3 yr old waking at 5:30

[imsmum]

Hi everyone!  I haven't been on the board in a while but I should have known it wouldn't last forever!!

My just turned 3 yr old dd has woken up the last 2 mornings at 5:30, after falling asleep at 9:30 and 9 pm for the last 2 nights.  She still naps but will skip the odd one, but usually if she skips a nap, she won't skip again for about a week, although last week she skipped 2 days in a row--and with the nanny!! (usually she skips with me)

She is spirited and a 10 hour a night sleeper (has been since she was about 16 months), with naps no longer than 1.5 hours. She was on a 8:30-6:30 night with a nap from  1:30-3:00, but over the summer she has pushed this back so she was sleeping 9:00-7:00 with a nap from 2-3:30.  She has an older sister who is back in school so she gets woken up now from her nap at 3:15 at the latest, but she will often go down for her nap a few minutes earlier so she still usually gets about  a 1.5 hour nap. Yesterday, she did nap, but at her usual time of 2 and only for 1 hour. We'll see what today brings for the nap!

Do you think she is dropping/should I drop her nap?  I know she is getting around that age but I've just been putting her in and if she naps, ok and if not, she is asleep by 7:45 and does ok until 6:45 although she is a more restless sleeper on the nights she doesn't nap.  Last week when she skipped her nap 2 days in a row she did wake around 2 in the morning on the second night, so I figured she still needs a nap, but know I'm not so sure with the 5:30 wakeups!

There have been some changes for her--she started a pre-school 2 mornings a week although it's at a place she went for "summer camp" so she is familiar with it.  She has now started putting her poopee in the toilet (finally!!)and her big sister has started attending school full days, which is a change.  Also the last 2 nights have been rather warm here and I know she tosses her covers off in the night, so she might be getting cold around 5:30.

Any advice?  I don't want her to slip into being very overtired--been there, and it's not pretty!

   

[Layla]

What about shortening her nap to 45mins-1hr so that its enough to refresh her but hopefully the rest of the hours will add onto night sleep. I am actually doing the same with my 2.5yo.. who wakes really early in the morning or she falls asleep much later at night if her nap is 1.5hrs long.

Of course it could be not nap related at all & more to do with the changes & the weather. I usually do a "final" check on the girls before I go to sleep & cover them up... still doesn't help all the time cause they do toss & turn alot as well but maybe something worth doing

[Alison_3]

I have been living with 5:30 wakings for 3 years!   Okay so not every day, but if Ben sleeps until 6:30, we celebrate!  He will be 3 at the end of October and here's what we do...

Wake around 6:00-6:30
Nap (1-1.5 hours and a rare 2 hour nap)between 12:30-1:00  (closer to 1:00 when he has preschool) 
bedtime routine starts around 7:45
asleep by 8:00

We found the earlier he goes to bed, the later he actually does sleep.  It's just so hard to buy into that because I was always afraid it would backfire and he'd be up at 4:30!

I don't think I would give up on the nap yet.  Preschool really wears Ben out and he naps well on those days. 

[imsmum]

Well, Margot is still napping for 1 to 1.5 hours but she's falliing asleep between 9:30 and 10 pm and is up at 7!  I think that she is just at the in-between stage where she still needs a nap but it is interfering with night sleep.  I guess I'll just try to judge by her behaviour whether this is working but it's always hard to determine whether she is being wild because her sleep pattern is off or for other reasons!

Thanks for your advice.