/03/2008 14:50

Yes, we did. And not much made a difference, tbh, but it did stop in the end. We never got him up, but it didn't sopt him WANTING to get up, IYSWIM.

avenanap · 27/03/2008 14:50

Have you tried putting a clock in his room and telling him that it's not time for him to get up until the clock goes off? It's worth a try

Original poster

jkb · 27/03/2008 14:55

i have thought about that- but he's only 2 & 4 months & I dont think he would really understand that- or if he did.. i dont think he will abide my it- hes at a very stubborn & unreasonable stage at the moment.... I know the biggest mistake im making is actually bringing him downstairs.. but im stuffed.. cos if I dont he shouts his head off so loudly- my poor neighbours- I couldnt do it to them... he just dosent give in!

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avenanap · 27/03/2008 15:00

Have you spoken to them, I would ask them if it would disturb them if you left him, they may not mind if it is only for a couple of mornings. I used to bring ds into my bed in the mornings and he would go back to sleep. When he was old enough to understand I stopped him doing this by telling him that mummy needed her sleep or I wouldn't be able to play with him. This worked.

Original poster

jkb · 27/03/2008 15:03

I did try 2 mornings in a row leaving him & saying no.. but he just didnt give in.. so didnt really want to do a 3rd as I know they can hear it clearly- the walls in these houses are terrible...
if we bring him into our bed he wont go back off- never has.. he has never ever slept in our bed- only his own..even if hes ill.. i suppose thats a good thing in some ways.. but at times like this I wish he would

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PotPourri · 27/03/2008 15:04

Does he have access to toys or books? Maybe you could encourage him to amuse himself in the morning when he wakes up.

Is he still in a cot? Is that frustrating him, being stuck in there?? Maybe you could bargain with him about getting a bed or a treat if he sleeps quietly until you come into him - a star chart or something.

My DDs wake at 6ish, I have jsut learnt to accept. But 5 is definately the middle of the night!!

LadyJH · 27/03/2008 15:07

My dd is exactly the same age and I promise you this is just a phase. I thought I was going to drop dead after a week or two of this, and, suddenly, we were all allowed to sleep until 7 again. We also have blackout curtains and double glazing, so I have no idea what was going on. I just blamed dp's snoring!

Original poster

jkb · 27/03/2008 15:10

I would love to put him in a bed- but he a terribly restless sleeper, ends up in a ball at the end of his cot & sometimes has night terrors where his throws himself all over the place & can really hurt himself... so not sure he's ready for a bed?.. so no.. he dosent have toys to get to... but its like- he wake sup- I KNOW hes sill really tired- but he just automatically starts insisting on going downstairs & just will NOT shut up ... no matter how I try & distract him! he's a very well behaved boy.. but NOT in the mornings!

OP posts:

Original poster

jkb · 27/03/2008 15:12

I have even stopped the heating coming on as I began to think it was that that was waking him... NOPE!
glad to hear yours stopped ladyjh! Just hope mine does- however its been going on a good while now!

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avenanap · 27/03/2008 15:15

My ds was a bit like this, I moved him into a toddler bed, it's alot lower than a normal bed so he didn't hurt himself when he fell off. He started sleeping through the night when I got rid of his cot. I put a stair gate in his door so he could not escape. You could try putting some of his favourite toys from downstairs in his bedroom. He's got himself into the habit of getting up this early and it will not be easy to change this, it won't happen over night either I'm afraid.

PotPourri · 27/03/2008 15:55

And you could put pillows on the floor so that he would have a soft landing if he fell out, and also could act as a step so he can get in and out more easily. That is what I did until recently for DD2 (aged 21 months). I have since taken the pillows away as she can climb in effectively on her own. And she sleeps all over the bed, often find her in a ball at the bottom of hte bed.

I also tried the heating thing, but then wondered if they were getting cold...!

I also put an anyway up cup of water in their beds, a tissue under their pillow, and a cuddly toy, and regularly talk them through what they shoudl do if they waken up - i.e. there is everything they need there. and although there are not alot fo toys in teh room, there are a few and a bookshelf - they often get up and read books for a while before even coming in to our room.

I think it might be worth talking to your neighbour to explain, and then sit it out for a few days to see if you can break the cycle.

Is he an only child? I have found that the two of them annoy each other, but also chat to each other alot too. Could he just be bored and want company? Waht about a CD player with story CDs that he can put on in the mroning himself - tricky though if he is in the cot, unless you could put it within reach

Hope you sort it out soon. Sleep deprivation is really naff!!

gingerninja · 27/03/2008 16:00

My DD is an early riser to and nothing I do changes that either. I've just had to accept it (reluctantly). My DD is in a bed though, we've got her a matress on the floor and while she potters about in her bed room I lay in her bed and doze

nervousal · 27/03/2008 16:07

my sympathies - DD 94) used to be up at 5 - she sorted herself out eveNtually. Now shes usually up just after 6 (which suits us ok apart from at weekends) and wakes us all shouting "WHY IS NO-ONE COMING INTO MY ROOM????"

My2Weegirls · 27/03/2008 16:16

oh sympathies - my DD1 was and unfortunately still is just the same - she's now 3.2.

she is a real restless sleeper too and suffered with night terrors for a while (they stopped about 2.6yrs).

we've put a clock in her room and told her that she must stay in bed till 6am. we taught her to recognise a 6 - i think we did that about xmas time, so 2.11, which is a bit older than your ds. i do know that you can get a bunny clock - bunny awake,bunny asleep but it's about 30 pounds (pound sign not working on this keyboard).

now depending on what time she wakes/shout on us/comes through we put her back to bed with a couple of books to look at till her clock says 6 something (we've set it 15min slow .

i've tried bringing her in with us - but she just wants to go downstairs and play/get breakfast/go outside.

we seem to go through phases where some weeks she will sleep till after 6am - but not many.

will watch with interest to see if there is anymore advice.

MadamePlatypus · 27/03/2008 16:18

The clocks are going forward soon - will that help?

Original poster

jkb · 27/03/2008 21:16

bump

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VaginaShmergina · 27/03/2008 22:35

Have tried most of theabove and my 4 year old DS gets up anytime between 5.15 and 6.30. One week is different to the next.

One thing I did have suggested to me when this all first started was boys of this age need lots of protein. Give him as much protein as you can as late as you can for tea. Maybe it will work ?

Good luck, but I think some kids are early risers and others are not, I go to bed at the same time as both my DC's once a week as the sleep deprivation is awful and as you can see I'm still sitting here now...............

Byyyeeeeee

tania111 · 28/03/2008 21:22

Hi,
I had exactly the same problems with my son.

You say you stopped the day time sleep, I think you have to do that consistently for at least two weeks and let him have no sleep at all in the day and then you will find he will sleep till 7.

I thought that wouldn't work, but until I did it for a significant period it didn't. Then after a couple of weeks it did and my son sleeps fine now.

I think alot of two years olds don't need a day time sleep. Even now my son is four and a half, if he sleeps for 20 minutes in the day, he will wake up at 6, but if he doesn't he will wake up at 7.30!

678somuchtolearn · 06/05/2020 06:58

Our little one has woken up at 5am since he was a new born and he’s 2 now. We tried a later bed time but this made it worse as he was more overtired and didn’t sleep well. He used to cry when he woke up but now he’ll play happily in his cot for a while taking all his clothes off On the very very rare occasion he sleeps in later he is in a really good mood so I feel he needs an extra 30mins to 1 hour in the morning- but we just can’t make him. Trying to stick to a routine and not worrying about it is the only thing we can do! If yours hasn’t always woken up this early I imagine it will be a phase (our phases are 4am!) good luck

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