Waking up Really Early

The later bed time will work, it will just take time for the adjustment. Don't throw him into it. Work him toward it. Say, tonight he goes to bed at 7:30. Then 7:45. 8:00. 8:30. 8:45. 9:00. That's when my kids go to bed. 9. They get up at 7:30 or 8:00. That's just how I have it set up. I refuse to get up at 5, like many parents. I am NOT a morning person. So, they adjust to my schedule. Granted, when it comes time for school... things will have to change.

Honestly you may just need to get YOURSELF to bed a bit earlier so you can get up at 5. I have 3 kids. The oldest has been getting up since 5 am (no matter what time she goes to bed) since she was about 6 months old. She's 7 years old now. Both of my younger children easily sleep til 7, sometimes later, when the opportunity arises. That doesn't do me much good b/c my oldest is already up! Some kids just need less sleep and sounds like you have one of them. If he's happy in his crib I can see letting him hang out in there for 1/2 hour or so, but otherwise I think you just need to accept the fact that you need to get up earlier!

You could try to cut his last nap out or cut it short.

He may be just "one of those kids." My oldest has always been an early riser, and no matter what hubby and I tried, he was always up bright and early and ready to go. Now that he's older (7) it's not so much of a problem because he'll get up, turn on cartoons, fix himself a bowl of cereal and entertain himself for a few hours. But when he was a baby/toddler the entertainment was waking us up. If you haven't transitioned him to a toddler bed yet, make sure there are plenty of safe toys within his reach, or if he is in a toddler bed, I would just put a baby gate up at his door to keep him from wandering the house. I always let my son keep a sippy of water with him too in case he got thisrty before I woke up (or before he let me know that he was ready for me to wake up, lol) I wish I had the magic answer for you, but I don't. Also, try to take a nap when he does as well, that'll help you out a bit with being so tired from getting up early.

You are fortunate that he is such a happy baby and is content to amuse himself for an hour or so in his crib in the morning.

I see no need for you to get up as early as him. I was always an early morning person, and as an older child I absolutely loved the fact that I was up at 5 and had the world to myself. I would go outside and watch the morning come in. In college, I was one of "those kids" who took 8 a.m. classes... and I would already have been up for hours before it.

My whole life, I have loved this about myself, because I love the morning. I love the sound of the birds, and the feel of the air. I love the gardens with the dew and the spider webs that have not yet been destroyed in the day.

I guess what I am saying, is that if this is the way he is "wired", so be it.

My little girl goes to bed good by herself and we have taught her self soothing. She wakes up doing the same thing. Sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night and we can hear her talking to her stuffed animals on the monitor.
Apparently your son is going to be a morning person. I don't see how you can change that. I would just let him play and talk to his stuffed animals till you get ready to get up. There is no harm in that. He probably knows that he gets up too early but doesn't want to bother you. So just take his lead. Sounds like you are doing everything right to me. Just don't feel like you have to get up and get him. That is what I do when Olivia wants to get up early. She is fine and I get a little more sleep.

only make him take one nape a day try that cause by the time bed come he'll be so exusted he'll wanna sleep later thats what happend with my two year old and it work we also put toys in his crib so if he did wake up he would play instead of getting me up in the morning which is nice.tryit see if it works let me know.

Hey K.,
Hey you could try not letting him nap after 2pm. That should get him sleeping through out the night. Also, make sure he has no caffeine or sugary drinks after 2.
Good luck!

A little about me:
I am a homemaker who sub teaches 1/2 of 1/2 time @ 10 yeaar old daughter's school.

My daughter would also wake at 5:00. I tried keeper her up later, putting her to bed earlier and nothing worked. Rather than trying to change her schedule, I changed mine. She now sleeps until 6:00 and sometimes she'll even make it until 7:00. Now I'm a morning person too. :-)

I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but for me and my girlfriend this works. Once my son wake up and I am still out, I get up (zombie like) take him into our bed and cuddle with him until we both fall back asleep. If your husband objects, ask him to get up with the baby until he falls back to sleep. That suggestion might change his tune whether he actually does it or not.

I have the same issues with my kids. The only thing that works is really wearing him out during the day. Tons of physical activity and mental stimulation will add another 2 hours of sleep in the morning. Trips to grand-mother's house, long walks outside, birthday party's, swimming in the pool, playdates, etc. I can't do it everyday and his baby-sitter can either. Hopefully he'll get more worn out when he starts preschool.

Waking up early might suggest that he is overtired. How much daytime sleep is he getting? Sticking with an earlier bedtime (7:00) until he's at least two is probably a wise move. If he's waking up at the same exact time every morning (5:00am on the nose) it might be a habit and there are some techniques you can use to counter that. You might consider visiting the Baby Whisperer website. There you can talk with moms like yourself that are dealing with early risers. If you haven't read the books (The Baby Whisperer) you might want to pick one up. She has one especially for toddlers too. My son is only 9 months so we're not in the same boat but we've had great success with the Baby Whisperer methods and the website has been a true blessing for me.

Both of my children have always been early risers ... fun, isn't it? I, too, tried lots of different things (earlier bedtime, later bedtime, not getting them up immediately, etc.), but nothing ever actually worked! ;)

I'm pleased to let you know, though, that I think sometimes it can be a "phase" and they will just start sleeping later on their own as they age. My kids wake each other up, too ... their rooms are right next to each other. ;)

They used to both get up around 6 or 6:30 (I agree that your 5 a.m. wake up call is crazy early!). Now they sleep until 7 or 7:30 ... and that's just on their own! ;) A couple of times (on the weekend is the best!), they've slept until almost 8 ... total heaven!

I just think some children are more prone to be early risers, night owls, etc. And, I believe that it's hard to mess with their "internal sleep clocks." That's just my opinion. I wish you luck! ;)

When my baby (who is now 18 mos old) first started sleeping through the night, he would wake up at 5 and 6 every morning, so I started putting him to bed later and later (now bedtime is 10-10:30pm), which was working for a while, but then it seemed like no matter how late I put him to bed, he always woke up at 7:30 for some reason. I've always kept the shade drawn in his room while he slept, but light creeps in around the edges anyway. This past summer I put a light-blocking fabric over his window to keep the heat out, and I noticed that he slept an hour or two longer, sometimes 'til 10:00! After I took that fabric off the window he went back to waking up around 7-8. I don't know if "tricking" him into thinking it's still night out would work, since the sun doesn't usually come up at 5am anyway, but it might help if used in combination with something else.