Am I asking too much ?

[Khyan & Sahria's mum]

Khyan has got a light in his room that is on a timer so we tell him that he must stay in his room in the morning until the light goes on, which is 6.30am every morning and then he is allowed to snuggle in our bed with us for a little while.

This was working really well for a while and then all of a sudden he can no longer stay there until it goes on  so from about 6am he starts to come into our room and I take him back and explain that he must stay there till the light is on and he whinges for a couple of minutes and then comes back to our room  I end up taking him back anywhere from 3 - 10 times each morning ! then the light comes on and you can hear him on the monitor say "mummy, daddy the light is on" and then he runs to our room and we praise him for waiting for the light to be on and then allow him into our bed.

So my question is pretty much.. do you think it's a discipline type issue or is it more than likely that he is not able to sleep as long in the mornings and 6am would be more reasonable (to him ofcourse NOT ME ! )

Our routine is pretty much

6 - 6.30 am wake
12 - 1.30/2pm nap (1.5 - 2 hour nap)
7.30/8pm bed for night

He goes to sleep independantly at night unless sick or teething (which could be the case at the moment as he is very whingy in general)

Do you think he is getting too much sleep and needs to cut the 2 hour nap to 1.5 hrs by waking him if he oversleeps ?

[Johno & Aurelias Mum]

Khyan is a bit older than my DS and has the same amount of sleep so I wouldn't have thought that it was too much,.

We also have a timer but DS doesn't come in, he shouts out.  So this morning, he shouted 'Mummy, I'm awake' and I shouted back that it was the middle of the night and he should go back to sleep.  He shouted back 'I'm just checking'  ANyway, I think he dozes a bit but at 6.15 when the light came on he shouted so he must have been awake then.

Now, whether Johno is a lazy devil I don't know but he waits for me to go and get him!  However, when he went into a big boy bed, I put a stair gate across his door so that he was safe in the night.  Maybe try this, maybe my LO has worked out its more comfortable to lie in bed than stand at the door, I don't know but I don't think you are asking too much.

Also, I think if he does get up, you just have to keep taking him back and repeating the rule which is not to get up til the light comes on.  You could put some toys or books at the end of the bed for him to busy himself with if he wakes early