Support and Chat thread for moms of early waking toddlers

[RACHPEM]

We are still struggling with ew here too.  I am also in 2 minds whether Maya only need 10-10.5 at night but tbh there is no pattern to her at all so it is really hard to tell, she is never happy through the day so I am sure she is tired and it is just a matter of getting the timing right. We get Ew reagrdless of nap lengths ,timing, etc.  I am not even expecting too much, I would be estatic over a regular 6am start!
Rachaelx

[mummywalks]

Hiya xx
we cant seem to get past 6am and he screams so loud he wakes DD, DS is now going to bed a 7pm so is sleeping 10.5 - 11hrs with 1.5 - 2 nap at around 1ish so I have been going to bed earlier so I can get up a bit less grumpilly but what can I do about the screaming its really getting to all of us now
Walks xx

[LisaM]

Is it screaming like he is very upset or is he just trying to get someone to come and see him?

[mummywalks]

I thinks its an I am awake so I want to get up and go down stairs for juice and a banana and I dont want to wait crossed with an i dont really want to be awake yet but I cant help it cry, if that makes sense (I dont very often ha ha ) but its immediate because I have started waking before him now and he doesnt even stir he is just awake and crys out ?

[LisaM]

Hard to know really but if he is getting about 11 hrs sleep at night he has probably had enough.  How old is he?  With my dd I have actually had some success saying to her that if she wakes too early she must be as quiet as she can so she doesn't wake her sister up.  IT might be coincidence but she actually seems to be just chat much more quietly than she was before. 

Mind you if it is cos I asked her to, it will be the first time she has ever done anything I wanted!!

[Melsy]

We use a disco ball alarm clock and a sticker chart.  A week of stickers gets a cheap toy from the $2 shop.  We have the alarm set for 7am.  The first few days we had to sit with him in his room playing and wait for the lights to start flashing.  Now he knows he has to wait by himself.  Although he still calls out for water etc. but after the need is met, will still play quietly with his toys on the floor of his room.  He wakes at around 5.30am some days so he does really really well to wait till 7am, I think!!!     Can you try W2S???

Mel

[CJF]

Hi Ladies,
I would love to join this chat thread.  My 2 year old son is waking at 5:30 every morning for the last several months.  He even often has 1 wake up during the night.  This is soooo taking a toll on me, I am 22 weeks pregnant and would love to get him sleeping all night and falling alseep on his own and sleeping to a decent hour before the baby comes.  I have heard about the alarm clock thing where the light goes off instead of an actual alarm....where can I get this?  I would love to try that.
My ds is in a big boy bed so there is no just leaving him in his crib. When he wakes in the am (or during the night) he just gets up and comes to get me. 
I need sleep!!!!!!!
Thanks for letting join in!!  any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 
by the way , i should mention his typical daily schedule:
awake for the day by 5:30
nap about 12:30
sleeps for about an hour and half
in bed by 7:15/7:30  lights out by 7:30 or so  then takes forever to fall asleep....sometimes even an hour

[smum]

My lo is 16.5 months old. He has been an early riser sleeping 10-10.5h. Sometime he did 11h, 12h is very rare. My problem is even sometimes he can sleep 11h or 12h at night, I don't know how to keep these good days. They are mostly one day miracles. In July, he began to sleep less than 10h at night a few days. In August, he began to sleep 9h20-9h50m at night every 1-2 days. I cut both of his naps to protect his pm nap and bedtime. So his daytime sleep is 1.5-2.5h only. Although I keep his bedtime 8-8:30pm, his wake-up ranged wide from 5:50-7:30. Last week was so stressful because too many disasters happened: no pm nap, am nap too short (10-15m) because he asked me to hold him upright to sleep, tottering bad pm nap, nw 2hrs. He alreday sleeps less than 10h for several days. Today he woke at 6:00am but only had 10m am nap because he was super OT, crying hysterically asking me to hold him upright to sleep. I could only hold him for 10m. Then his dad came home to rock him to sleep around 1hr later. Lukily he had 1h40m nap till 1:10pm. However, he had a super early bedtime 6:20 (the earliest in his life so far)  because it's impossible to have a catnap during 5-6pm. What if he wakes up at 5:00am tomorrow? Can anyone help me?

[Melsy]

smum - your little one may be needing to transition to one nap per day.  The transition is rough (I won't lie to you there!) and they need an earlier bedtime definately to go with the one nap per day.  Hugs - it's a tough time!  I could be wrong here too (wouldn't be the first time!  ) but reading your post and the age of your little one, first thing that popped into my head were 1 nap and early bedtime.  Maybe someone else will have some other ideas though???  Does he have his 1 year old molars yet?? 

Melissa

[smum]

Hi Melissa! tks for your hugs and glad to meet you. Yes, he did have "three" molars during July and August. I didn't give him any medication because sometimes he can sleep more than 10.5h at night. So I don't know if his bad night is related to teething. The day before yesterday I gave him Motrin but not helpful. I think the major reason of his bad night is his nap arrangement and A time post-nap. But I still can't find the solution.

I really hope he can be on one nap. Considering he is a short nighter and his A time post wake is only 3h40m, 3h37-4h btwn two naps, plus he is so sensitive to OT, not an independent sleeper, etc, I feel I need to let him have two naps. 

To keep his bedtime and squeeze in 2 naps has been so hard for me, especially when his wake-up ranges so wide recently. I often need to cut both of his naps length. I feel so guilty doing that,but a bedtime after 8:40 doesn't mean later wake-up and often causes shorter night. My hubby doesn't like me to cut my son's nap. He thinks I should let him "What will be will be"  But you know, to many early risers, later bedtime doesn't mean later wake-up. My son's clock has been stuck at 6-6:30am so long. So late bedtime seems not helpful, or maybe I didn't try it very long and consistently.

In order to solve his EW, I've tried long am/short pm nap approach for 3 months. During June and July, it is helpful. My son can sleep more than 10.5h, even 12h. Bu it can only last a few days. Then we'll have 1-3 days of sleeping less than 10h. Now sleeping less than 10h becomes every 1-2 days. Because he is super OT now, I consider to cut his am nap short, keep a long pm nap and thus bring his bedtime earlier. If I want a bedtime 7-7:30pm, his am nap needs to be 30m or less. I still don't know how long his A time btwn naps will be if his am nap is 30m or less. I'm also afraid it will destroy his pm nap since I don't have much success with a 35m am nap. On the other hand, during last week including today, we accidentally had two days of very short am nap (10m and 15m). To my surprise, he had 1h40m nap after that super short am nap and can manage 5h-5h20m A time post nap. Will it be too long for him? He even had a 7h A time post nap b/c he can't fall asleep at 5-6pm. Maybe it's b/c he is super OT. Anyway, hope he can wake at/after 5:30am tomorrow.     

[Troi]

Ok ladies, I need some help here.  My spirited 23 month old DS has been waking at 5.30am now for months.  He wakes crying and is obviously still tired yet nothing will get him back to sleep.  I have tried bringing him in to my bed but even then, he squirms around and ends up frustrated and crying.  His day looks like this:

5.30am wake (we don't have breakfast until 7)
Now, nap is anywhere between 10 am to 12pm depending on where he is.  I work three days per week and at daycare they put him down for a nap at around 10 (this is a new thing but not making any difference).  At home he refuses to nap in his cot and I end up either taking him for a walk or driving him in the car (I am also very tired by this time and need a nap myself).
8pm bed time.  He goes off to sleep fine on his own so it isn't a comfort thing.

I am so tired and he is becomming a very grumpy little boy.  At day care he has started biting other children and I am sure this only happens when he is so tired.  I just don't know what to do.

[newmom11]

smum -

i just wanted to let you know that you are not alone with a child who doesn't need a lot of night sleep.  my son is 13 months and will only do about 9.5 - 10.5 hours of night sleep, usually more like 10 hours.  he's in bed by 8pm and is awake by 6am or on days like today at 5:40am.  it shocks me that he can sleep so little when i need so much sleep.  we are on one consistent nap a day...usually around 12:30 or 1pm depending on how early he woke that morning and that nap can last anywhere from 1.5-3 hours.  usually it's more like 2 though.  i have racked my brain trying to figure out how to get my son to sleep more b/c i can't function at 6am, but i can't seem to figure anything out.  every other mom i know has a child who sleeps until at least 7am, some are more like 8 or 8:30 and their kids take like 3-4 hours of naps too.  it's crazy.  i was starting to think i was the only other mom out there w/ a kid who doesn't sleep much, but i'm glad to know (not glad for you, but glad to know) that i'm not alone and that there are other kiddos who don't need a lot of sleep.  we had 2 glorious weeks of 11 hours of night sleep and a 7am waking about 3 weeks ago, but then we went on vacation and the later wakings went to pots and now they are getting EARLIER AND EARLIER. ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[smum]

Hi! newmom 11! It's so good you can have TWO WEEKS of 11h night sleep and 7am waking. If my son can wake after 7am, I am satisfied even his night sleep is still less than 11hr. (He can do that for only 2-3 days.) I feel 9h20-9h50m night is definitely too short for him. But I don't know how to arrange 2 naps and get more than 10.5h night sleep. Still chicken to try one nap. Have you considered to go back to 2 naps sometimes?

[newmom11]

smum
i have to say that we started the one nap thing when my son was 11.5 months old b/c i couldn't figure out how to get 2 naps a day and this 10 hours of night sleep plus all the A time he needed in between in a 24 hour period.  he would take a mega morning nap and then not want an afternoon nap until too close to bedtime so per the advice of my mom, we went cold turkey and switched to one nap and have never gone back to two naps a day since that point.  i know that doesn't work for everyone, but for us it has worked.  i just got out of the house during my son's morning nap to stimulate him and distract him from being so tired, got him back in time for lunch (which was a bit fussier than usual) and he was asleep shortly after that.  the transition was fairly smooth.  there are definitely days (like today when i think he is tired in the mornings, but i also know if he takes that morning nap then he won't sleep the rest of the day) so we always go run errands or go to the playground or go walk and that seems to give him enough energy to get past the sleepiness.  as for the glorious 7am wakings, i fear they are gone.  we started our day at 5:40 am and like you my son got less than 10 hours of night sleep...i definitely think he needs at least 10.5 hours.  it's just so hard when you know they need more, but you don't know how to get them to do that. 

[smum]

It's really difficult to change a baby's internal clock. Although I wish a solid routine, I also think my son is human, not a machine. Now we don't have a fixed bedtime/nap time/wake-up time. His wake-up becomes 5ish b/c of these days' disasters and super early bedtime (6:30pm) I feel so bad. Btw, when I look at your routine, your son's A time post wake is 7h, right? It's amazing you son still gets a decent 2-3h nap. And after 2-3h nap, he can still fall asleep after only 4.5-5h A time. I'm really surprised. Can I ask you: When you decide to have only one nap, why do you decide 12:30 is his nap time after you distract him from being tired. Or you just want to have a nap after lunch? When he wakes for such a long time, will you be afraid that he may get an OT nap less than 1.5hr, then it's still a long day b/f bedtime?

Glad for you b/c you have at least a fixed bedtime and a predictable nap time. It's good. My friend's dd is like your son, 9.5-10h night sleep + a single 2h nap. Recently I know her dd's night sleep has been increased to 10.5h and her dd is already 2 year old. I'm afraid my ds still takes 2 naps when he reaches 20 month old.