3 yo consistently waking up too early

[kdawson]

Hello,

My son has been consistently getting up around 5:45 to 6:00 but I don't feel it is sufficient sleep for him and is definitely way too early for me to get up!  Often I hear him stirring at 5:00am.

He goes to bed around 8:00.  That is when we leave the room and guessing he falls asleep by 8:30.  Therefore, he's not even getting 10 hours of night time sleep.  He doesn't go down for his nap until 1:00 (I would prefer earlier but he is at daycare so it is out of my control) and sleeps for 45 min to 1 hr.  He's always slept less than average but sometimes you can really see the bags under his eyes and his mood is definitely affected by this sometimes.  I don't think this is habitual otherwise would have tried partially waking him about an hour before he would typically get up.

I am at a complete loss of what to do and maybe there isn't anything I can do???  Perhaps I'll try putting him to bed a bit earlier but we tried that a while ago and he just wasn't that tired.  It doesn't help (and maybe this is partially the issue), that we live in a location where it is still somewhat sunny at 10:00pm and broad daylight by 5:30am.  I have blackout blinds in his room but I wonder if the body still knows...plus you can hear the birds chirping by 4:30 in the morning even with a white noise machine on in the rooms.

I would really appreciate any advice or support!  Thanks so much:-)

[jessmum46]

Have you tried any no nap days? Wondering if the nap is robbing his night sleep?  What about a gro clock for the mornings?

[kdawson]

Thanks for responding.  I haven't tried eliminating the nap because the very odd day he doesn't get one he is absolutely miserable.  Plus, I also figure that since he is still taking a nap at daycare when most of the kids do not and it isn't really quiet in the room (and he likes quiet) that he still needs the nap.  I am guessing waking up early is one sign they have outgrown their nap.  Are there other signs?

[Haribo2012]

Hi there, my DS is the same age and an EW so I sympathise but also my DS does go to bed at 6.30/7pm so is getting 11 hours roughly and most days no nap or 20 mins max.

Do you think he could be getting past sleep and getting a second wind as such? I know if we think DS is ok and go for later BT we get lots of hyper messing which is OT then a short night.

Personally I'd try cutting that nap to 20/30 mins and bringing BT a lot earlier hun x

[kdawson]

Hello Haribo!  Thanks for responding!  I definitely think he could be getting a second wind but there aren't any obvious signs.  I'll have to pay closer attention to see if he gets cranky right after supper or during a certain period in the evening but nothing is obvious to me right now.

Getting him to bed earlier is a hard one.  We are often not done eating until 6:30 from our work schedule and if we didn't spend some quality time with DS after supper it would be much harder to get him to bed.  We discovered that a while ago.

My gut is telling me he's OT so am hesitant to reduce his nap (not to mention he is a bear when he gets woken up!!)  I think that because when he first started daycare at 12 months he went from 2 to 1 nap and for months we had huge issues getting him down for bed at night until we asked daycare to offer him two naps and the problem disappeared.  Now, he generally isn't hard to get to bed as long as we spend some time with him before bed so maybe he isn't OT?? Often times if it is my turn to get up with him in the morning and if it is before 6:00 I let him know it is too early and I'll go back to bed with him usually with a little grumbling but not bad at all.  Two mornings ago he went back to sleep on and off until 7:00 am (but it seemed like he was ill too) but the time before that he didn't get back to sleep.  If he consistently doesn't go back to sleep do you think it is safe to assume he isn't OT? Or could it still be OT?

Thanks so much!

[nona]

what time do you put him to bed if he doesn't nap?

[Haribo2012]

I know it's hard to get them to bed early, when DS started on no nap we literally got home from work at 5pm had a quick snack then spent the time together playing in the bath and bed for 6pm, we choose to eat after DS in bed so we have more time before his bed.  It was a rush for a few weeks but it helped as he was sleeping 6.15-6am rather than waking at 4.30/5pm if he's got past it or had a long nap.
If you want the nap and later BT to continue then you may be stuck with the EW for a while, 11/11.5 hour seems to be our sleep max right now although I know it varies widely if we let DS nap for an hour we get 8pm BT and 5.30 WU, then an OT boy the next day.

For us waking early with less 10.5/11 hours sleep as mostly due to OT but as I said it does vary.

Have you tried a gro clock?

[K-JDA]

This is exactly us right now. An hours nap leads to a 10hr night max and OT starts to set in but he still needs his nap as he gets pooped out running round at nursery! Haribo has advised us to cut to 20/30 mins catnap which I am still working up the courage to do even though I know it is the right thing. Just waiting on the very final molar to appear to make sure this isn't the cause of the early wake-ups (it is half way out) then I am going to go for the shorter nap and earlier bedtime and see what happens. I agree it is hard to fit in an earlier bedtime but you could always start with the earlier bedtime and then work to shift it later like when the clock changes. The 1-0 sucks!!