What I can’t handle is this: Our 2-year-old gets up at 5 am. Every. Day. And lately? The Girl has been getting up at 4 am.
The other day, she woke up at 3:45 ready to start the day.
5 am wake up calls are beginning to look good.
It all began last fall around Daylight Savings Time. Her usual get-up time of 7 am began creeping backward. Television would usually entertain her until we were ready to join her amongst the awake.
7 am became 6 am, and 6 am soon became 5 am. We were confused. What could be waking her up? Was it the change in time? Was it a neighbor’s car? Were we putting her to sleep too early?
Yes, that must be it. We started putting her to bed later, and still, nothing changed. At 5 am she was awake. No snuggling in our bed for more sleep, or playing quietly in her room. She was awake. Up. Wanting attention.
I thought it would change back when we Sprang Forward in the Spring. It didn’t. We began to take more action.
We put in two sets of room-darkening shades and a white noise machine. Still up at 5 am.
You might be thinking, “Well, E, maybe that is all the sleep she needs.” And I would agree with you if not for the fact she has a meltdown by 7 am and falls asleep in the car to daycare by 8 am.
The girl is tired.
And so are we.
And we feel so alone, like no one else we know has this problem.
So, I am asking for advice.
How can we get our toddler to sleep past 5 am?
We’ve begun putting her to bed by 7pm. We’ve tried melatonin (not working). We’ve tried the, “You can’t get out of bed until the sun is out” routine (doesn’t work). And we try (without success) every morning to crawl in bed with her until she falls back asleep.
Please don’t tell me to put her to bed later. Please don’t tell me to try the “Sleep Lady Shuffle.” We’ve tried all of these before. And frankly? Nothing seems to work.
Please don’t tell me it’s “just the way she is” because her falling asleep at 8 am is not normal.
Please tell me you’ve been there before with your kids. Please tell me she will outgrow this. Please tell me what worked for you.
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I’ve told you before…same issue here with both kids at that age. Not that it helps any, except that misery loves company. LOL.
I will agree whole heartedly that a LATER bedtime is NOT the answer. If anything, she is still overtired with the 7pm bedtime.
What are her naps like (aside from the 8am snooze)? Have you tried putting her back down within an hour of getting up in the morning…forcing a nap rather than waiting until the car? Thinking is, eventually she will just sleep straight thru and you can get back to a normal routine.
My 2yo now sleeps until between 6 & 7, and sleeps thru the night. Six months afo things were quite different…you may remember!
Misery does love company… And aside from you, no one else I know seems to have this issue, which makes me feel so very alone.
The Girl has one, 2-hour nap a day at daycare. I imagine she needs it because on weekends, she doesn’t fight taking a nap.
Trying to put her down an hour after she wakes us something I haven’t thought of, though. Today, she called for me at 4 am. I went in, told her to go back to sleep, and she slept until 5:30. Of course, I was up with The Boy anyway….
Thanks for the comment! You give me hope!
Yes, she needs the nap! Cutting sleep by thinking she doesn’t need a nap, or that she needs a later bedtime is NOT the answer.
Good luck – one of my fave sleep books is ‘Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child’. Have you read it? Dr. Weissbluth agrees that some kids get up early, but not like The Girl, or my kids when we struggled thru that period. Conceptually, what he says makes a lot of sense, even if you don’t agree with every little suggestion he offers.
I ordered his book this week! I can’t wait to read it! But I can already tell you, there’s no way I am getting her to bed by 5:30!
e recently posted..Desperation at 4 am
Tori does this sometimes too – but not every day. And like yours, she melts down by 7 a..m. For her, it usually has to do with an interruption in her schedule, or some weird toddler stressor. Do you think it could have to do with the new baby?
amber recently posted..Will We Survive The Terrible Twos?
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