22 month old waking up 1 hour earlier everyday

[Jusiahsmom]

My 23 month old usually wakes up at 630 or sometimes  is still asleep while im dressing him to drop him off at sitters house but for the last week hes been getting up at 530-545. At first I thought maybe he was teething but now im thinking it’s a habit because its around same time all week. The 30 min wake up time for me has me exhausted. He falls asleep at about 730-745 everyday. The last couple of days have even tried putting him to bed ay 7pm and he has but still early wake up time. I do not let him get up. He lays with eyes open tossing and turning till alarm rings but by 9 am he wants to nap and is exhausted. He usual naps at 11 am for 2 hours. Can someone give me some tips ..pleaseee. thanks

[Buttonbobs]

Is there anything going on in the way of teething or other developmental change?

There is quite a lot going on for LOs of this age so if there is anything developmental it could affect the sleeping.

But looking at your routine, it might be worth shifting that nap later in the day, many LOs are getting an after lunch nap by this stage. The fact that he knows he gets to nap around 11 may be convincing his body clock that he needs to get up earlier to have enough A time before nap. You could try shifting it later gradually, but by this age, my DD usually managed bigger shifts quite well.

What do you think?

[Jusiahsmom]

That makes sense to me. So by how much do u think I should shift it to? Maybe 12? I  can gradually push it by 15 mins til he gets there.
To answer the question he could be teething his last molars but I would think that would bother him all night. He's been calling out my name while sleeping in a moaning way 1-2x a night aasides fr that I have no other inductions. I just thought that bc it's at almost exactly the same time every night that it wouldn't be teething.. But idk..
I will try shifting the nap . Today he napped form 1230 to 230 let's see if he sleeps in tomorrow morning.

[Buttonbobs]

That could be teething, or it could be a dream, perhaps showing as speaking, my DD always does that when she's not sleeping quite a soundly for whatever reason (OT/teething).
It might be worth trying some meds at BT (and maybe middle of the night as a DF too) to see if that helps.

Otherwise, yes you could push the nap back to 12 going 15 mins at a time, and see if that helps. I think around this time my DD had been napping at 12.30 or later for quite a while as that was the earliest they would put her down at nursery.

You will need to give it at least a week to two weeks before you see if the new nap time makes a difference, to give him time to adjust.

I would keep BT the same to begin with and donNy cap the nap either - but we can always tweak that if you feel he needs it.

[Jusiahsmom]

Ok thank so much. Will try that for couple of weeks and see how it works hopefully sooner than later. Should his bed time be moved later than730 when it's all completed or stay the same? He has to be up at 630 so I would like to keep it the same .. Also what should be the A time between nap wake up til bedtime ? Thanks again!!!

[Buttonbobs]

Hi there, you might find that BT shifts later naturally, but I wouldn't push for it unless the signs are there. You might be able to shorten a nap instead of making BT later if you need to keep it where it is, but that'll depend on other factors so probably worth sticking with it for now.

As for what the A time should be, if you're not capping the nap and not shifting BT, the A time will be just what it is (ie the time between WU from nap and 7.30), but if it needs shifting we can sort that when that becomes clear.

At this age, the A times are often less important than the balance of A time before and after that nap and the length of the nap at the particular time of day. Sorry it seems a bit vague, but it may become clear what is needed once you shift that nap

[Jusiahsmom]

lol yes def a little confusing so from what I understand, I will push his nap down til it reaches about 12ish and see if he can still fall asleep by his reg bed time, if not I should cut down his naptime right?  Because if gets up at about 2ish not sure if he will be tired by 730 to fall asleep.
Do babies at this age reduce the amount they sleep all together. He was use to doing 13 hour sleep; 11 night and 2hours for nap.

[Buttonbobs]

Sorry

I think as LOs age they do decrease their sleep needs. Your LO is fairly recently moved to one nap, so I'd be surprised if any major change in sleep need overall was required. But, he was already reducing his own sleep, by waking eRlier in the morning to get the total sleep in 24 hours down. So yes you may find by switching that nap later, you get a later WU, but you might need to ether cap the nap or move BT slightly later.

Or, you might find the new time suits him and need no further change. Has he always had a really long A time to bed?

[Jusiahsmom]

Yes probably for the last 10 months or so, but usually hes been exhausted by bedtime, so shortening this A time may benefit him. Hes been on 1 nap since hes been about 15 months. Yes, if that occurs I will then cut his nap down bc the WU time cannot be changed bc I have to go to work. SO far puching the nap has been successful. Hes been waking up at 630 the last 3 days. (fingers crossed)
Thanks so much! Ill keep in touch