DS 2years old. 5am wake-ups. Will not settle. Is he too old for wake to sleep method?

[SycamoretreeIsFullOfResolve]

I think the thread title says it all really, and I know there will be many, many of you out there with the same problem.

DS is in a toddler bed.

Sleeps like a rock from 7.30pm until 5am (some blessing there).

He can wake any time from 5-6am (sometimes 6.30am).

On holiday he went until 7am everyday so it IS possible. He was so exhausted from all the swimming etc I guess.

He is still napping over lunchtime - about and hour and a half.

We tried cutting this for 4 days but it had no effect (did we need to try for longer?)

I just simply cannot accept that 5am is anything other than the middle of the night.

Tsk...we never had this trouble with DD!

i don't think that cutting a daytime nap helps = i think in some cases, the better a toddler sleeps in the day the better they sleep at night

i used WTS when DS was around a year old and it did work - no reason why you can't do it for a 2 year old

it has to be clockwork waking tho - same time each morning

So 4am you think, if he's tending to get up at 5/5.30am?

How much did you rouse DS when you did it?

it needs to be an hour before the wake up

i used to wake DS until he was almost but not quite fully awake - so stroke his cheeks, untuck blankets and he would move/wriggle and briefly open his eyes

i would then leave him to re-settle

we did it for 3 nights, and on the 4th he woke at 5 am (again) so we did it for 6 more nights and it worked

Thanks Ruby, will give it a try (anything has got to be worth a try).

good luck

sorry, what is wake to slleep? I have the same problem with my 2yo ds. Also, have you tried the bedside light on a timer thing?

Wake to sleep, I think, is when you wake a child before their natural wake time when they are in a deep sleep, and let them resettle, the theory being that they then go back to the beginning of their sleep cycle and manage another couple of hours.

I have asked my sister to buy him one of those sleeping/waking cow clocks for his birthday in a couple of weeks, which I think is the same idea as the light.