Why did my 2 year old who WAS a great sleeper start waking at 5:00am? He's been doing it for 3 weeks now!

Question

How do I stop the madness? Since he's been waking up that early he is clearly tired all day long and has started taking earlier naps that are longer.

If he doesn't have a nap he falls over and goes to sleep on the floor by 3:00pm..not to mention completely melts down.

Bed time is 8:00pm, wierd thing is if I make him go to bed later (9:00pm) or take away his naps it doesn't seem to make a difference, he still wakes up before the sun at 5:00am and insists on going downstairs to play.

Anyone with experience with this? Please help!

Answer 1

My kids both did this around this time. At one point, I was getting up with my daughter at 4AM.

It does have something to do with getting him regulated to a new schedule. Here's what I would try - Get up at 5AM today, put him down for a nap today, but only let him sleep 1 hour. Then put him down to sleep at 6PM (or whenever it looks like he's about to fall out). Tomorrow night, try to push the time back 15 minutes and keep doing that until he's sleeping longer in the morning and going to bed at 8PM at night (if you want him to keep that bedtime).

Good luck! It does change...

Answer 2

You have to take the naps away for a week sometimes it can take longer. See your son got used to his crashes and early wake ups and well he need that turned back to normal and you need to change it over time and not just in a few days here and there its not healthy sleep patterens. I would start with getting him early naps that are short but long enough for his growing needs and make him really really tired at night so he sleeps good. My son did the same thing and boy did I want to start napping with him for a long time tell I was feed up with the lack of sleep. So start to get him on a patteren and at first it will be hard but it will work out in the end.

Answer 3

You may need to tweek his routine a bit. Kids this age are constantly changing and sometimes we forget that their routines need to change too. Maybe he's waking up early because he's hungry. Perhaps you need to move dinnertime a little closer to bed time. Or maybe you need to make him get up sooner from his nap so he is ready for sleeping at night. Maybe the room is too light in the morning. Maybe you need to schedule in two short naps instead of one long nap. Play around with his sleeping/eating schedule and see if that works. Make sure he isn't having any problems with his teeth or ears. Is it possible that having a messy diaper in the morning is what is waking him up? Sometimes these things are just trial and error.

Answer 4

been there. Once they start it it is hard to break. It was a sign for my son that it was time for arvo sleep to go. There is not much you can do but let him know he has to stay in his room. Have no toys in there and make it as boring as possible. He knows he can get up and play so he will. He needs bedtime to be no later that 7pm at this age. If he HAS to sleep wake him after 30 min so he goes down again at a good time

Answer 5

Strangely enough, it could be because he is still too tired! You might bumping up bedtime a half an hour or an hour, see what happens. My nephews always went to bed at 7, and still slept the night through. Well, of course that may not be typical. Hope you figure it out!

Answer 6

Keep putting him to bed at 9 or even 10 pm. Just doing it a couple times may not be enough to change his sleep pattern.

Also right before bed let him run around the house like a "crazy monkey" (that's just my saying). Let him wear himself down real good.

Try seeing if he'll lay back down w/ you and go back to sleep.

Or...Just let him play in his room until you get up (as long as he is completely safe).

I'd actually try the first 3 options together. Best of luck.

Answer 7

is his room dark ? try blackout curtains that fit really well. worked for us