My son who will be 15 months old at the end of the week all of a sudden started waking up at 5am and refusing to go back to sleep. This happened while we were out of the state visiting family and friends and we thought he would go back to his normal sleep pattern when we got home but it has continued. I am not a morning person, especially at 5am and I feel I am at my last straw just trying to figure out how to change this habit of his. Is there anything I can do to get him to sleep later again? We've tried keeping him up later and that does not work at all. As of the past few mornings my husband and I decided that 5am is just too early and he needs to learn that he can't get up that early so we leave him in his crib until 6am. He cries almost the whole time and since his room is next to ours we can still hear him so we still don't get the extra hour of sleep. Can someone help? Any advice, please.
From a tired, tired mommy.
It seems counterintuitive, but I would try putting him down earlier at night! If nothing else, he needs more sleep, so if he's getting up earlier, he needs to go to bed earlier. But a lot of times, going to bed earlier will help kids sleep later as well. Good luck - 5am is TOOOOO early for anyone to be up!!
I think a lot of babies are like this. With my kids, I tried bringing them to bed with us, to see if they would fall back to sleep. Sometimes they did, sometimes not. I know it's horrible to have to wake up that early, but if he won't go back to sleep there's not much you can do about it. This is just a phase though that will pass and he will start sleeping later again. Unti. then . . . hang in there and see if you can get a nap in when he naps during the day. It will get better!!
Try Black out curtains. He may be getting up because it is getting light outside. His internal body clock is telling him that if the sun is up he should be too.
My son who is almost 3 now did this same thing around that same age. I am up at 5am during the week so i did not enjoy being up at that time on the weekends to and it makes for a very long day. He is still an early riser but more along the lines of 6:30 now. He did eventually grow out of it after around probably 6months maybe a little less. Dont really remember. Then he started sleeping till 7:30 and now if he is up before 6 i send him back to his bed and if its after 6 he gets to stay up. He will out grow it eventually but for now you may just have to tough it out. It is not easy i know! Just keep with your same routine and you will get through this phase soon enough.
15 months old is a growth-spurt time.
And a time of many changes developmentally. This in itself tweaks their sleep.
They do this.
Or he needs more intake. Because it is a growth-spurt time.
Its a phase.
Both my kids did that too.
Roll with it, and keep to your routine/consistency... and it will even out.
A baby does not sleep according to our sleep sense, as an adult.
Put some baby-safe toys/stuffed toys in his crib... or a Fisher Price "Ocean Wonders" crib toy in there too... we did that with both of our kids.. and they liked it and it made their crib comfy and 'fun' and they often would, before falling asleep or after waking, they would entertain themselves in the crib for awhile... before "calling" for me and crying. And as babies, my kids would turn-on the Ocean Wonders crib toy themselves to listen to the music or watch it.
And, make sure he naps during the day. This is important for overall development/immune system development/sleep.
What time does he go to bed?
I would not, change/mess up his going to bed time... because that in itself can really tweak their sleep ability. Keep his going to bed time consistent. Changing it up too much, will often back-fire.
Keeping a baby/kid up later than usual... does not work.
They will still wake. It just makes them over-tired. And over-tired kids DO NOT sleep well, nor fall asleep well, and they wake more.
Honestly, (and this might not be in agreement with other moms) bring him into your bed and cuddle with him until the alarm is supposed to go off. You'll get a bit of shut-eye and he won't cry. They grow so fast and one day, they won't be wanting to do it. Enjoy any amount of cuddling while you can and be sure he sleeps on your side of the bed (not between you and your husband) so that doesn't cause stress with the hubby. Good luck!
This time of year the birds are already singing at 5:00. I would bring him into my bed and cuddle with him and he (and you) may fall back asleep. This would be a much more enjoyable way to start the day for both of you than him crying and you listening to him cry.
I agree with the prior post- its tough on kids when they travel, so it may take a week or two weeks to get back to the old schedule.
When we take my son out of town even for just one day it usually takes him 2-3 days to get back to "normal".
Hopefully it will pass soon, until then I think you're doing good by letting him stay in his crib until 6. Maybe when he gets up at 5 go in for a quick second and hug him and explain that it's still night-time and he needs to sleep for two more hours. Works with my son (18months)! :)
Sorry tired, tired mommy but my son has done this for 3 summers (this is currently our third). He did this from months 4-7, months 16-18 and now months 28-? We tried everything and basically figured out that he is extremely sensitive to the extra light this time of year (yes, we have black out curtains in his room) and the noise of chirping birds, etc. I'm a SAHM so I often nap with him during the afternoon because 16 hours days are long days with a 2-year-old. Did I mention that my son won't go to bed until after 9:00 pm this time of year, again, regardless of what we've tried...
My 19 month old is going through the same phase. Its rough getting up that early (espically on the weekends) but I can't get her back to sleep for anything. If I rock her and she actually falls back asleep, she wakes up the second I make the smallest move. The only good thing about it is that she is taking naps now (when she slept until 6:30/7, she would go the whole day without napping) I hope you find a solution, let me know if you do!!
Strangely enough, sleep begets sleep. So he needs more sleep during the day, not less. Try increasing his nap time, if possible. Try putting him to bed earlier.
"Sleep begets sleep" comes from Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child, by Marc Weissbluth. I love that book -- it saved my sanity when my younger son wasn't sleeping well. You can learn a lot about how to make nap times better and longer so that your child will be "organized" for better sleep at night.
Good luck!
