19 months old wakes up at 5AM or before

[Tuty]

DD started preschool a month and a half ago and since then she's been waking up at 5AM (and occasionally even at 4:30) every morning anxious to go to school. We were hoping this habbit would disappear once she got used to the preschool so we gave in and one of us were up with her since that early. It's been too long for us and we have no idea how to make it disappear, we try talking her into going back to sleep but she refuses and screams to be outside. We also bought the timer light to tell her that she can't be out of bed (or call us) before the light is on, but we never even get to the light turning on..

We're pretty exauhsted parents by now. Any suggestions??

Her routine is as follows:

wakeup: 5:00AM
nap:      1:00PM (preschool hours) - usually 1:30-2 hours
bedtime: 7:00/7:30

before she used to wake up around 6:00, so over this long period she must be missing lots of hours of sleep, but she's not behaving tired.

Thanks,
Tuty

[Layla]

Is she is a big bed? If yes, what about going back into her room & laying down with her (set up a mattress on the floor or into her bed) so that she can go back to sleep rather than taking her out of the room. Is she crying when she wakes? If she's in the cot you could try wi/wo (again rather than letting her start the day that early). What do you do that early in the mornng... do you give her milk or breakfast? If yes, I would probably delay this as well.

As well as the excitement of going to pre-school it could have also been because of the late nap offered there that she started waking up earlier. Any chance they can put her down earlier (say 12pm) so that she can go to sleep for the night around 6.30pm to get more sleep overnight.... even if its for a week or so?

Layla

[Tuty]

She's still in her crib, and she cries as soon as she gets up. She usually get her milk around 6. At 5 I usually spend 15 minutes trying to convince her to go back to sleep, she's screaming and pleading for me to take her out of her crib and eventually we just give up. Could you please elaborate on the wi/wo approach - how is it done in an hour time frame?
Thanks,
tuty

[Layla]

Here's the link to the wi/wo method. So you would wi... tell her its not time to get up yet & wo. Start counting to 5 or 10 or 15 or 20... depending on your child's temperament. Then go back in at the end of your count (if she's still crying) & again tell her "its night time... try to go back to sleep" & leave again. Start counting again & go back at the end of the count if she's crying. If she's not crying at the end of your count then don't go back & only go back if she starts crying again. I think the main thing here is to be consistent & not pick her up 10mins into the whole thing....

I still think things would be slightly better (that is the early wakings might resolve better) if she takes an earlier nap & goes to bed earlier for a few days to catch up.

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63896.0

I would try for at least until your prefered wake up time (so say 6am). She might put up a pretty big fight though & might not get back to sleep for a few days (or even longer than that) but try to be consistent & give her the message that its still night time & she needs to go back to sleep.