My son who will be 4 in March has ALWAYS been an early riser. Lately he wakes up at 5:30am though. He does still nap 4 days a week but when he goes to preschool T, W, TH he does not nap. I know what you are thinking-I should get rid of the naps but it does not seem to make a difference if he naps or not. 7 days a week he is up early. If he naps he goes to bed around 8:30 ish, if he doesn't nap in bed at 8:00. Any suggestions would be so helpful.
Thanks
Thank you for all your suggestions! I put a digital clock in his room and said you must stay in bed until you see a 6. This seems to be working so far. I just can not bring myself to get rid of the naps just yet as they are my savior :-) I may also try and put him to bed a little earlier as well. Thanks!
Believe it or not, sometimes putting the little ones to bed early makes them sleep longer in the morning. They also sleep sounder. Now, personally we have such busy schedules in the evening that my little one doesn't get down until late sometimes. Whenever she does get down earlier though it makes all the difference. And I am talking even 15 mins early. Good luck.
try putting him to bed 15 mins earlier.. yes earlier! It could be something that is waking him up, so if you put him down earlier, his sleep pattern will be different and maybe he won't wake up as easily.. or you could get him a clock and tell him to play in his room until whatever time you want him up. I would definately drop the nap too..
Hi P....I too have an early riser....and it didn't matter if he had his nap or not... well it sort of did.. if he DIDN'T have his nap he still was an early riser.. just a crabby one :) I would keep " snack" by my bed and let him " rest" while watching cartoons and sometimes by having " snuggle" time w/ mom he would fall back asleep! Hope this helps!
I would drop the nap if it doesn't make any difference, especially if it's only an hour or so. Instead if you need the break, a "quiet time" would be great: do a puzzle, read a book,etc. since he will need to do pretty much the same thing in Kindergarten.
Does he eat right away? That may be what is waking him up.
My son is an early riser. I never tried to change that. I just taught him what he could and couldn't do. He learned how to recognize times real quick too *wink. Even now, at age nine, he gets up at 5 or 5:30 and plays with his legos in his room, gets himsself breakfast, etc. At 7am he knows he can watch TV, and by then we are just about getting up. (This is all on the weekend)
For a little one, something like a game or toy that he can only use when he wakes up would be good. SOmething quiet, with no batteries of course ...
Hi P.,
My granddaughter had started waking up at early morning hours also and what my daughter did was started putting her to bed at a later time. She would put her to bed around 10 and my granddaughter would sleep until 9 a.m.. Not sure it will help but maybe worth a try. Have a nice day and good luck with everything.
It sounds like he's always going to be an early bird! Can you wear him out a little in the evenings? I know in the winter it's harder to do, but maybe when the weather gets better you can take him outside and let him play. Fresh air always seemed to help my kids sleep better and longer at night. I hope this helps, but other than drugging him (I would do that!) I don't know what else to suggest, only to say that this too shall pass!
What does your son do all day? Is he active? I know the less active a child is during the day, the longer it takes them to fall asleep, and sometimes, they aren't even tired so it's out of boredom. My oldest son doesn't nap at all. He stays up anywhere between 11-13 hours and sleeps the remaining amount. If he has been running around and playing all day, he will not wake up in the middle of the night because his body is soooo tired, it's literally resting itself. Maybe you could try taking him to the park or let him run loose for an hour or so in a safe environment (backyard, rec center, etc.) if you aren't already doing so. Hopes this helps!
*Mother of two boys ages 2 yr. 11 months, and 1 year 18 months, and a baby girl on the way!*
if he doesn't nap, put him to bed at 7. (i put my kids to bed between 6:30 and 7 when they stopped napping!) they are out cold by 7 and sleep anywhere until 5:30 to 7am depending on the kid (they are 5, 3 1/2 and 15 months). I've read that sleep begets sleep so if he doesn't nap and you put him to bed at 8 and he still wakes up at 5, then at least putting him to bed earlier will just give him more sleep and he probably won't wake up earlier than he already is.
You can also get him a digital clock and tell him he can't get out of bed until 6:00 and maybe he'll fall back asleep or at least you'll get to sleep another half an hour!
When I was a kid I always was an early riser. My sister and I slept in the same room, so in order not to wake her my parents told me where I could go to play or watch books, have a snack, etc before everybody would wake up. I was happy with that and never had any problem.
Hi P., my daughter will wake up at the same time every morning no matter when she goes down. The difference is she's crabby if she goes down later. I believe at his age he should be getting 12 hours of sleep-is that correct? I'd like to suggest consistency. It's the most difficult thing to do, but it's very helpful when you can do it. If he's not napping at school, then don't nap him at home. I hated getting rid of the nap, but I loved getting her down 2 hours earlier. I hope this helps. -J.
Hi P., This also happened to my son at about 3 yrs.old. I wasn't about to get up at 5:30am so I let him get in bed with me. He would sleep for another couple hours, sometimes three! This was his special time with Mom every morning. He would always wake up happy! And so did I, afterall I was getting extra sleep too! He eventually outgrew crawling into bed with me in the morning when he was about 7.
Our 3 year old daughter periodically goes through waking up really early jags. We tried putting a light on a timer set to turn on at whatever hour we deemed "reasonable" (usually about 6.15) We told her that she could get up, but she had to play quietly in bed until the light went on because otherwise it was still nighttime. We put some toys and books within easy reach. It actually helped her sleep later because she didn't want to be up and alone, but since your son is older and generally an early riser, hopefully it will just help you get some more shut-eye.
My son is now 5 1/2. He has been an early riser for his whole life. Ugh. He was waking up at 4:30-5 am. Every morning for all different reasons. Ive heard it all. This was something we could not live and function with. After tring all the "nannie 911 advice", at 4 yrs we explained to him the importance of a good night sleep and made a special trip to Target to get a "special" alarm clock. Made sure he could see it in the dark and wrote the time that was acceptable to come out of his bed. THis worked, believe it or not. We all woke up a happier family.
