have your early am wakings resolved themselves after 2 to 1 Nap established

[Harrisonsmummy]

Hi, I feel like I am constantly banging on about this, but Harrison is still waking at 5.25am.(For the last two weeks at least) We have moved to one nap, which I can push to 12.30pm and he sleeps for 1 3/4 hours. He is going to bed (asleep) at 7pm so that he at least gets 10 1/2 hours.

We have been doing this now for a couple of weeks. I am a bit scared to put him to bed later as when he gets overtired he won't go to sleep and wakes in the night.

For anyone who has completed this transition, did the wake-ups resolve themselves? ( Harri has always woken roughly 6.15 - 6.30am so I am not looking for a huge extention!)  I know I can try wake to sleep, but I am scared it will backfire - and if others have found it was transitional I will try and ride it out!

Any comments would be appreciated.

Justine

[ForeverHopeful]

Hi Justine 

I have just got over this problem with DS.  We had to stop the morning nap after he stopped going down easily in the afternoon and/or only slept a short time. 

What we had to do to stop the early waking was put Owen to bed early.  His normal bedtime with two naps was 7/7.30 but we had to put him down 6.30/7.  This was a nightmare for me on the days I was working.  I hardly saw him  It was home/dinner/bath/bed.  Awful!  But now we are back to a 7.30ish bedtime which leaves plenty of time for books and cuddles 

On the days that I was at home with him I also took him for a stroll in the pram around 10am.  He could have a quick catnap if tired or just have a rest.  This meant his nap time was closer to 1pm and he slept until 3ish.  Thankfully the nursery also take a walk in the morning so it worked perfectly.

HPH 

[cata]

Hi there,
I found a solution, don't know if it will suit you ladies:
DS goes down to sleep at 7:30ish pm. When ds wakes up in the morning (anywhere from 5:45-6:30am), I just change his diaper, give him a bottle, and he will then sleep at least until 8am  , time when he wakes up chatting, and happy. I find this wonderful, since he is NOT ready to start the day as early as 5:45-6:30am-he wakes up crying. If he wakes up after 7am, it is ok, we start the day...
Off course, nothing is perfect, and there are times when he wakes at 6am, I give him the bottle, and he won't go back to sleep. But at least I try....
Hope this helps! 

[AGS Mom]

My son's early wakings started AFTER the transition from 2 to 1 naps.  I have found that an earlier bedtime (7-7:30) actually helps him sleep until 6-6:30 am rather than 5:30.  I also started waiting longer each morning before I would go in to get him.  I did this in 15 minute increments.  He was sometimes a little irritable about not being picked up immediately, but it seemed to work slowly.  I am crossing my fingers that we're on the right track--GOOD LUCK!

[imsmum]

We're still in the same boat, except complicated by nightwaking from canines.  Never thought of the earlier bedtime because not an option for me...already dodging out of work early and starting winddown as soon as I get home in order to get dd asleep by 7, but it may work since it looks like your ds goes to sleep about 5 + hours after his nap which is a bit longer than for most toddlers as posted on the schedule sticky..it's so hard with both a short nap and short nighttime sleep, there's just so much of the day to get through.
The other option might be to slowly try to push the nap back 1/2 hour but keep the same bedtime.. sounds like your ds is like my dd in that they're more sensitive to the amount of time between nap and bed than between wakeup and naptime, so that would shorten that interval  even if the nap doesn't lengthen...Has anyone tried this approach and had any success?