Early Riser - Hinckley,IL

I have no idea if this may help but maybe a nice snack with protien in it right before bed. He could be waking up hungry and wants you up too, or a morning snack waiting for him maybe he will chill waiting for you to get up. Worth a try.
C.

My daughter is also 3.5 and an early riser. I love the good morning light idea! What we have done is allowed her to snuggle with us until we wake (which works about half the time) or we have a playroom with a tv and she watches Noggin and/or reads books, play etc.....

Same here...we did an earlier bedtime, and it was amazing. We moved bedtimes from 8:30 to 7:45...gradually, in 10-15 minute increments. We did this for our daughter when she was about 2.5 and much earlier for our twins. They went from waking up by or before 5:00 to sleeping until 7:30 or 8 consistently. Now at 6 yrs old, our daughter has to be up by 6:30 because the bus comes at 7:20. So it was actually REALLY hard to get her to wake up early again. With our schedule now, though, all 3 are up by 6:45, so in the long run, it might not be a bad thing to get used to...? I think good general advice is to make sure you're all getting enough sleep, exercise, and good nutrition, too. It all makes a difference in sleep quality. When my daughter was little, I still liked to stay up until 11 or midnight or even later. Then 5am came WAY too fast. Now with her and young twins, staying up past 10 is hard because the demands of the next day just require more rest. It's a part of getting old :) Good luck!

Does he still nap as well? If not, I would agree with putting him to bed earlier. Kids who are overly tired actually produce adrenaline and stress hormones that make it harder for them to sleep well. I have a just turned 4 year old, when she does not nap she goes to bed at 7:30.
Making sure the room is really dark is a good suggestion too, my kids are very sensitive to the morning light, regular curtains did not cut out enough of it for them.
We have a very "loud" house, lots of open spaces and hardwood floors, you can hear EVERYTHING. We also use an air purifier in one room for health reasons. We have actually put one in the kids' rooms as well, and the white noise helps them block out other sounds (our neighbor gets up at the crack of dawn).
Good luck!

Hi!

The first time I heard this advice I couldn't believe it, but try putting him to bed a little earlier. Start fifteen minutes earlier and then another 15 minutes earlier the next night. If he ends up going to bed 1/2 hour to an hour earlier you may find that he will sleep longer. It doesn't sound like it makes sense, but many sleep experts back it up. Give it a try. I hope you get some sleep - we've all been there (or are there!)

My son was like that and at 43 he still is! That is his internal morning clock. He was born at 5:45 AM. He will be an early riser probably for the rest of his life.

We brought a small TV into our room, set the volume and turned it to a cartoon channel. He would come into our room and watch TV when we wanted a little bit more time to sleep.

Sounds like you are more of a night person. My daughter is like that and at 42 still have a hard time getting up in the morning. She was born at 10:05 AM.

My son is like me and my daughter is like her father. Have fun and accept the internal natural clock of your children.

M.
www.toy-train-table-plans-store.com

two things have you tried room darkening and have you tried sleepong in his room to see if a neighbor is waking him up with a noisy vehicle our was a barking dog at the same time every morning before they left for work.

Try getting him up during the night when you have to go potty daddy. You can "go" together, say "good boy", kiss his head and put him back to bed. No conversation, you really don't want him wide awake. It worked with our son. p.s. Pleae don't listen to these moms that let their children get up unattended. That's incredibly dangerous whether their food is in the fridge and juice poured or whatever! Who's making sure he doesn't stick his finger in an outlet? Maybe he thinks he's a big boy and can make toast. We hear in the news, all the time, how unattended children are hurt or God forbid, worse. Little fingers get into everything. "Not my son" attitude is just plain dumb.

Like others have said, sleep begets sleep. It could be that he's just overtired. Take a look at the Weissbluth and Ferber books and see what you think. Children have a hard time regulating their sleep. We need to tow the line and help them get into a pattern that's more healthy for them.

GOod luck. A tv won't help. If anything, it will hinder his sleep. TV has an excess of "blue light" that stimulates your brain in a way that inhibits your body's natural trigger that it's time to go to sleep. That's why sleep experts say to try to avoid falling asleep watching tv if at all possible.

One tip Dr. Weisbluth gives (From healthy sleep habit happy child) is an earlier bed time can cause the child to sleep later. Sleep begets sleep. It's a good book if you haven't read it. I didn't spell his last name right. I hope it works.

Does your little guy still take a nap? If so, make it a shorter nap. If he's napping for 2.5 hours, make it 1 hour.

If he's not napping, get Dr. Weissbluth's book, Happy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child.

Good luck!

You are right. It doesn't really matter when they go to bed...they always get up at the same time. Mine could go to bed at midnight when we are traveling and still get up at 7 to 7:30 in the morning. And like you said, the only difference is they are crabby.

My little one has started getting up at 6 to 6:30 lately. I'm not liking that a whole bunch, but it isn't too bad I guess...not like the 5am you are experiencing.

And you are right a tv in his room is the worst possible solution. There are so many studies out now showing the negative effects of too much tv for young children...and he's way to young to be watching a whole bunch of tv.

I think you probably are on the right track with the books and such. Does he need help going potty? If not, then tell him to go by himself and go back to his room. If my little one gets up too early, I tell her to go back to her room...it is not time to get up and mommy is tired. She listens pretty well.

The neighbor I babysit for used a gate at her sons door until he was climbing over it. He was probably four before he figured out he could get out. Maybe you could put a little potty chair in his room and gate the door???? Don't know how you feel about that, but it's a suggestion.

The only other thing I might suggest is to really darken his room. My girls will wakeup with the first signs of sunshine peeking through the curtains. I got room darkening shades and clothes the curtains everynight. That has really helped us. A dark room does wonders for helping little ones sleep the right number of hours. At his age he should be getting 11 to 14 hours a sleep a day.

Does he nap? If he does try cutting that out. Both my girls stopped napping at 2 1/2. They now sleep 11 to 12 hours a night. If I let them nap for whatever reason during the day, they either don't want to go to sleep at their regular bedtime or they are up at the crack of dawn.

Hope something from that ramble will help. Good luck!!! Sleep is a precious thing to us old folks...too bad the little people just don't understand (until they are teenagers and they need to get their behinds out of bed).

Believe it or not, if you put your son to bed EARLIER he will sleep later in the morning. Start by making bedtime 8:15 for a few nights in a row. Then move it up to 8:00 for a few nights. Continue this pattern over 2-3 weeks until bedtime is 7:30. You will be amazed at how well this works. Also, check out a book called something like, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby" by Marc Weissbluth. NO TV IN THE ROOM FOR SURE!!!! good luck!

I have the same problem, and am looking forward to seeing what the answer is!

Try reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weisbluth(sp?) it talks about breaking the early riser habbit. I have had lots of luck w/ all three of my kids with the advice. Hard to believe, but "sleep begets sleep".

I have an early riser also who is 5.5 yrs and three other children, one older and two younger. I to have tried EVERYTHING. He just gets up anyway. You need sleep,so just pre-set the tv in the family room or where ever to his favorite channel, leave out a bowl of cereal and some water and let your early riser get up and entertain himself. Because he's gonna get up anyway.

Hi there, I have to echo the encouragement to read Marc Weissbluth's Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I refer to it often and have been thankful for the advice it gives! Just a note: the first half of the book is all about the theory behind why children need sleep (I'm pretty sure we all get that), so unless that kind of stuff fascinates you, I recommend starting with the second half of the book. Good luck! He may be an early riser, but you may as well give it a shot so you can get some precious sleep.

Just want to echo the advice to put your son to bed earlier... it really worked with my 2.5 year old son. The earlier he goes the bed (before he's overly tired) the more soundly and longer he sleeps.

The other thing might be to just let him cry it out... respond to him the first time for the potty, then just don't go back until 6;40. I remember reading somewhere (and my mom backing up!) that if you respond each time they ask for you, you're giving them hope that if they call or cry again, you'll come back :) Obviously there's a difference between your child really needing you, and just trying to get up early- I'm not advocating neglect :)

Good luck!

All this is good advice, but be prepared, you may just have an early riser. I have two, and I blame my husband's genetics on it, because I love sleep.

My daughter was such a horrible sleeper, waking multiple times until she was well into her second year, and I couldn't do it anymore. I finally taught my son at four how to turn on the tv, would have a juice cup filled and ready in the fridge, a bunch of grapes in a bowl in the fridge, and told him to get me if there was a problem. He was going to sleep at about 7:45 and getting up at 5, sometimes earlier.

This may sound strange but try an earlier bedtime (like 7 or 7:30). My daughter (now 11 months) had been an early riser as well and when we started putting her to bed earlier she actually slept later. Now she sleeps from 7:30 to 7:00. Good luck!