Our 28 month old son wakes so early in the morning.?

Question

He usually comes through to our room at about 5am and sometimes he will lie quiet but mostly he chatters and fidgets. He goes to bed at around 7.15pm each night, which we consider to be late enough. Any ideas how we can get him to sleep in, without keeping him up later? We have a blackout curtain up at his window, do not live on a main road and as far as we know there is nothing that wakes him other than his own (very early) body clock!. If we could get another 45 minutes we'd be glad. Anyone elses experience and advice will be welcomed. Thank you!

We have actually tried putting him to bed later, although we both think his 7.15pm bedtime is right for his age. Anyway, it didn't work, he still got up at the same time. The suggestion of trying to get him to play in his room for a little while is a good one, also I think we probably should consider going earlier ourselves! He does still have a nap and we have tried to get him out of this but he's not for giving it up yet. Trying to keep him awake is traumatic as he does what most toddlers do when overtired, get's silly and naughty! I guess we'll just have to bide our time and wait until he's ready to lie in a bit longer. Can't wait!
Thanks to everyone who gave thoughtful answers and advice. To those who were sarcastic, glad I'm neither your friend or relative. What charmed lives you must lead...

Answer 1

my daughters 25 months old bed time is 9pm-10pm she wakes up at 4-5am and comes wakes me up to play we have dark curtains and if we dont get up with theres trouble like she climbs into things making bed-time later doesnt work and to be honest im trying to answer this ? myself.

good luck to both of us LOL.

sorry i cant be much help but i wanted to let u know ur not alone in this.

Answer 2

I would say it is habit now. So you need to break it. I know you say that 7.15pm is late enough but you need to maybe make it a little later just for a few nights. It will confuse his body clock and he should sleep a little later in the morning.

Another option which worked well for us, was to go up about 11.30ish and just gently wake our child. If he is potty training you could just give him a quick go on the toilet or potty. After a minute or two we let him go back to sleep. To be honest he never really woke, even when sat on the potty but it just throws the body clock and disturbs the sleep pattern.

We found as a result to both of these our son slept for at least half an hour more, which as you know makes a big difference. After a few days we put bedtime back to normal and stopped waking him but his body clock was still stuck at waking him that bit later.

However we did have a rule from very young that they never came in our room. This helps alot as he might be inclined to stay in bed a bit longer if he can't come in to you.

We would put a couple of books and toys at the end of his bed for him and this would keep him entertained for a while.

He is now 8 and goes to bed at 8.30 and is up at 6ish so don't expect miracles, however he has learnt how to amuse himself.

One other option you could try is a sleepytime bunny clock. It is designed for younger children who cannot yet tell the time. His eyes stay shut until a time set by you. You can then tell your son he cannot come into you until this time as before then is sleepytime.

They can be bought in a few places like ebay and GLTC for around £20.

Answer 3

Good luck. I have tried everything I can think of and my kids are early risers. My kids are 9, 6 and almost 4. It does not matter is they stay up are active or not. They just wake up early. Keeping him up later has NEVER worked for me, they are just extra tired all day. If he goes to sleep without much fuss the 7:15 is OK. If he really fights it the keep him up a little. Does he take a nap? You could try skipping that if he does. Unfortunately he can't tell time.

Answer 4

If your son takes a two hour nap during the day and goes to bed at 7:15 then he is getting enough sleep. Toddlers require about 12 hours of sleep a day and that includes naps. If you want another 45 minutes of sleep then slowly increase his bedtime by 45 minutes. Make sure you do this slowly you dont want a crabby child. Just remember it will take about 3 weeks for him to adjust to his new schedule.

Answer 5

I put a gate up in front of my daughter's door to keep her in her room at nap. I run and in home day care and if the gate is not up she will run through the house and keep everyone else from getting any sleep. This helps give me a piece of mind because I know that her room is safe and there is nothing that she can hurt or that can hurt her. My doctor also suggested doing this at night since she will not sleep through the night and about three every night she is coming to get in bed with me.

Answer 6

I agree that his bedtime is about right, unfortunetly I think that there is not alot you can do to keep him in bed longer. If he natrually wakes at that time then it won't mater what time he goes to bed at night he will still get up the same in the morning. You may have to start going to bed earlier. If he still has an afternoon nap you could try stopping that you never know it might work.

Answer 7

If he is waking up on his own, like our son was, there may not be much you can do to get him to sleep longer, but you can try to get him to stay in his own room longer. At that age, we started teaching our son that he had to stay in his room and play quietly or look at books until the sun came up. It meant early mornings in the summer, but the winters are nice.
When he was 4 we taught him to get a simple breakfast together for himself (we put milk in a covered cup in the fridge, and poured out the cereal into a bowl the night before, and he would get that and feed himself)
Now he still gets up by 6 almost every day, but we can sleep until 8 most days because he will play with his legos.

Answer 8

7:15 pm is too early to put a child to bed. Push the bed time out to 8 or 8:30 - then he will sleep in later.

Answer 9

once you get a super gamble, google "intense intensity infant". there is not any longer something incorrect with those childrens (I even have one) yet CIO won't artwork. they're alert and pay interest to issues around them for all time. have you ever considered introducing solids? If he quite lies down for mattress and wakes up it sounds like he's making an attempt to sleep yet can't discern it out. My son slept on me on my chest for the 1st 3 months each night on the sofa, it replaced into the only way he could relax. (Our naps have been purely like yours.) I went from the sofa to the mattress, then rolled him beside me. Then from there we worked our thank you to the crib (purely final week.) try white noise, a fan in keeping with probability interior the room, a pacifier, or perhaps pump and examine out eating from a bottle and notice how lots he's taking in. no rely what, do no longer permit all of us supply you a no longer undemanding time for attempting something to permit you infant be properly rested. permit me recognize if i will help extra, I even have been by using this with my son, or perhaps regardless of the undeniable fact that he's snoozing quite lots now, i recognize it is going to possibly regress back earlier that's finished. in case you may permit somebody instruct you ways to and get some relax so which you will get refreshed....you in no way recognize what combination will lead them to sleep! (try the vehicle experience, swing, bouncy chair, something to assist him stay asleep for an hour or 2.) And bear in innovations he nonetheless could desire to be hungry and could desire to nurse. i quite do experience for you!

Answer 10

his bedtime is too early. at 2 10 hours of sleep is ideal. keep him up later a good bedtime for him would be about 8:30-9pm