Any tips on how to help her sleep in later or go back to sleep? I have tried to delay going in to her but then she pees herself. She is still in a crib and this has become a daily habit. She doesn't nap well during the day and goes to bed between 7:15-8pm (after one last potty trip) most nights. I'm wondering if I should be waking her up in the middle of her night to pee (when I go to bed at 10:30pm) and see if that helps her sleep in later in the morning...? We are all so tired and need our sleep!
Lots of good feedback here! Thanks for all the suggestions. I will continue to try and adjust my sleep schedule, however, I have made a career working evenings for the past 15 years and often don't get off work until 10pm so it's tough to just go straight to sleep. When I have tried to push her bedtime later, it has backfired to where she somehow wakes up even earlier and is more cranky.
Just to be clear, I didn't push my daughter at all on nighttime potty training. I would love to keep her in diapers at night if it would help her sleep- she is the one who hates them and takes them off, so we just stopped fighting it once she had gone 10 nights with no accidents. It seems strange to try and pressure her to wear them again - I think it will just confuse her. Once she decided she was ready to use the potty during the day, she also started waking up dry in the mornings, so she may just be that one crazy kid who IS developmentally ready. Before she potty-trained she would easily sleep until 6:30 or 7am, so this constant early waking seems to be new and related to the pee issue.
So we will soon be converting her crib to the toddler bed and seeing how she adjusts to it - and being able to use the potty when she needs to. It's challenging for me in that we are moving in a few weeks and I'm concerned the bed shift may add stress to an already big change in her life. The layout of our current apt involves open access to the living room and kitchen in order for her to go to the bathroom at night and the new house will be completely foreign to her. Perhaps we can put the potty & nightlight in her room for nighttime use as someone suggested. Fingers crossed that all goes well! Will update more when the dust settles.
is there a reason she needs to go to bed early? We use to keep the little ones up later (because we wanted to play with them) and since they didn't need to be up in the morning for anything they'd sleep late
Try going to bed when she does.
That will give you plenty of sleep even if you wake up at 5:45am.
This will pass eventually.
Just think - when she's a teen - you'll have a hard time prying her put of bed before noon.
It's unusual for a child to be night trained at this age - most wet the bed till they are older (sometimes much older) - and they wear pullups until they can stay dry through the night.
She's not potty trained. She's 2.5. She can't go all night, she needs pull-ups or diapers at night. This is not trainable - it's fully developmental and you cannot rush it any more than you can make her permanent teeth grow in or have her grow 6 inches on your own schedule! Ask the pediatrician, and listen (really listen) to the answer. If her brain doesn't get the "full bladder, wake up!" signal, it's nothing you can train!
You're right about one thing: she needs her sleep! Brain development occurs during sleep! You cannot, and should not, wake her up in the middle of the night, from a deep sleep, just to suit your own needs to have her pee. That's far more of a disadvantage to her than letting her sleep in a diaper.
Nighttime dryness is not a testament to a child's advanced abilities or a parent's training abilities, no matter what some people will tell you. It's a growth issue and totally out of your control.
5:45 am is a perfectly normal waking time for a 2 year old. Get up and start the day.
Well, if she goes to bed by 8:00 pm and wakes up a little before 6:00 am, that's almost 10 hours of sleep. I'm not sure you can hope for more than that.
Is she napping at all? Some kids don't nap very long, so if she's napping an hour or so and almost 10 hours at night, that's about right for her age.
Do you feel she's overtired? Does she need a nap? Some kids really do give up their nap at that age. My youngest gave up his nap when he was just over 3, but he would have given it up sooner if he hadn't been in daycare (which required a nap).
You might try adjusting her bed time. Maybe if she goes to bed later, she will sleep later. I doubt she is waking up because she has to pee. It's more likely that she has to pee because her body is awake. If she's waking up too early, I would either adjust your own sleep schedule or try adjusting hers.
I get up at 6am each day...and 5:45 is not all that different. I would say she just has to go pee really bad after sleeping about 10 hours. Get rid of the crib and start teaching her how to get up and go pee and then go back to bed. But after sleeping that many hours she is probably wide awake and ready to start the day. You can try putting her to bed later to see if she will sleep later but this doesn't often work. You can try getting her to play quietly in her room for a while before waking you up, but that wouldn't work with many kids this young. Really, I think you are going to have to suck it up till she gets older! Maybe you should be going to bed a little earlier each night. A 6am wake up for adults seems perfectly normal to me. good luck!!
Diane is exactly right. Your child is not night trained. Nor should you expect her to be. Her body is not able to do it.
When I potty trained my first child at 3 years old, my ped let me know that night training was entirely different than day training. He told me that children should not be expected to night train before the age of 4. Some do, but it should NOT be expected.
You should have pullups or diapers on your child. Revisit underwear after she's 3.
Your child is getting almost 10 hours of sleep a night. That's a lot of sleep at one time for you to be wanting her to hold her urine. If you want her to sleep later for your schedule, put her to bed later. Back up her bedtime by 15 minutes every few nights until you get to 8:45 so that she'll be asleep by 9:00.
Mine slept from 9:00 to 6:00, which was fine because that's when I had to get up to get ready for work. If she can pee in her diaper, perhaps she will sleep later.
First, move your little one out of a crib. It's time. She should be able to navigate to the bathroom on her own. If you need to put a gate at the end of the hall to keep her from wandering through the rest of the house, that's a minor tweak and easy to do for safety's sake.
Second, if you are insistent on her wearing underpants day and night, then YOU must support that. 8pm-5 a.m is a long time to hold urine for a child so young. We're talking 9 hours. Think about what you are asking of her and compare it to what most adults do: use the bathroom before bed and first thing upon waking, usually shorter hours, and for many of us, waking at night to use the bathroom.
Do not wake her up in the evenings. First, you will be disrupting her sleep cycle,which means she's going to be more cranky and second, it's inconsiderate. I mean, do YOU want to be wakened a few hours after you nod off?
I had a kid who went early to bed and early to rise. For me, I had to do just one thing: suck it up. It's part of parenting.
At that age, mine were super early risers. I just accepted it and became one myself - I went to bed earlier. 6 am was very common, but we had phases where it was a little before.
I wouldn't personally mess with her in the middle of the night. I never did. I can't imagine that would be helpful long term.
Mine were not potty trained until they had just turned 3. My kids all kind of waited, then did things very quickly. So when they were ready, they also could hold it overnight. Not all kids can (on this site, you will read that it's often quite the case that kids don't hold it for a while after they can during the day).
Can you not use a night time pull up? That's what I would suggest.
As I had more kids, I ended up just going with their natural flow and rhythms - and life was much easier. I worked around them. That's why going to bed earlier when they were very little just worked for me. I napped them when they wanted to nap. Down for bed when they wanted to. If she's not napping at 2 1/2, will she have some downtime in the afternoon? If I laid down with one of mine, he'd always drop off. Then he'd go to bed a bit later, and likely (can't remember now) sleep a bit longer. But that doesn't always correlate (putting them to bed later, wake later thing).
For the sleep thing - the other option we did was - I got up early most mornings, but we'd trade off. That was something that was super helpful. Also, as they got a bit older, I was ok with them coming into our room - we had a small TV in the corner - and I'd have it set up so that they could watch an early morning kid show quietly while I roused myself to get up.
Good luck - seriously, it doesn't last long. I don't even remember those days now, but it's a phase.
I would switch her to a bed. Then she can get up herself to go to the bathroom.
My daughter was a super early riser. When the sun came up so did her eyelids!!
I would do a few things. First, big girl bed. I would make the change during the move. Talk it up. Say "you are a big girl and big girls get big girl beds". If she is waking up dry then contrary to what some said, your child is potty trained.
I would scoot bed time back a little. However, it could be your daughters internal clock. Mine as I said was up early EVERY day!! Drove me nuts. We thought if we covered her window with black out curtains it would help. NOT!!! She woke up every morning at the same time.
This might be the time she gets up. You might need to make adjustments to your bedtime. I promise this phase doesn't last long and before you know it she will be all grown.
Move her out of the crib and let her go to the bathroom when she wakes up in the morning. If you want her to sleep later try changing her bedtime. At that age she should sleep about 10 hours, so if she is going to bed at 8:00pm then she should be waking at 6:00am. Most kids don't nap regularly at that age.
I know several kiddos who are just early risers; I feel for their parents! Honestly, though, a 10 hour sleep at night is a solid stretch for little ones and that is a long time for a little bladder to not be relieved.
Is she ready to be out of the crib? If so, then you can teach her to go potty on her own and then go back to bed. If not, perhaps you can take her then put her back in her crib to sleep or play quietly.
My oldest gave up naps entirely at 2.5 yrs & so we began daily quiet time. Even if he didn't need to nap, I needed him to!
Hoping you find a solution soon.
I would be using a toddler bed.
Your child is getting a good sleep and 545 is not abnormal. Why can't she stay up later and spend time with you? Go to bed later then possible sleep later.
I am also in the camp that at 2.5 she is not fully night trained.
Be patient... she'll be 18 and off to college before you know it! Enjoy this ride, even at 545 am!
Updated
I would be using a toddler bed.
Your child is getting a good sleep and 545 is not abnormal. Why can't she stay up later and spend time with you? Go to bed later then possible sleep later.
I am also in the camp that at 2.5 she is not fully night trained.
Be patient... she'll be 18 and off to college before you know it! Enjoy this ride, even at 545 am!
i suggest a later bedtime. she is getting the amount of sleep she needs.
if i put my kids to bed at 8 and they are mostly asleep by 830 then its almost guaranteed that they will be up and running about by 730 am. nither one has had a nap since they turned 2 (unless they are sick) so its possible that she is meeting her bodies sleep requirement and a later bedtime will give you a longer morning sleep.
Sound like it is time for a toddler bed or a mattress on the floor so she can get up, go pee, and go back to bed on her own. If she is going to bed as early as 715 I am not surprised she gets up so early, that is almost 11 hours of sleep after all, try moving her bed time back a bit.
Since she's potty trained put her in a regular bed so that she can go potty. She will still probably wake you up though. At that age they love to tell you that they went potty so that you can tell her what a big girl she is. Or at least that's how my daughter was. Anyway this is a new phase so she will probably wake up to potty for a little while and then she will learn to sleep longer. It will get better.
She's old enough to be in a regular bed. She's even tool big for a toddler bed at this age. You can leave a night light on for her to get up and go to the bathroom if needed. I'd put a baby monitor in the bathroom though, so you can hear her if she turns on the water or needs help.
Her body shuts down her urine production when she goes to sleep. The ONLY thing you'll do, if you wake her up, is lose rest, she'll lose rest, and she won't likely go pee at all. Her body hasn't made any yet.
When we wake up needing to pee we need to go pee. It's coming out if we don't get to the bathroom. We wake up and our body sends a signal to our kidneys and bladder to fill up and go pee.
She wakes up when she wakes up. She needs to go pee. Let her go pee. If she goes back to sleep after peeing, great. If not then her bedtime might need to be pushed back a little bit longer so she can slowly start sleeping a little later.
