5:10 every single morning

[Itsaboutbeingawkward]

Hi everyone. My 2 year old (+ 2 months) has been waking between the very specific times of 5:10 and 5:20 every single morning for a few months now. I feel as though I have tried everything I can think of to get even another 45 mins out of him in the mornings, but we remain at those specific times.

up until the last week he was still napping daily for 1-1.5 hours, however this was becoming a fight and taking upwards of an hour, then bedtime was taking an age as he wasn’t tired enough so we decided to try dropping the nap. Bedtime now going smoothly which is lovely and he seems to be lasting well throughout the day, only looking a bit done in by dinner time.

Generally he is asleep by 6:30pm. It isn’t coldness as we bought a hive thermostat which stays in his room to make sure it doesn’t get too cold. There isn’t any light peeking in to wake him. No noises we can hear as we have set alarms to be awake first and check. I go in when he wakes and try cuddling him/encouraging him back to sleep but this is vey rarely successful. He will try to get up and turn his lamp on, plays with a toy, talks constantly but also yawns continuously 🫣

Am I missing anything? It is genuinely destroying my soul!

Have you tried a gro clock? Our sleep specialist advised using one, you set it at 5:10 initially and make it a big deal - oh good morning! The sun is shining! And get up with him. Then you start edging it forward by 10 minutes every few days. Does he sleep in a cot? if he’s in a cot, I would avoid going in until the sun shines on the clock. If not in a cot, you could go pop head in and say shh it’s not morning yet , pointing to the clock. then 10 mins later you make a big song and dance about it being morning. As he starts to relax his body clock should start to shift forward. He will learn to regulate himself.

As his waking shifts forward, I would try to nudge bedtime forward too. At that age, mine slept 7-7/7:30.

good luck! This method worked for both of my boy! We always stuck to anything earlier than 7am is night time.

What time is his last bit of food? He's asleep quite early so I'm wondering if he's waking because he's hungry rather than because he wants to be awake. Can you get a banana into him just before you do his teeth and then straight to bed?

Thanks for the replies! He has a Yoto Player with the sunshine/moon but will not acknowledge it when we talk about it still being night time. This is what I used with his big sister and it worked very quickly. Been using it since June with no improvements.

i have tried banana in the bath before teeth. Zero difference. Tried toast after the bath, won’t eat it. Have tried 7pm bedtime, 6pm bedtime, 7:30pm bedtime. Nothing makes a difference, it is as if a switch turns in his brain at 5:10am.

I have had some success if ive been in bed with him before the 5am wakeup where he has felt me there, woke up and fell back to sleep. However, this doesn’t work every time and in his room I then can’t hear his big sister (4) if she gets up.

we have a white noise machine and he is in a double floor bed. Has been in a floor bed since 11 months so very used to it. He opens his door at 5:20am. There is a gate so he can’t get out!

Currently with his tiredness we are eating at 5ish and then he is going in the bath at 6!

7pm bedtime and a gro clock x

DS1 has been an early riser all his life. Like yours, if I was in bed with him, then sometimes he'd sleep a little bit longer, but I can count on one hand (maybe 2 - but he's 15!) the times he's slept in as late as 7am (only when he's been sick - and not every time even then).

Didn't matter if he went to bed late or early. He's awake between 5 and 5:30.

We just rolled with it and left him a breakfast snack out, and let him play until we were ready to get up (he wasn't a mischief-maker, he wouldn't do anything he shouldn't)

I am kind of wishing my life away for this day to come haha. I’d be more than happy for him to get up and put the tv on with a snack when he is bigger. His big sister knows if she wakes and there is still a 6 on the yoto then she can watch tv until 7 but she isn’t to come out the room til 7. I know he is just wee but i would just love even a 6am wakeup! Dad works away so when he is home I get the odd sleep til 7 but it is mostly me every day and it is getting to me as the mornings get darker!

I tried everything and in the end I just let my DS watch Netflix on the tablet while I snoozed next to him for that hour. I’m not pretending that’s great parenting but it was about survival as I was wrecked by 5am wake ups

Did it ever change? I am more than happy to resort to this 😂 i just worried he would never change if i started giving in haha

When you put him to bed later, how long did you do it for?

He's sleeping about 11 hours so doubt you will get him to sleep longer.

This is what I did!

You need to try the edging forward tactic with the sun/ moon. And ignore him for the 5/10 mins until the sun shines, then go in.

DD went through a phase of that. 5.20 on the dot for a few weeks. She was in a cot though until 3. I used to go in and lie her down and say ssshhh it’s still night time and leave the room. It mainly worked. Though she did have a dummy then so would find it and stick it in! 😂 It was summer and there was maybe a chink of light in the morning so we bought some blackout fabric and used Velcro to attach it to the window frame as we were so desperate!

Is there any external noises your missing? My one child would wake because the boiler clicked on at five am (but you could vacuum with a dyson by his head if you wanted too) my other child woke at 6am when the neighbour came back from work and his exhaust is a rumbler

This was ds2. We used to watch Postman Pat and Fireman Sam every day until 6.30 whilst I put a blanket over my head and snoozed.
It did change - slowly. He gradually got to 6.30 during primary school, but had his first proper lie in aged 18! He's always been great at going to sleep though. Head on the pillow and he's gone.
However I still remember the horror of the week the clocks went forward, so he would bounce awake at 4.30. [shudders at the memory]

Can you stick it out till the end of October? The clock change will sort it out!

But then we will be awake at 4:20 instead of 5:20 😂😭

Oh yeah shit 😂😂😂too many 5am wake ups here too! Forgot we were going to work on moving bedtime later during October