Toddler Sleep

Hi R.,

I too have an early riser! He is 2 yrs and 3 month. He goes down at 7pm (very tired) and sleeps until 5am. I've tried putting him down earlier and later. That is just his body clock. Recently we went through a spell where he was waking at 4am. 5am is early but 4am is unacceptable!

I finally went out and got a timer. I plugged a nightlight into the timer and set it for 5am. I told him that mommy would not come in his room until the light went on. We talk about it every night before bed. Every three to four days I moved it forward 15 mins until he was sleeping until 5:45. We were doing really well until he got sick and then it was christmas and we traveled. So we are back at 5am but this morning he slept throught the light until 5:30. Good luck. It's a process but the night light is a way that they can understand time since they are too young to read a clock!

I still need to go in sometimes and snuggle for a minute and rock him but I tell him to wait for his light and it is still night night time!

J. W

Hi there,
I have a 3yr old and a 1 1/2yr old myself. They aren't the latest sleepers either. The younger goes to bed by 7:30pm and wakes anywhere between 445 and 530. I was so tired of getting up every day by 5 with him so I started letting him cry it out. When he wakes for the 1st time, I go in there, lay him back down with his binky and tell him its not time to get up yet. For the 1st week he cried the whole time, till I got him at 6am. Now, 1mon later, he whines a bit at the super early hour (I still go in and tell him its not time yet).....he goes back to sleep until anywhere from 6-7am. I dont know how you feel about letting him cry it out. If you dont want the younger to wake the older, then plug a fan into the hallway....thats what we do. Good luck, I know its exhausting.

I'm currently reading this book called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth M.D. and he seems to be right on in regards to retraining your child to sleep. I've just started using his methods and my 4 year old is sleeping better and in his own bed for the first time EVER and I only started 2 days ago. My 2 month old is sleeping through the night and my 2 year old is doing a lot better but is needing a little more help. I recommend reading it so you can understand how important sleep is and the logic behind naps and sleeping at night. I bought mine off of ebay for $2.20 plus $3.00 for shipping. I received it within 3 days. Good luck!

It can be really hard to get your child to sleep when you want to sleep. My son is on a strick schedual and wakes up on time everyday, and this doesn't change..and hasn't. It took me about 2 weeks but I did it.
First of all don't ever let a holiday/special occasion ruin the schedual or else it will go all wacky. Also, if you have a sitter or daycare let them know that schedual.
Choose a morning, noon and bed time that would work for you and stick to it.
The way sleep works for my son, the first 10-15 mins is rest I read a book or cuddle him in the chair sing. Make sure that the area around you is quiet...
If you need to skip the nap, go all out and make him stay up for as long as you can and he'll sleep till 8:30am.
Usually, though, it's beeter for a less cranky baby if they get their nap in for the day. DONT ever let them sleep over 35 mins for a nap or else you'll be up all night.
Anyways, good luck I hope this helps!

..in time he'll fall asleep like clockwork.

My daughter's the same way. She's 4 and she goes to bed at 7, up anytime after 5:30. Works great on school days, but not on weekends! LOL We did have to cut out naps to get her to sleep better at night.

Also, we instituted "The Sleep Fairy". For every night she slept well (not getting up except to go potty, etc), which includes NOT getting up before the sun, "The Sleep Fairy" left a little gift for her. I stocked up on little things in the discount section at Target, the Dollar Store, etc., for the gifts. If my daughter wanted something really special that she saw, she would have to sleep for X number of days and "The Sleep Fairy" just might bring that. It worked like a charm!

I hope any or all of this helps. Good luck!