Waking earlier than normal. Are naps to blame?

[meredithandnolan]

My little one is 16 mo.  His typical schedule is this:

Wake: 7:30-8:00
Breakfast: 8:45 (at daycare)
Lunch: 11:00
Nap: 11:30 (1.5-2hours)
Snack: 2:30
Dinner: 5:30
Bed: 7:00

As long as hes not teething or sick, it is like clockwork.  The last week or so though DH and I have had to work early, so he has been going to daycare a little earlier and therefore eating earlier than normal, around 8:15.  (He would still wake up the same time though.  We live 5 minutes from day care and we get ready before he gets up so we let him sleep until the last minute)

Last week he started waking up at 6:00.  I would just let him play in his crib, but he wants out.  Then he is in a great mood and is up and ready for the day.  Do you think it is that breakfast being earlier is throwing him off, or do you think we should push his nap back some?  He goes to daycare, wo I don't have a lot of control over his nap time, as they all go down at the same time, but maybe I could get them to wait until 12:00 for him. 

Thanks for the help.  6:00 is a little early for me on the weekends

Meredith

[brightside]

Is he going to sleep at 7pm? If he waking at 6am then he may need to go to bed a bit earlier to combat a cycle building of overtiredness. You may need to do a slightly earlier bedtime for a few days until he starts to wake a bit later. Might also be a developmental blip though. Sorry not much more help.

[Layla]

Yes, I do think that a nap too early can cause early wake ups. I would talk to daycare to see if they are willing to put him down at 12pm instead. Also his total sleep requirements could be reducing & I don't think he needs 12+hrs at night plus a 1.5-2hr nap. The av is 11hrs at night & 1.5-2hrs nap so he is getting the right amount of sleep

[meredithandnolan]

It's just so weird that it happened all of a sudden.

Two nights ago I put him down at 6:45, because he was showing signs of overtiredness.  He went down easily as always, but woke up for the day at 5:45. 

Last night he went down around 7:15.  He woke a little later this morning, around 6:15. 

It would be nice if I could just put him down at 8:00 and he sleep until 7:00, but I'm sure it wouldn't work out that way! 

[Layla]

It could work but nap would have to be around 12.30pm so that he is not awake for too long before bedtime & doesnt get overtired. How flexible is daycare?