2 YO Up Too Late, Yet Wakes Too Early

He may need an earlier bed time I say try and put him to bed at 7 lay down read books and lights out. By 8 he may be over tired and can't wind down.

We put an alarm clock in my daughter's room. Above it, in the same color and type of the numbers, we put 7:00, the earliest time she was allowed to come wake me up. Since she couldn't tell time yet, she waited until the numbers matched. If she woke up before 7, she was allowed to play quietly in her room until the numbers matched. If she woke up later, she was allowed to come wake me up. (I say me, she generally wakes up my husband, since they're both morning people and mommy is definitely....not.)

Another thing that really helped was blackout curtains. Now she doesn't wake up as soon as the sun comes up, which she had been doing before the blackout curtains.

Some kids need less sleep than others.

My kids both go to sleep between 9 and 9:30, and are up at 6. Every day. And my younger one dropped his nap when he turned 3. This is how much sleep they need. Your 2 year old may be similar.

I understand how you feel, because I need more sleep than they do. But this is their natural circadian rhythm, and I've had to accept that I can't change it.

So, what we do is start bedtime routine at 8. They are in their rooms at about 8:30. Then we let them stay up quietly in their beds until 9 (while I get myself ready for bed, start some laundry, or do whatever else I need to do). And I pop my head in to tell them lights out at 9.

I think the quiet time in bed helps them settle in a little bit. My older child reads for that 30 minutes, and my 3 year old will play with his stuffed animals on his bed.

Maybe if you don't tell him that he has to go to sleep at 8 when he's not tired, and that he can play with some toys as long as he's quiet, he won't fight it so much, and he'll go down more easily? The rule would need to be something like - you can play with toys as long as you are quiet. And as soon as he stops being quiet, or if you hear him running around, then you take the toys away. I think he'd get the message pretty quickly if you enforced it a few times.

Even though he doesn't nap, do you still provide him with naptime (doesn't have to nap but does have to relax with some quiet time)? My daughter would never nap for us but at daycare/preschool she did have to lay down when the others did. At pre-k she NEVER fell asleep so when she did the teacher would let me know because it almost always meant she was not feeling well and would usually be sick in a day or two. Napping never happened at home but we would say "ok, quiet time" which meant tv, games, etc were off and she could sit or lay quietly with a quiet calm activity. That would help keep her from getting over stimulated and too tire to settle down at a reasonable hour.

Trying the quiet time right after lunch for an hour or so may help him settle in the evening after dinner. Stop all stimulating activites around 7 pm...every thing after that must be quiet activities (like reading, snuggling, soft music). Lights at 7:30/8:00....doesn't have to go to sleep but cant stay up....no conversation or stimulation.

Let him sleep with a sibling. Maybe he does not want to be alone.

At 2 you're lucky you can still be the boss. Put up a gate so he can't wander the house. I'd also put a baby monitor in the hallway outside his door so you can hear him.

It truly sounds miserable. Sorry for you guys.

He is sleeping 10.5 hours and his is waking up refreshed and ready for the day?

There is good news and bad news. The good news is that you're not doing anything wrong. While many kids his age need more sleep than that, he's not actually abnormal to only need 10.5 hours. Waking up refreshed means everything is working right for him.

The bad news is that if this is his natural cycle and it is meeting his needs, you won't be able to forcibly change it. His needs may change on their own, but for now you're just going to have to deal. Try to get up just before 6:30 so that you can keep him quiet when he wakes. Teach him that mornings are quiet times until his siblings are up too.

Maybe he just needs less sleep than the others. I know a woman whose 5-6 year old sleeps 4 hours a night, and has more energy than any THREE other kids.

Teach him to be quiet when he's awake so he doesn't wake the others up.

Does he have a TV in his room? Really try to cut out all stimulation so the bedroom is pretty boring and geared for sleeping, not playing.

Good luck.

I think you've gotten good advice here from a couple of different ladies and I have a few things to add.

1) by that time he's probably overly tired. Try an earlier bedtime. My kids get crazy if I let them stay up later. I have found with both of my kids if they are overly tired it's really hard to get them to calm down and sleep.

2) this may be all the sleep he naturally needs so you'll have to teach him to play quietly until the other kids get up. Give him a special tote box of toys that he can play with in his room in the mornings. Put a baby-gate up in his doorway and teach him he can play quietly by himself for a while each morning. The clock thing might be a good idea if he can grasp it - my 2 year old wouldn't but my 6 year old would have at that age so it will depend on the kid.

3) black-out curtains are a GOD SEND. We have them in both of the kids rooms and in our room we have a black-out roller shade. This makes it so the light of the day/night doesn't dictate sleep hours as much.

4) my 2 year old wakes up EVERY NIGHT still and comes in my room. I glance at the clock and if it isn't late enough to get up yet he comes in my bed and sleeps with me until at least 7. Sometimes, because he's all cuddly with me, he'll sleep until 8 or even 9 which he would NEVER do in his own bed.

5) at this age, he needs to be having a "down time" in the middle of the day. Even if he doesn't nap, he needs to have a period of time to be calm and quiet for at least a half hour to hour mid-day to recharge and let his little brain catch up with him. Make it fun though. Call it "book time" or "puzzle time" or something and sit quietly, turn down the lights a bit, and relax for a while.

All-in-all, this really doesn't sound like something abnormal to me. All different people have different sleep needs. Unfortunately, as a parent, your sleep needs are last in line. Stay strong and try different things or a combo of things and find what works for you. Be sure to be consistant and give everything at least 2-3 weeks to become normal before moving on to try something new. :) Parenting is hard sometimes huh?!

My oldest has never slept more than 10.5 hours. She gave up her nap at 19 months --I kid you not. She did have quiet time till around 2.5, and then I decided to let her watch videos, so she wasn't trashing her room every afternoon!

I'd stop trying to get him to go to bed. Calmly tell him that it's up to him when he goes to sleep, but that everyone else is going night-night, and that he has to stay in his room. Then you and hubby go to bed, and all the lights go out. He'll realize there is no party after he goes to sleep, and he most likely will just climb in bed. I remember my first two kids doing this test at 2. Just don't make a power struggle around it, and it should pass.

I'd also try an earlier bedtime...Light's out around 7:15 if he isn't napping.