My 2 & 1/2 Year Old Is Wide Awake at 5AM!

Try to investigate to see if something is happening around that time that is pulling him awake. Someone next door has started going to work earlier and he is hearing their car???
Something in the house or neighborhood may have changed. Sugar right before bedtime can cause an alertness but that would usually happen more like 12 or 1. When his body finished processing the sugar it will wake him up. But the timing if off for that one.
I can help you get to sleep earlier though. I am the person who never sleeps, Just was not sleep and could not do it. I can read all night long. And have been that way my entire life. But I recently discovered that if I put on a headset (I like the ones that fit behind your head not over) to my CD player and A "books on tape" turn it down very low so I can just barely hear it. I go to sleep immediately. Sometime during the first sentence but usually before the first CD is finished. When I take them back to the library I can check them out again, because I've never heard them all the way through. I keep an old Harry Potter one that I've listened to 14 times and It puts me to sleep because now it is boring. See if that helps. Go to beD earlier and SLEEP. AHHH.

don't know if would work but when my almost 3 year old wakes up to early, I give him a bit of milk & put him right back in bed. Almost always works!

My oldest son had this problem - except he was up at like 4:00am or 4:30am. I tried putting him to bed later - it didn't help. I went to my pedi and I read every book about sleep that I could find. All to no avail. Finally, when he hit 3, something happened...not sure what, but he started sleeping until 7:00 or 7:30. A few times even 8:00. They have internal time clocks and I think sometimes they just get out of whack. I am like you - a night owl. I accomplish more between 8:30pm and 1:00am than most people accomplish in a week! It put a real cramp in my style when his time clock changed, so I started napping when he napped. Good luck and let us knwo how it goes!

I actually went through the same thing. My was barely 3 years at the time. I explained to him (in a 3 years old sort of way) that everyone and everything went to sleep when the sun went to sleep. The animals, the cars, the grass, daddy, momma, even Handy Manny. I told him he could only get out of bed after the sun woke up. Then I preset the volume and channel on the t.v. to 65 (Playhouse Disney in my area), and taught him how to hit the power button. When the sun wakes up, he gets to get out of bed and push the button. (the button thing alone was a big deal- he usually never gets to touch the tv. Worked like a charm!! Some may think its horrible, but sleep is a beautiful thing that unfortunately my body requires! I was desperate and it worked-enough said!!

Hi there!

My son is about 2 1/2 as well and went thru a stage like this. I figured out that he does it when either me or his dad change our schedules. For example, there was one week where I had something planned 3-4 nights in a row and I was away from him during our usual evening family time. Also, we had a month or so when his daddy was working at night instead of days and that really threw off our son too. Once we got our schedule back he started to sleep later in the morning.

Hope this helps!

he is getting 9-10 hours of sleep, which for some 2 &1/2's is enough. Does he nap during the day? how long?
I used to be a night owl too. but now I get up between 3:30 am and 5:30 after going to bed around 9pm. we adults need less, I'm told. Well my body agrees.
For you, maybe you need to back off caffeine. that's what I had to do to get to sleep- I used to clean house till my husband woke for work the next morning years ago. start drinking water or other none caffinated around 4 in the evening. if you get off completely, watch out for the withdrawal headaches!! with a 2 YO I don't need to tell you to stay active in the day, burn your own energy.

My Jacob was also an early bird and honestly the only way I found to deal with it was to get to bed earlier myself. Actually, you're being a nite owl may be due to elevated cortisol at nite, as I have that problem. If I don't start winding down by 10pm then I have extreme difficulty getting to bed and falling to sleep before midnite, because I get that 2nd wind. But, the sleep you get before midnite is really important for replenishing your hormones. I have found that using the supplement melatonin helps alot, as it seems my body doesn't produce much of it and it's important for telling your body to sleep. My Jacob honestly didn't starting sleeping in until he was 10. He's just a morning person and everyone else in the house are night owls. I have finally gotten to the point now that he's 12 that I can have my quiet time in the morning. But, I do still strive to get to bed well before midnite as it really makes a huge difference in how I deal with that morning person the next day.