Schedules for the Early Wake-Up 13 month old

[olliepop]

So for months now my son has been waking up for the day around 5:00, usually between 5:00-5:30. We've done all the tricks, putting to bed later, putting to bed super early, schedule shifts, worked with a sleep consultant, etc. I've researched this so much, and I'm just done. I need to get in the habit of going to bed at 9:00 myself now so I can get enough sleep.

Whenever I look up day-time schedules for his age, so many people post saying their kiddo wakes up at 7:00, 7:30, etc. Way later than ours does. So I'm accepting that my kid was just a farmer in a past life and his clock is set to wake up for the day this early no matter what. As a rule, we don't get him out of his crib until 6:00-6:30, which is when he has his milk, and our day starts from there. I'm just wondering if anyone here has a little one around 13 months old who also wakes up this early, and what your daily schedule looks like?

Right now this is basically what we do:
5:00-5:30 - Oliver wakes up and hangs out in crib until Dad gets him
6:00-6:30 - Dad goes to get Oliver and gives him milk
7:00 - Breakfast
then playtime while Mom and Dad get ready for the day, sometimes a walk to the store with Mom later
9:30-9:45 - Nap 1 - This lasts anywhere from 1 hour to 1.5 hours usually
11:00-ish - Milk/Snack, followed by playtime or errands
12:30 - Lunch, then playtime/outting
2:30 - Nap 2 - This also lasts anywhere from 1 hour to 1.5 hours
3:30 - Milk/Snack
5:30 - Dinner
6:00 - Bath, followed by milk if he didn't finish from dinner, and getting PJs, brushing teeth, some quiet play in his room, etc.
7:00 - Bedtime

But yeah, he really seems like one of these kids who always wakes up that early no matter how much he sleeps during the day, whether he goes to bed at 6:00 or 8:00. So I'm wondering if anyone else is in the same situation and what your schedule looks like?

[choc]

My 13 month old usually had a little wake up around 5 and does usually go back to sleep til 6/6 30 but that hasn't always been the case. Having an early and long first nap can be bad thing for emw, allowing them to catch up on the lost sleep. I know you didn't ask about changing the 5am wu but have you tried pushing that first nap later? Also if he is having 2 naps of 1hr30 each, 3hrs is a lot of day sleep for this age. It could be robbing from his night sleep? You could start to cap the first nap? It would eventually lead to cutting down the first nap gradually and extending the second nap until he is on 1 long nap.
Just a few suggestions.

[Lindsay27]

Totally agree with Gemma!  If he needs that morning nap to get through then what I would do it cap it to 30mins, so 9:30-10 and then move your afternoon nap earlier, maybe try 1pm and a 7pm BT, so maybe something like this to start:

WU 5/5:30
Nap 9-9:30
Nap 1-3
BT 7

He is using the first nap to catch up from his early mornings, so in order to change that you need to cap that nap...don't get me wrong he may seem OT at first but after a bit he should start to sleep later in the morning, which is when you can probably phase that morning nap out altogether.

[olliepop]

Thanks for those suggestions! He has even had that morning nap go almost to 2 hours before, so I can see how he's playing catch up then. We tried pushing his morning nap til 10:00 before but he'd always melt down and refuse the nap, or take a very short nap. So I think I will try:

WU 5/5:30
Nap 9-9:30
Nap 1-3
BT 7

And possibly move his afternoon nap earlier as we drop that morning nap all together.

[choc]

Good luck!