Waking up at 4Am

Hi: Do you have a night light in his room or do you leave a light on that wakes him up? I read that if you do have a night light the children do not rest as well, and the light wakes him up thinking its time to get up, also how many naps dose he have in the day time? try leaving something to drink near him. Good luck E. D.

Yikes. My daughter is the same, although at 10 years old her wake up time is 7 or 8 now... but that's no matter what time she goes to sleep. When she was that little I had to tell her she wasn't allowed to get up or wake me up until it was daytime. The minute she saw the sun she'd say, "Mom, it's day!" and bounce out of bed. But at least she'd wait that long. Good luck! Maybe get some books or toys he can quietly play with in bed until it's light?

First, try to identify if there is something waking him up, a loud truck that starts every day, sprinklers that turn on, anything that could be startling him awake. If you determine it is something outside, try a white noise machine to block out the sound. If it isn't anything other than his own clock waking him up, try moving his bedtime earlier by up to an hour. We thought our pediatrician was crazy when she recommended this, but it worked for our son. He was getting up at 4:30 every day, bright eyed and ready for action. The first thing we did was put light blocking curtains in his room, which helped a little bit, but not entirely. The doctor said to move up his bedtime and it worked like a charm. Turns out he was overtired (even though he wasn't acting cranky or anything) and it was disturbing his sleep. We moved the bedtime earlier gradually, and by the time we got it to 7pm, he was sleeping until 6:30 or 7 every day. We still have an occasional early rise, but nothing like it was before. Also, when he does wake up early, don't feed him right away, or you are training him to be hungry at 4am instead of a normal breakfast time, so he will continue to wake up to eat. If you can't get him back down, allow him to get up, but do quiet activities until an acceptable wake up time and then start your day. Good luck. It is so hard when you have your second infant child and your first won't sleep. Sleep deprivation takes its toll on everyone, so whatever you can do to nip it in the bud now will save a lot of problems later.

I would look at his nap schedule.. believe it or not, a child wants more sleep when they get more sleep - it doesn't sound like it would be right, but that's how it works... keeping him up longer is NOT going to work (as you have found out). He needs to get a good nap, especially at 19 months. Also, I would put him back into bed, and not allow him to get the raisins or breakfast bar, or whatever. It sounds like he's kind of running the show, which I'm sure is hard right now because of your baby, but remember - you're the parent, and after a few days of you being consistent and not letting him get up, you should break that habit. If he wakes up, fine, but he has to stay in bed... he'll soon be so bored he'll fall back asleep.

So sorry for you! Been there several times with our little guy - he's now almost 21 months. He was getting up around 3AM, ready for a full day - for about 2 weeks in a row at one point - exhausting! The key is major consistency. If he's still taking 2 naps, try & put him down the same time each day & for the last nap, no later than 2:30 PM. If he's still asleep at 4PM, wake him up. Then - EARLIER BEDTIME.

Seriously - it sounds insane, but you've already tried putting him to bed later & it didn't work. The latest should be 7:00. Get him in the bath by 6:30 - read books, do the nighttime routine, lights out at 7PM. Even if he fights it, try it for a solid week before trying something else. Heck - if he insists on being an early riser, then wouldn't an extra hour or 2 be better for you in the evenings?!?

If he continues to wake at 4AM, don't talk, don't turn on any lights, act like it's the middle of the night & you're just calming him back to sleep. Give him a rub on the back, lay him back down if he's up, tell him night-night & shut the door.

I feel for you - thankfully these times a phase - the other suggestions are great too, but typically the early riser may just need an earlier bedtime or a cup of water & then lights out again. 6:00 is an average wake-up time so be sure to not set unrealistic expectations like an 8AM wake-up time or something. Good luck!!!

Does he still nap in the afternoon? If so, make sure it is early, and not a late afternoon. Or, consider eliminating the mid-day nap, and an earlier bed time if he is cranky. Sometimes the rule of not getting up until it is light outside is helpful too.

Good luck.

We put a baby gate on my toddler's room. Does he have a night light or can he turn on the light for himself? You can set out some books or toys for him to play with and a cup of water. Let him amuse himself in his room for an hour or so.

You'll want to get him used to this during the day. Let him in his room for 5 min. during the day, building up to 30 before you try it in the early morning hours.

Not only will you get some sleep, you might find you can take a shower during the day!

Sounds like he's hungry. He has not eaten for at least 9 hours, that's a long time for a little body, so how about providing a snack for him then having him go back to bed? Maybe a cute alarm clock will entice him to go back and stay in bed until it rings - I know he cannot tell time yet! Good luck and sweet dreams!

EEK! I don't have any advice, but that sounds miserable for you! I feel for you! Good luck!

It sounds like your little guy is hungry! If he is not allergic to peanuts or almonds you might want to try a spoonful of peanut or almond butter before bedtime. I don't remember if 19 months is too young for that. It's been a while. I know this trick worked with my older boy.

K.

My son was an early riser. I found the more he slept during nap time the better he slept at night (sounds opposite huh?). My daughter on the other hand "makes up" sleep. In other words if I put her down later, she'll wake up later. But my son did better when we kept to a set schedule. Nap from 1-3pm and bed at 8pm. He would wake up at 7 am sharp, but at least it was better than 4 or 5 in the morning!!

It's a balancing act. You don't want to put him down for a nap later than 4 pm, but he needs to get a good nap before that.

Make sure your house has regular light cycles (check out my post in Alicia S request - sleeping through the night).

Those things helped me. Hopefully they can help you too. :-)

We used a timer switch on a lamp. Our daughter knew that if the light wasn't on yet, she had to stay in her room. Try setting it later gradually: 4:15 for a week or two, then 4:30 for awhile. We only wanted to adjust our daughter's timing by about an hour, and we were able to do it pretty quickly.

Hi C.,
I HIGHLY recommend "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth on sleep training. The MOST common reason for night waking and too early of a morning wake up is TOO LATE of a bedtime. At 19 months old, your son should be going to SLEEP around 6-7pm and napping AT LEAST once. Most children his age still need to nap at 9am and 1pm for minimum of 1 hr each. "Sleep begets sleep" is what Dr. Weissbluth says and I didn't believe it until I saw it for my own eyes. My daughter will ALWAYS wake early if she falls asleep too late. She is 2 1/2 yrs old and goes to sleep by 7pm every night, sometimes earlier, and sleeps until 6:30-7am. Please check Dr. Weissbluth's credentials and experience, he has SO much experience in the area of sleep that I would trust no other. If you want any other suggestions, email me.
Sincerely,
L.

Ours does this too! He still sleeps with us, though, and nurses, so I let him nurse and he sleeps again. The problem comes when it becomes all through the night and then we have to retrain him. Through this process, I have learned that a dinner with complex carbs will help sleep, and give high protein earlier in the day. We also try to give him a muffin and some milk or water on the way to bed after bath and dinner, just to pack in a little more. I think their bodies are small and they burn it fast even when sleeping, so they need food more often. We have also kept a banana and crackers on the table for a quick midnight snack.

What does your pediatrician say? Has he checked his free T4?
Is he taking too long a nap during the daytime?
My college friend had a boy who did that, and turned out he was a bit hyperthyroid. He was very active and ate often - even in the middle of the night.

Make sure he gets alot of activity (running, exploring, mental and physical, etc.) during the day! That works for my VERY active 19 month old boy.

Hi C.,
I'm out the door right now, but I have a Nikken sleep system that you may borrow. It has helped thousands of people get quality sleep including me. www.nikken.com/LelanaCrayne
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To add what other wrote, I've heard that waking too early could be an indicator of not enough sleep. Try going to bed earlier. Read The SleepEasy Solution by Spivak and Waldburger.

This goes completely against everything else that's been said, but that's one of the reasons I'm writing it. I had a similar problem with my son- he would wake up at 5:00 when my husband's alarm clock went off (even though his room was at the other end of the hall), and then he started waking up at 5:00 on the weekends. I started bringing him into my bed after my husband got up, and he would fall back to sleep for another couple hours. I think by seeing that it was supposed to be sleep time, and snuggling with Mama, helped him go back to sleep... most mornings. It's also become one of my favourite times of day. When that doesn't work, putting in a movie while I doze on the couch at least lets me get some extra rest, even if he does wake me up every few minutes