My 20 month old has a horrible habit of waking up at 5am. He wakes up crying and if he's not picked up right away it quickly turns to screaming. He shares a room with his 5 year old brother, and our bedroom is about 10 feet away from the kids room. Naturally, my 20 month old wakes everyone up. I could just scoop him up quickly so nobody else wakes up, but I really want him to sleep a little longer-even just an hour. I've tried everything I can think of (except for just completely ignoring the crying/screaming). Have you had this problem? If so, please tell me what, if anything, worked for you. Thanks :)
thanks so much to everyone for taking the time to respond to my dilemma. i can't say what worked yet, but he did sleep till 5:30 this morning. I had been meaning to try and get him hooked on a cuddly toy/ blanket to sleep with, so i'm going for that. he goes to bed at around 7 and naps once a day for at least an hour. My feeling is that there are some people who are early risers-and he is one of them. If i can just get him to not scream, maybe that will be my success. thanks again :)
The three things that worked for us:
- Put to bed earlier (the sleep begets sleep thing)
- Changing pullup/diaper before I go to bed
- Feeding him (at night)
Try putting him to bed 20 minutes earlier. If that makes things better, or makes for no change after 3-4 days, go 20 minutes earlier again.
I'd be aiming for 6:30-7 pm at first.
Also, try reading 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child' by Mark Wiessbluth. Seriously changed my life. :)
Do you nurse or bottle feed your son to go to sleep? I have two boys, now 10 and 8. They were both early risers. Feeding them to fall asleep is a big mistake. Once they are able to put themselves to sleep, they can fall back to sleep. I also would go in their rooms and tell them it is not morning time, the sun was still sleeping and that I would come back when it is morning. Then I would leave for five minutes. Sometimes I would take them out of their cribs and take them outside and show them how dark it was. Then the next day extend the time to 10 minute etc. Eventually my boys started sleeping until 6 am. Now of course they wake up 7 or 8 and start playing and don't wake me up. So cherish this time, it is fleeting.
My son did that, if I put the kid to bed at 8pm like all the books and doctors suggest then he is up between 4 and 5 like clock work. As a single mom I was so tired all the time from this and working that I ended up trying to keep him up later.
Well it worked! If he is allowed to stay up until 9 or 930 then he doesn't wake up until 730! I was so excited to find this out and his bedtime has been 9 ever since. Some kids only need a certain amount of sleep and once they hit that limit they are done. Moving the bedtime really helped me get better sleep.
I have tried a lot of different things with my son and his sleep issues. However, the only thing that I have found that my son fits with is that when I put him to bed later he wakes up earlier.... so maybe he's going to bed too late?
Is he tired? Is he lethargic through the day? Or is he ready to get up? Are your trying to follow your schedule or his.
I just turned 40, I have been getting up at or near 5 AM since I was very little. My oldest daughter is the same. We spend a lot of quality time together in the early hours before anyone else even stirs.
Know WHY you want him to sleep later, if it is to suit him and his moods, then yes, the other ladies had some great suggestions. If it is to suit your schedule, well, good luck with that.
B.
Family Success Coach
If you really want him to stop screaming at 5AM every morning, you need to stop getting him when he cries. I don't know if one of these things would work for you -- 1, move him or his brother to a different room, so his sleeping habit does not affect his brother;2, if they have to stay in the same room, when he cries get his brother to come to your room so the 5 yr old can get more sleep, and then tell the younger one that it's still nighttime, and he should go back to sleep, then leave. Our pediatritian calls it "sleep training".. it may take a few days, or a week, but it really works for the long term.. You can still comfort him in his room every so minutes if you want, but I would leave him in his crib and his room. Yes, I know it's hard, but it is effective. I think any kind of sleep problems is really fairly common at this age.. so you are not alone;) Good luck
HI E.,
I know how you feel, my daughter is 28 month old and when she was much younger she was waking up as early as 5 am. My parents live in Florida, so I would call them when I woke up and they would say "um isn't it like 5:00 in the morning there??" It was lovely. I was so frustrated, I didn't know what to do. Thankfully over time, she did end up sleeping longer. But I did have to go through alot. I decided that when she woke up that early, I would bring her into my bed (a king size) and then sleep until 7:30 or so. I was so happy that we were sleeping longer, however, I then created a new problem. Soon, she started waking up earlier and earlier, and was waking up in the middle of the night. Oh boy, I created a monster. All she wanted to do was sleep with me. So I decided that I was just going to let her cry, and fall back to sleep on her own. It did work, but then she started waking up early again. This went on for a long time. Then one day, she just slept through the night. I woke up at 6:30 with no child next to me. I ran into her room, and there she was.....sleeping in her crib. I went back into my bed and just laid there until she woke up. (about 10 minutes later)I couldn't believe it!!! She did it again the next morning. The third morning she woke up early morning, and I brought her into my bed.
So it has been about 2 months, and she will sleep through the night 5 nights out of 7. I can't even believe she is doing this, because I spent so long dealing with her waking up in the middle of the night. So this is what you call normal??? I'll take it!
Anyway, I just thought I would share my experience with you. I also have a wonderful on line book called "The Sleep Sense Program". It's a fantastic book, and it may have some ideas for you. Just shoot me a quick email at ____@____.com and I will send it to you. I also have another on line book about potty training. You probably don't need it since you have already gone through it with your older child.
I wish you all the luck in the world!
PS, Please read the book, it really has some great ideas in it. I believe it does cover the issue of multiple children.
Take care,
M.
Hi
Have you tried putting a few soft toys or cloth books in his crib (after he is asleep) or on a bag on the front of his crib where he can access them, for early morning entertainment?
Good luck
take your 5 year old out..and CIO in the morning..that's what i did w/ my son..i refuse to get up at 5am..i can't parent well all day w/ poor rest..i won't even drive b/c i'm afraid i'll get in an accident..SO...i had my son CIO in the mornings and now he sleeps in til 9am! I leave a juice for him and some cheerios sometimes but my son is 3.5 years old..he started doing the 5am thing about 4 months ago and i was exhausted and it sucked. Now he wakes and drinks his juice and he'll play in his room for about 30 minutes when he wakes. If your son is watching tv right when he wakes that is why he wants up..he wants to watch shows! That's what my son was doing and i thought.."oh hell no! i'm not getting up at 5am so he can watch Dora" ugh! so try CIO..but take your 5 year old out..i'm sure u would.
