Hi Moms!
I have a 15 mo old who for the last month has been waking at 5 a.m.! This may not be early to some, but for a working mom who really appreciates her sleep, it has been difficult. It started happening around the time we got rid of her binky and hasn't subsided. We've checked her teething, and that doesn't seem to be it (she doesn't wake any other time in the night. We've tried letting her fuss for 5-10 min to see if she'll put herself back to bed (she puts herself back to bed within 5 min. in the middle of the night if she happens to wake up). We've tried giving her some water and comforting her telling her it's time to go back to sleep, but she just wants to be up at that point and play. Along with this, she is taking shorter naps in the morning and afternoon. I feel like her whole schedule is being redifined and we're OK with that...just not every morning at 5! My wonderful husband and I usually share getting up with her, but now I'm fearful we've begun a pattern of waking up that early and her body is telling her it's time to get up. Any suggestions (other than cry it out) we could use or is this just a phase for her?
Let's see...she's 15 months old, her naps are getting shorter, and she's waking up early - looks like it is time to cut out the morning nap!
Most kids go to one nap soon after the turn 1. Ditch the morning nap, move the afternoon to a bit earlier - like start right after lunch at 12 or 12:30. What time is she going to bed at night? Try putting her to bed earlier. It sounds wrong, but it actually helps in many cases. She'll be ready to go to bed earlier if she goes to one nap anyways. Some toddler stay up late (ie, after 8pm) because they "aren't tired" but in reality they are overtired and overtired kids are wired kids who have great difficulty settling down and falling asleep. Getting enough to eat before bed also helps. Try a bedtime snack - we give all our kids some cheerios before bed. If we don't, that means going from 6pm to 7am without eating -- a long time for a little belly. Blackout shades on the window will probably help, too, as it gets closer to spring and gets light out earlier. They are like $10 at Meijer and easy to install.
Going to one nap and earlier bedtime will probably solve the problem. Kids' schedules change all the time - usually within a few weeks of figuring out a good routine. Keeps us parents on our toes. :-)
Good morning..
You might not want to hear my response.....but my youngest son (now 17) started waking up at 5 ON THE NOSE (no, I didn't even have to set an alarm) at about age 2.....and this continued through elem. school.....always an early riser....I never had problems getting him up in the morning...
As he got older it got later....but he still is a "morning person"...and the whole time he was a toddler and in preschool, my (then) husband and I didn't set alarms, we woke up to the chuckles, giggle, noises of Noah. :)
We just learned to deal with it.....and started taking turns getting up/sleeping in and that seemed to work okay....
Good Luck,
T.
Yes, sleep patterns are still changing at this age, and often don't even out to a regular sleeping through the night until age two. You could try bringing her into bed with you at 5:00; don't talk and leave the lights off. If you nurse, you might be able to nurse her back to sleep, or give her a pacifier. If you co-sleep with her crib or toddler bed in your room, you will be able to get to her quicker, increasing your chances of getting her back to sleep. Invest in black out curtains from Country Curtains on your own windows and on hers. I actually use the door panels in the windows and hang them with tension rods at the top and bottom. Make sure you go to bed by 10:00 so you will have reasonable enough sleep if she continues to be up at 5:00. I suffered tremendously with sleep deprivation, so I understand the feeling, but this is just a part of motherhood that you have to endure. It won't last forever. And good for you for not doing the dreadful cry-it-out method! Be well, R.
Try consolidating the naps into one nap in the afternoon. It might help. If the nap schedule is changing, too, she's probably needing less sleep, and you might really enjoy one long nap in the afternoon instead of two short ones in the morning and afternoon.
Unfortunately, that might not help, though! My kids all woke up at 6 for about a year at that age, regardless of when they went to bed, except my youngest who woke up at 5 for about a year. It stinks.
Well, S., I think there is something in the air! Because my 15 month old son is doing the same thing, just in the last week. I don't know what's gotten into him. His usual schedule was up @ 6, nap at 9 and 2 and bed at 8 and he would sleep through until 6 (when I get him up to leave for work). Suddenly in the last week he is refusing naps, maybe sleeping an hour all day, he's crying hard when I put him to bed, and he's getting up the night again too. All I can do is assume it's a stage, that's what all the moms I've talked to say. It was very sudden, just one day his perfect schedule we've had for MONTHS is out the door. I wish I had more advice for you, but know you're not alone! When you find something that works for you let me know!! LOL.....good luck!!
Hi S.!
It sure stinks when they get up that early! I assume that you do not want to go back to the pacy, it would be the way for her to self soothe, but she might have started this anyway if you had not taken it away!
The advice about the black out curtains is great, and they work wonders if your little one is light sensative (not so bad on the heating and cooling bills either!) we needed these for one of our kids and they were great!
The first thing to try though is one nap instead of two. If she is ready for this, it may just work. It always seemed to me that my kids were never quite ready to give something up to fix the new problem, and it always took us a while to get into the groove of the new sleep pattern.
The good news is that it will probably work it's self out, just in time for her to start doing something else!
good luck, try to go to bed earlier and then do boring stuff like the dishes, or dusting when she gets up. Maybe if it is less fun, she might decided to try shut eye instead.
M.
She may be ready to give up that AM nap and be ok on just one nap a day. With two naps she may be getting too much sleep and thus is completely rested at 5am! If she goes down for a morning nap around 9 for example, see if she can go until 11 or so and then just put her down for a nap whenever she is tired. When bedtime comes, put her down as early as 7 if she seems too tired to stay up any later. It'll all even itself out. My kids did this at certain times and it passed. But I think at around 15 months they were starting to be ok with one nap. Good luck!
Time to cut out the morning nap and only let the after noon nap for at max an hour and a half. It will be tough for a couple of days to a week but she will adapt and sleep later in the morning.
I know that you would prefer not to cry it out and I felt the same way. However, I broke down and tried it in the morning time because my son did the same thing. For about a week he would cry for 5-10 minutes and then go right back to sleep. Now he sleeps until at least 7:00!!!! He is also a much happier baby when he gets up because he has had the sleep that he needs. Good luck!
I would try doing away with the morning nap. I know it will be hard at first, especially if she's getting up at 5am. But give it a few days. I think you will see a difference.
