Need Help with 22 Month Old Who Wakes up at 5:45Am Every Day!!

Try putting him to sleep earlier. I know it sounds backwards, but most sleep "experts" recommend bedtime between 6 and 8pm for optimal sleep. I usually find that if my 12 month old is up late for some reason, the next morning she'll wake up earlier than usual.

My son (4 1/2 years old) has always seemed "programmed" to wake up at around 5:45 a.m. If we try to make his bedtime later, he just continues to wake up at the same time, but becomes sleep deprived, extremely irritable and has a very hard time falling asleep at night. So, we've found the best early bedtime for him (7:00 p.m.) and try to be consistent with it. Also, when he was younger we wouldn't go to him in the morning until 6:00 a.m. and now he knows to read or play in his bedroom until 6:00 a.m. In case you haven't already read it, the sleep book by Marc Weissbluth is really helpful.

Hi B.,

I've been having a similar issue with my 21-month-old daughter. We've been moving her bedtime later in anticipation of the time change, and she's been waking up earlier. It's actually counter-intuitive, but we've had good luck with an earlier bedtime (around 7 PM). If this is manageable for you, you might want to try gradually (15 min. or so per night) moving your son's bedtime earlier and see what happens. Give it at least a week (or maybe 10 days) before you stop, because it sometimes takes a while to adjust.

Best,
R.

Hi B.

I have had this happen with both of my boys. They are 3 and 2. They seem to wake up earlier when they had a later bed time. At this point - neither of my boys take naps. I wish they would and the 2yr old usually needs it. They are ASKING to go to bed by 7pm most nights. They are usually in bed between 6:30 and 7pm and up between 6 and 7 am. A 2yr old needs about 12 hours of sleep. (according to our ped.) The sleep book by Weisenbluth has a lot of good info. I would try to get him to bed a lot earlier than you are and cut out a nap. Good luck - especially with the time change. I don't think that is fun for any of us.

B.,

I'm on my third baby now and I am DETERMINED to get this one right, so I am reading/re-reading all the sleep books we have accumulated having two not so good sleepers before.

The first word of advice (already stated here) is to put him to bed earlier not later. The books all say that fussy wakings indicate tiredness.

Also, stop going to him at night when he wakes - this can be a transition since it's something he's already used to. If you don't fix this now, believe me, it will only get worse. If you want you can go to him, but don't pick him up or get him out of bed for any reason. Slowly reduce your interactions with him at night - no touching, quiet talking, no turning lights on, etc. Each night, less and less attention. Eventually, not going in his room, but standing in the doorway and saying, "Goodnight sweetheart, it's time to roll over and go back to sleep."

Maybe you can reward him for staying in his room in the morning - something like chocolate milk with breakfast? Tell him Mommy and Daddy are still sleeping and he needs to play with his "friends". I agree that you'll need to change out the toys frequently.

I know this sounds silly - but it was something that FINALLY worked for us...we had "sleeping spray" (lavender linen spray from Bath and Bodyworks). My kids ask for sleeping spray when they are scared, sleeping somewhere unfamiliar, or just wound up. They have an aromatic trigger to help induce sleep. Our sleeping spray helps them "roll over and go back to sleep" at night because they smell it on their favorite blanket or pillow.

Right now I am reading "happiest baby on the block" - it might give you more ideas.

Sara

PS Feel free to e-mail me with any questions. Good luck!

I agree with most of the other responders, but want to add: hang in there! My daughter is now 24 months old, and she has been waking between 5:15-5:45 since I can remember. I agree with the other posters that it's best not to go to them when they wake in the night, and I also think that it was probably I who conditioned her to wake so early, when she was just starting to develop a schedule, and I continued to go to her when she would cry at that hour, even though I felt that she would go back to sleep if I let her.... Anyway, the last month or two have been interesting. Our daughter has begun to wake up later, on her own. It's not consistent yet, but we have fairly suddenly moved to 6:00, 6:30, sometimes even 7:00 wake ups! And her naps have been changing, too. If she goes down, she will take a good 2-3 hour nap. If she doesn't go down, she is okay to manage throughout the day, though she usually is tired a little earlier. Anyway, the point is, it's pretty normal, but it will eventually get better on its own as his body changes and matures. Your best bet is to focus on those night wakings, as those are what are really keeping YOU tired.

I agree with earlier bedtime, 6:30 if possible, no later than 7. Our 23 month old goes to bed at 6:30 and wakes around 6:50 am. For a while she was waking before 6 am and for a few nights we put her to bed even earlier, between 5:30 and 6 and it adjusted her. Of course, we'd love if she slept later in the am, but we'll take 6:50 over 5:50 any morning. Oh, and in my experience and from what I have read and been told (our Ped is Dr. Weissbluth) putting them to bed later so they will sleep later never works. Good luck!

I hate to tell you, but it may just be how he is wired. I have two boys, 4 and 6 and both have always been early risers (5:30 - 6:30 nearly every day!) I actually worry when they are not up before 6:30 now. I blame it on my mother who grew up on a farm. :) I don't know if waking times are inherent, but I don't know any other reason why they would get up so early. We, too, have tried varying bedtimes, ending naptimes, etc. Just seems to make them crankier the next day, but they still get up around the same time. I learned to go to bed earlier, just so I have enough sleep! Good luck!!

my daughter wakes up around 6, once she falls asleep at night i put a few toys at the bottom of her bed and she will play for almost an hour, change the toys daily to keep them interesting, or if she has favorites use them.
if he is out of a crib, put a baby gate across the door
my daughter also wakes a lot during the night but she does sleep better if she has a bowl of cereal just b4 bed, and also if she wears fleece footed pyjamas

I second the thoughts on getting to you Little One to bed earlier - it couldn't hurt to try, even if it does turn out that he is a natural early riser. This is what ended up working for us, as my son did the same thing for the longest time. I would start with 30 minutes earlier and stick to it for a couple of days. My son also wakes at 10p and midnight if he is over tired, so that may also be a cause of the night waking.

Ditto the other posters: put him to bed much earlier. No 3 naps during the day - 2 at the most. He is too tired to sleep well right now. Read Weisbluth. Resign yourself to 5:45 − 6:15 am. That is normal for a lot of toddlers. If you put him down earlier you will have some time to yourself in the evenings. You need to start to go to bed earlier too! Good luck!

I think you have a couple issues going on...the early wake time and the frequent night wakings. You will have to solve the night wakings if you want to get him on a solid sleep schedule and influence his wake time.

Even though this sounds counter-intuitive, do *not* put him to bed later, thinking he will sleep later. Try putting him to bed earlier. Sleep begets sleep. I don't know how you are handling the night wakings, but I'll bet he is not getting as much sleep as he should. Try moving bedtime to 7:30pm and see what happens.

Once you've got the night wakings ended, you can gradually influence the wake time. Both my kids went through stages of 5:30am wake-ups and I would wait to go get them in 15 min intervals. For example, for the first week or so, I let them cry/be awake until 5:45am before going in and starting the day. Once they settled to that time, I would push the time to 6:00am. And I would do this over and over in 15 min intervals until I got to our family's preferred wake time (7am). You can do this...it just takes time.

I agree w/ Julie. My son is an early riser too. Some kids just are up with the sun. I'd focus more on getting him to sleep through the night than worrying about the morning wake up. If you can get him to sleep solid from 8 - 6, that's 10 hours that you and your partner can find to sleep in. My husband hates getting up that early, but its just the way some babies naturally are. Probably not what you want to hear. I spent a few weeks reading everything I could about how to get a baby to sleep later... and most of the answers I saw were just what you are reading here. I finally gave up and just tried to get to bed a little earlier when I can.

(There are a few things you can try, but if its really his natural rhythm, you might be stuck.
Dark curtains to block out morning sun that may wake him.
Letting him learn to put himself back to sleep in general, maybe once he learns it at night, he might give you a few extra minutes in the morning.
Holding off nursing/bottle/breakfast until later in the morning so that he doesn't become dependent on eating bright and early - I read that if your child is really hungry to try a snack first thing but do full breakfast at 7 or 8 instead.
If he's old enough and its safe, putting a few appropriate toys in the crib. Some kids will entertian themselves for a few minutes when they wake up which could buy you a few more minutes.

Julie - I'm also with you on this time change!!! Its never any fun!

Sounds to me like your son is getting more than enough sleep. He may just be an early riser.

My daughter was waking earlier than I had wanted, so I gradually moved her bedtime back later --from 7 to 8. She started sleeping over an hour later every day, but it took some time. I'm so not looking forward to this time change!

6:30 doesn't sound like an unreasonable wake up time to me for a young one. They get up early. I understand the lack of sleep, though, with your son waking in the middle of the night. When my daughter wakes in the middle of the night, I never pick her up, nor do I engage her. I usually just tell her to lay back down, that it's night, night time. If she refuses, then I tell her, "OK, one tiny sip of water, but then you have to lay down." That usually does the trick. I also only ever go to her when she calls for me. If I hear her cry out, I ignore her. I only respond when asked directly to respond. Just a cry, but no "mama," I don't budge from my bed.

My son goes to bed at 7-7:30 at night because he has to be up by 6:15 for day care. On the weekends. He does not cry when he wakes. He has some stuffed animals in his crib and plays. He also has a baby Einstein music box in his crib which he knows how to turn on. We will wake up sometimes and he will be back asleep with the music box on. We are happy for him to sleep until 7 or at least let us sleep until then. When they wake is internal, it will not hurt to let them play in the crib for a little while.

that's what time little kids wake up.

Ah, welcome to motherhood. :) 8 PM to 5:45/6:00 is a pretty normal bedtime and wake-up for a toddler who's getting 2-3 naps throughout the day. They should be getting about 12 hours of sleep per day. He's already getting 10 hours at night, and likely another 2 between his daytime naps. You won't be sleeping in anytime soon - those days are gone for awhile!

It seems like an odd way to do it- but my suggestion would be to put him down earlier. It's part of the weisbluth sleep strategy and it seems to work well. I would move up his bedtime and see what happens- give it enough time to test the theory but I would try and go closer to 7 p.m. for a bedtime (at least) and Weisbluth even suggests earlier, like 5:45 p.m.- 6:30 p.m. My son is 22 months and sleeps from 7-7ish (sometimes 8!) with one 2 hour nap during the day (sometimes a big longer). Also with my son, we do not go in before 6 a.m. (and usually not before 7 a.m.) even if he gets up earlier so he will just play in his crib or go back to sleep. If you start going in before those times, they will wake themselves up because they know you will come and get them. At least that is what I have read and seems to be the case with us too. I think putting them to bed later is counter-productive although it seems like the thing you should do but it seems to just end up with everyone getting less sleep. Good luck!

Have you tried reading Dr. Weissbluth Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child? It's a good book!
Maybe your son is simply an early riser. I think some are born that way like others are night owls. Maybe you and your husband should retire a bit earlier to catch up on your sleep.
Our daughter wakes up at that time too. My husband gets up at 545 for work so it suits our schedule, but on weekends, he's the one who wants to stay up to 11 or 12 "because it's the weekend." However, when your child rises around 6am every day no matter what, it's no fun operating on a shortened sleep schedule. I'd much rather turn in early each night and wake feeling rested, weekend or not!