27 Month Old Not Sleeping past 5Am

I have a two y/o born the same yr/ month as yours. Maybe it is something about Septemeber of '06. *smile* My daughter use to get up at 5am like clockwork too. I attributed this to my husband's alarm clock ringing at that time and my early rising to get "Me Time" in. We couldn't explain the weekend early rising. I workout early in the morning, read and do homework, so I need the children to remain in bed. I will share with you what works for me.

I limit her nap to no longer than 1 1/2 hrs during the day including weekends. I also changed her nap time from 11am to 1pm. Since you cannot change the day care's nap time you can do this on the weekend. My daughter is potty trained, so she will get up and go to the restroom on her own. What works for us is to have her books next to her bed in a small bin.

Instead of coming to our room or yelling out, she will sit in her bed and read. My daugthers have wall lights in their room that illuminate as like a soft pink colored light. We use it as a night light for them. Her bedtime is between 8-8:30pm. It use to be earlier, but I had to slowly work her to the later hour due to her early rising.

Changing what time she goes to bed in the evening, her nap time and limiting the amount of time that she sleeps has helped. She still may wake early on occasion, but knows to stay in her bed and read or play until we come get her (or her siblings get her). Sometimes she even grabs a toy out of their toy bin and gets back into her bed to play quietly. Hope this helps!

Does she take a morning nap? If yes, try eliminating or moving later. Also, if she takes an afternoon nap, move that a little later too - then she may stay awake a little later.

Or, she may just be an early riser. I've been waking up at 5 too!

Suffice it to say, you may have an early riser. My son is 28 months and is up at six every morning. However, months 25-27 had him getting up anywhere from 4:30 to 5:30, generally, closer to 5:00. What worked for us (that is, getting him to sleep until six) was putting him in the pack and play until we get up (around six). Or... when he would get up at an un-Godly hour, we would put him back in his room and tell him it was too early. A week of this routine got him back to six o'clock. My brother and sister-in-law put a baby gate on their son's room to prevent him from getting out of his room at an early hour.

Try the Good Night Light. My girlfriend runs this blog and reviewed it.

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

Good luck!!

"Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" would say to move the bedtime earlier, not later. I know it sounds crazy, but may be worth a try. Generally between 6:00-8:00 is good. Try moving bedtime up by 1/2 hour and see what happens.

I don't really have a good suggestion but I am really amazed (and jealous) when people tell me they put their kids to bed at 7 or 8. My kids have always been night owls, they like to stay up until 9 or 10 and sleep until 7:30 or 8. I think the easiest solution is to change her routine to have her stay up later so she will sleep in. Good luck!