Early Riser?

[docamy]

Jan 31, 2015 11:58:03 GMT -5 unringthebell said:

My 18 month old gets up between 4:30 and 5:30 most days (he goes to bed at 7:30). Any one have suggestions or tips on how to get him to sleep a little later?
He's happy and ready to play when he wakes but I feel like there is no way he's getting enough sleep.
He usually naps 2.5 hours during the week at daycare and 2-3 on weekends.

Have you tried laying him back down?  My 10 month old wakes up around 7:00 am.  I change him, nurse him, and lay him back down and he sleeps another 1.5-2 hours.  the first time I did it I wouldn't have guessed he would go back to sleep cause he seemed wide awake. He was babbling and trying to play but I thought I would just try it and it worked! Maybe worth a try! 

[lindsayanne14]

We went through something similar with DS (17 mths), this is what worked for us...

Afternoon nap at 1:00. He usually sleeps until 2:30 or 3:00. I don't let him nap past 4:00. No matter what time he wakes from his nap, I always have him in bed 4 hours later, most days it's around 6:45-7:00.

No matter what time he wakes up in the morning, I do not take him out of his crib until 6:00. If I go in before that to soothe him I rub his back or say "night, night" and leave again (I rarely have to go in anymore). When he wakes after 6 I go in and sing a good morning song and am very excited so he knows it's time to get up.

No matter how early he wakes up, I don't put him down for a nap any earlier than 12:30.

It took a few days, maybe a week, but now he mostly wakes between 6 and 7 (which my Dr said is the average wake time for babies/toddlers). I've found if he stays up past the 4 hour window after his nap, he's up super early the next day so I try to stick close to that schedule.

Overall, I run a pretty consistent schedule and it seems to help! Good luck!

[lindsayanne14]

unringthebell I can relate to the brutal early mornings...I had a few 4:30 starts in a row and got pretty desperate!

As far as not getting him up before 6, the first few days I kept going in and soothing him, even sitting in the recliner not talking, just being there with him. Now if he wakes early I hear him making noises and "entertaining himself" but he never cries anymore. Then he's just all smiles when I go in at 6.

[3magicbeans]

My DD1 goes through phases of doing the same.  I have a lo about the same age, to be honest, we just let her cio.  It has a bad rap, but for my case - I see an 18 month old who *wants* to get up and play at 4:30 am as very different from an infant that *needs* to eat at 430am.  She never cried longer than5-10 minutes, and was sleeping to 6am-630am within a few days.  

For our case, I wouldn't go in and sit in the room, that would just fuel the fire and piss her off to no end.