Toddler Sleeping Pattern

HI. My daughter wakes up sometimes really early too. 5 am, 5:30 am. I usually just ignore her until 6:15 am. She usually just lays in her crib, talks to herself. Calls me or her father, but we ignore it. Not saying that we are not fully awake, but we don't stir. We stay put in bed, until it's time to get up.

And my daughter too has been super dramatic lately. I wonder if there's something in the air. If it gets really bad, we proceed to time out, and that usually breaks whatever mood she's in, and she's better. Right now she's going through a lot of things... I think more teething, diarrhea and diaper rash, heat rash... So it could be that. Is he teething?
I would strongly suggest that you ignore him when he wakes up, and give him time outs to chill out if he gets really bad.

Good Luck!

We are in the same boat as you right now. My 15 month old son has started the exact same pattern as your son. We have reached that point where we have decided that we will not get him out of his bed until 6am so if that means he cries for a whole hour then that's what he does. We were getting him out of his crib when he would wake up at 5am but then we were just dealing with a crabby boy so we figured we could at least try and get a bit more sleep (by turning on a loud fan in our room) since he will be crabby when he gets up anyway. He is still taking two naps a day and we let him sleep as long as he wants for his first nap but his second nap I only let him sleep for an hour and then I wake him up. We were told to just let him sleep more during the day and that in turn he would sleep longer at night but that did not work for us. Since I started this waking him up after an hour nap in the afternoon he has started sleeping until 6 or 6:30 most days which has made all of us a lot more happy. I'm not sure how much sleep your son is getting during the day but I would try both options of letting him sleep more during the day or less depending on what works for you guys. I'm really sorry and I feel your pain though, just know you are not alone.

My 3 y.o. was a too early waker, too...5:30ish. We were both a mess by 7, so, I found and bought an O.K. to Wake clock for him. (Available @ Target) It is a digital clock that can be set to glow at a particular hour. If it's not glowing when my son wakes up, he has to stay in bed.

At first I set it only slightly later than his early wake up time and explained to him that this light had to be for him to call me or come into the our room. I had to go in early a few times to assure him it was going to come on. Every day or couple of days I set it later and later. Now it is set to 7 o'clock. When he wakes up particularly early, he generally goes back to sleep. If he wakes up 20 or 30 mins early, he just waits in bed. (He might play with his stuffed animals or grab a book from his bedside table, but is generally quiet.)

It has made all the difference for both of us!

Also, maybe you could try a morning nap...8 or 9 a.m. and an early bedtime. If he keeps waking up early, at least he'll have that extra sleep to feel better.

Good luck!

My daughter wakes early and if I wait too long before feeding her breakfast, she's off the wall. Both her dad and I are low BP, low blood sugar people, so I know the behavior is from hunger. I know my daughter can wait an hour; any more time than that, she doesn't know what she wants...

Wish I had an answer for you re: sleeping in!

Jen

Blackout curtains did the trick for us! Cover up the window with anything you've got. Best of luck!!!

My 18 month old wakes up when my husband is getting ready for work around 6:30 am. I know it's too early for her so I have done the same thing for as long as I can remember. She gets up, sits on the couch snuggled up or in my bed. (Basically wherever my hubby is getting ready for work so he can sorta talk to her and see her before he's gone for the day) I give her a sippy cup of milk and make sure she stays put. I don't let her run around or start to play. Within 45 min I put her back down and she will almost ALWAYS sleep for another 2 hours. Then she gets up and we begin our day. I do this every single day and it works great for us. It gives me a chance to get myself set for the day, drink some coffee, showered, whatever. Hopefully it will work for you, too. :)

I feel your pain. :-)

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