Early riser

[KellyC89]

So my 18 month old keeps waking at 5am. He is awake and ready to play at that time and I'm finding it exhausting! It's been going on for a few months now. He goes to bed at 7 and sometimes wakes up in the night but only briefly. I find that because he's waking up at 5 he ends up having a big 2 hour morning nap about 8:30 and then a 1 hour afternoon nap about 2:30/3. I'm 35 weeks pregnant and struggling to keep up. Does anyone have any advice? We've tried blackout blinds/curtains. We've also tried dropping a nap but he tends to struggle to sleep at night then. He always goes down to sleep in his cot and generally has no problems getting to sleep unless he's poorly/teething.

 

[cheekybump]

my son was the same and sometimes still gets up at half 5 but i try not to go in the room at half 5, he will happily lie there for a while so i try and hold off until half 6 before going in to get him. could you try and drop the morning nap and bring the afternoon nap forward to 12pm? maybe that would help. xxx

 

[H16]

The only way I got around this was to start putting her to bed an hour later - she goes at 8pm now and most days sleeps through until 7am-7.30am. Much better! I also won't let her nap past 4pm otherwise she doesn't tire herself out enough to sleep well at night x

 

[Alwaystrying]

I have the same problem with my LO, he is awake by 5.30 - 6 most mornings but I tend to leave him until just after 6, he only has a 2 hour nap from 12-2 during the day, I have tried to put him bed later but this makes no difference at all as he will still wake at the same time. I think I just have an early riser but agree it is exhausting

 

[MrsT2011]

The general rule of the thumb is the earlier they go to bed the longer they sleep - do it in 15 min instalments such as 6.45pm for a week and see if there's any improvement.
B goes through phases of being up early so we ensure he has some early nights and it normally sorts itself x

 

[KellyC89]

I've tried putting him to bed later and that doesn't work just seems to make him sleep less! So I will try putting him down a little earlier and see how that goes. I'd be quite happy if he was waking at 6/6:30 but 5 just seems far too early for me haha. That hour makes a huge difference. I can't even leave him in his cot when he wakes that early as he just cries and cries! I'm sure/hoping it's something that he will grow out of! Thanks for the advice ladies!

 

[JD.Deedee]

I used to get him in our bed.. Always works.. Sleep til half 8-9 ish.. Give it a try!

 

[KellyC89]

Oh we do try that and occasionally he will but I'm 35 weeks pregnant and don't want to make it a habit

 

[JD.Deedee]

My little one is nearly two, so it was a habit for us.. Even bedsharing was.. But honestly the older they get the easier it is to get them out.. Although I can imagine you need your space in the bed too! Try and see if you can keep him up for his late nap perhaps that might work and he might just shift up his long early nap to a little later in the afternoon mixing it out a bit more even?

 

[KellyC89]

Yeah we did it for a while but the bigger I was getting the harder it was to get to sleep with him in the bed. He's a diagonal sleeper too haha. He only napped this afternoon today so I'm seeing how that goes this evening. Though he didn't have a long nap. Was about 1hr 10. I'm guessing it'll take time to adjust.

 

[Alwaystrying]

I wish my LO would sleep in my bed, he will only sleep in his cot

 

[KellyC89]

I guess that can be just as difficult Alwaystrying. Though my little one went through a phase of not wanting to sleep anywhere but our bed and while I know that works for some people I found it really difficult! Just shows you how all babies are so different!