What bedtime works for a three-year-old waking very early?

[Danwm]

Tired dad of two here! 3 year old (and three months!) slept really well for a long time but recently (pre-heat wave but I'm sure that has an impact!) has started waking up at 5am (if not before!)

He's exhausted by the evening so is usually asleep around 7:15pm. He goes to pre school three days a week so doesn't nap on those days, but naps for 30 mins to an hour on days he doesn't. He has black out blinds and white noise machine.

Wondering what bed times people are using for their three year olds, as in when they are asleep, and any tips for moving wake ups just a bit later!

Grateful for any help and advice!

Drop the nap

Sympathies. Thats practically the middle of the night! My DD is 2 years 8 months so close enough to 3. Will not go down to sleep before 9 which I appreciate is very late for her age but then she does still nap and can do upwards of 2 hours, waking 3-3.30. However she will get up at 8am which is perfect for us. That’s probably not that helpful in your case because your 3 year old is tired by 7.15 and it’s very difficult to just push their bedtime back. However I wonder if a slight change little by little might help. Having said that some do have a tendency to not follow any set rules so it might not be a guaranteed fix. Good luck. Might just hopefully be temporary

I’d try and drop the nap altogether and go little and often to push bedtime back. 10mins or so every few days to see if you can eventually keep him up an hour later and see what difference it makes to the AM wake up call. Sadly there is no one size fits all. Some people are just early risers so have a play around and see what works

My 4 year old has been waking at 5:30am in the heat. When he’s up that early his bedtime is 6:30pm latest, he usually asleep by then. He’s more likely to rise early if overtired

I can’t believe he still naps! Drop the nap ASAP.

Unfortunately some are just early risers. Mine are both up at 5am regardless.

I’d definitely drop the nap, it’ll force more sleep in their night. But also 10 hours overnight is average