How do you get a toddler to sleep in?

Question

Our 18 month old son has adopted the lovely habit of waking up anytime between 4:30-5:30 am. Sometimes my wife can get him back to sleep by breastfeeding, but we are weaning soon and I'm looking for any tips on getting him to sleep in later. It doesn't matter if he goes to bed at 6:30pm or 10:30pm, he still wakes up (too!) early. Any advice out there moms and dads?

Answer 1

Do you play lullabies? I leave toys in the crib too.

Answer 2

Allright, no matter what your son is on a schedule and that is going to be hard to change. I just moved into a new place and I just got my son on a schedule that he goes to bed by 11 and is up by 8. Try putting him to bed a little later like 12 (if you stay up that late) and play with him. Wear him out and make sure that he doesn't take to many naps or long naps during the day. A 18 month old should only be taking an hour and a half nap a day. And do that about 12pm to 1pm, make sure that its not late in the day. It may be taxing to be a parent sometimes but the rewards are great even if you lose sleep over it. I have learned that being a single mom of one 3 year old little boy.

Answer 3

First, good luck... weaning from the BF (breastfeeding) and that is probably what is making him wake up. Any change in his schedule can disrupt the sleeping pattern. Switching to whole milk and mixing in a scoop or two of formula and then getting your son on a set schedule, getting him down to one nap during the day and making sure it is in the middle of the day and not at 6pm at night. Unfortunately, you don't have a quick fix.

Our DD (dear daughter) is 13 mos and she sleeps in until 6:30 am - 8:30 am. One thing we did to get her to sleep through the night was to get rid of middle of the night/morning feedings and then when she fusses in the morning, I let her cry for a maximum 10 minutes. Now, she sleeps through the night and if I am not ready to get up in the a.m. and get her day started, she just chills in her crib, playing with toys or just laying back down, but still awake. If you keep running in there at 6:30 am, he is going to expect it.

Good luck, again.

Answer 4

Both my boys did the same thing.
Unfortunately I tried keeping him up later and nothing seemed to change.
If your toddler wakes up and isn't crying then just let him stay in the bed and you two don't have to get up right away. It also teaches them to calm themselves and entertain themselves.
Then you can go get him when it isn't too early for the two of you.
I did it with my oldest and am going threw the same thing with my youngest - five and a half months old. Doesn't matter when he goes to bed up around three to four thirty in the morning. I go in and give him his pacifier and change a diaper. and if he isn't fussy then I go lay back down.
I also changed my schedule and I get up no later then seven o'clock and start my day. My body got used to it. I am also going threw the teething a little earlier than I did with my first child.
Each child is different, but getting them used to entertaining themselves for a little bit isn't a bad thing. I also put a little musical thing that hangs in the crib so that I can turn it on to keep his attention.
It does get better honest.
good luck and I hope that this helped.

Answer 5

I'm going thru the same thing with my 20 month old. But if he misses his nap it is even worse. He'll get up throughout the night. If he has a really good nap he sleeps later. (till like 7) Sometimes giving him a sippy cup puts him back to sleep. and make sure his diaper is clean. also, he probably is teething so motrin before bed. it last longer than tylenol. And this stage doesn't last forever so try to hang in there.

Answer 6

I got luck with my first son, he was and still is a sleeper. A bomb could go off under his ear and he would sleep through it. Now my second son is like yours. Didnt matter what time he went to sleep. he would rise early. He is about to be five in a couple days. And he sleeps a lot longer. Its a bad habit, but I agree, if you put the baby in bed with the mother they feel more secure and comfortable. Thus tending to sleep longer. It also helps to get them very active during the day and during the summer swimming always makes my boys tired. Good Luck.

Answer 7

Don't skip the naps simply because he's not sleeping in. It is not possible to catch up on sleep, if you loose it, it's gone. You simply have to make it reinforcing for him to sleep in or less reinforcing to wake up early. Right now he knows that if he wakes up early he's ensured a feeding...he's being rewarded for waking up early. Never reward a child for behavior you don't want to encourage.

If you stop the breastfeeding you might have an extinction burst at first (a tantrum because he wants to be fed) but if you stay strong the tantrums will stop, he'll figure out that he's no longer going to get rewarded for waking up early, and will be much more likely to sleep in.

Answer 8

I have a daughter the same age and she wakes up in the middle of night (sometimes not often) He could be in the process of teething, try some Tylenol. Also try to make him more tired at night when he goes to bed, or when he wakes up go in a rock him and see if he'll go back to bed.

Good Luck

Answer 9

Is your son still sleeping in a crib? If so, it may be time to move him to a toddler bed. I had the same problem with my daughter when she was about that age, then we put her in a toddler bed and when she learned that she could just get up and play in the morning, she'd do that. We gave her a little lamp that she could turn on by herself in the morning.

Another thought is that is when he's wetting his diaper and wakes up because he is wet. My daughter HATED being wet at night, so once we put her in the toddler bed, we put pull-ups on her and taught her how to change it herself. We'd just leave an extra one out before we put her to bed.

Answer 10

try an alarm clock. i got one for my sons (2 1/2 and 5) and i tell them that they can't get out of bed until it rings. get something like batman, let him pick it out so he feels part of it and also set the clock for a minute or 2 from the time you plug it in so he can hear it and know what it sounds like. then show him how to push the snooze button. then, of course, set it for whatever time you want him to get up. also some stuffed animals in the room would be good so that if he just can't wait for the clock to ring they will distract him and he might even fall back to sleep. i have curtains on the window and both of my sons have a tent on their bed to keep the early morning sun out. the alarm clock is great training for those school days.

Answer 11

well, I hate to break it to you, but, that is the way it goes for liitle one. This is what my nephew says"when the sun is up you get up, when the sun is down , then you can go down.". He will just run in and wake you up. That is just the wat they are. Breastfeeding works, like you said, then just get her to pump some, and when he wake use a bottle if he is not always on the breast a get it to where he don't like waking up. Don't rush to go get him. Put some little toys in there, if he wakes up. I hope that you can get him to sleep, but I don't know of any child under 5 that will not be up early. Good luck.