2 1/2-Year-old Waking up Too Earlier

Hi Yvonne,

I highly recommend a couple of things: the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth (the first half is theory, so skip to the second half for the practical application, it's ordered by age for ease of use), and the Good Nite Lite www.goodnitelite.com.

You may need to put him to bed earlier--counterintuitive, I know, but it works!--and give that method a shot (it's all in the book).

My last thought is, it could be a phase. My son (also 2 1/2) goes through phases where he wakes up way early--5:00--and we've changed nothing. That's where the Good Nite Lite comes in handy. I showed it to him, the moon and the sun, and told him several times that when the sun comes up, he may get out of bed. But, when the moon is awake, it is time for him to rest in bed. It worked the very first night!! He doesn't sleep any longer, but he does stay in his room, allowing us to stay in bed until it is truly time to get up.

Good luck with this and the new baby on the way!

Yvonne,

I don't have an answer, but I recall going through this situation myself. I would suggest trying to slowly move back his bedtime - maybe 5 minutes later each night, until you get to 8 or 8:15.

Also, if your son "expects" to be rescued from his room as soon as he's up in the morning, he has no reason to play quietly or "roll back over" and try to get more sleep. It sounds like you've simply entered the phase where he's active and wants to play.

My suggestion would be to either not reply, and let him cry or figure out another solution or if you feel too guilty doing that, then tell him something like, when your door is open you can come out. (We used this with a gate on my daughter's door - it was one that had the pedal on the outside.) If you're going to go this route, maybe get him a "Baby Tad" doll - it talks and plays games and music. You can give it to him AFTER he's asleep each night to play with in the morning. You'll have to show him how fun it is, i.e. how to push the buttons, but it could be a "new" morning toy that he ONLY GETS in the morning. Obviously you don't need to get this toy, but it's an example of something special that he only gets to play with at that time.

I think somewhere between 2-3 they wake up, ready to play. The want someone to come get them to "go downstairs". It takes some training to teach them that it's not time to wake up yet.

I hope this helps! Good luck,

Sara

My friend swears by the Good Night Light...she also did the review for it. Another one of my friends uses a different type, but same concept.

http://www.kidbuyproducts.com/2008/12/review-good-nite-li...

I was perplexed until you mentioned you are pregnant. Last trimester is tough for a 2-3 year old. You are tired, preparations for teh new baby are heightenting and as far as he can tell nothing has changed.
My son was 3 years old when I was pregnant and his behavior did all sorts of random changes. I started taking him to doctor appointments so he could hear the heart beat, see the ultrasound, ask the midwife questions etc. it really helped.
For the short run, we scrapped the bedtime regimin and let him set the tone each night. sometimes we'd fall alseep together in front of the tv while he told stories to my belly. My husband's job was to take him to bed when he was out cold and then wake me so i could move too.
In the long run he is the middle boy now and continues to be my night owl, but he does NOT wake me in the AM anymore.
During pregnancy, I am a an advocate of dooing whtever is necessary to get through. You need sleep and so does he. lots of things will have to shift after the baby come, but until then, let him have your time and attention if he wants it.

ABOUT ME: Working/student/Mom of 3 (ages 8, 6 & 3), married to my soulmate.

Our son is two and he does this from time to time. On Saturday, it was 4:45. Way too early, in my opinion! Despite the fact the I need more sleep...it's more important that *he* gets more sleep - his little developing brain absolutely, positively needs it! We let him chatter and jabber in his crib and he'll fall back asleep. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes, other times it takes 45 minutes, but he always drifts off again. We NEVER go in early unless he is crying hysterically in distress (after 2 years of hearing his various noises, we now know the difference).

I agree with the other poster who said that if you go to get him, that is what he will learn to expect...and that's the response you'll get. What worked for us is that we wound up putting 3 stuffed animals (Elmo, a bear, and his 'sheepie') and a book in his crib. Some mornings when he wakes up at the crack of dawn before the chickens have arisen, he'll 'wake up' his stuffed animals and either play with them or 'read' the book to them. It's totally cute - we can hear him say things like "Read, sheepie".

Good luck to you with both the toddler sleeping and the upcoming delivery of your baby girl! Since he's 2 1/2. just put a few things in the crib so he can self-entertain when he wakes up.

Your child needs to go to bed earlier (in order to wake up later!) I'm on the Dr. Weissbluth plan for my two year old -- she goes to bed at 6pm, sleeps until 7am! She takes a nap at 12noon for two hours. I follow Weissbluth exactly and it WORKS!!!!!!! Call him -- ###-###-####. Tell him M. Graham Norwich sent you :))

Maybe he's experiencing some anxiety over the new baby?

Put him to bed earlier, not later, if you want him to sleep later in the morning.

Try checking his diaper around 2:00a.m. Change him if he's wet. That way if he wakes up dry he'll be more content. The chill may be what's awakening him.