2 yo sleep weirdness -- where to start?

[julieb]

I need some non-biased parties to look at my situation and tell me where to start (or if I'm doing wishful thinking). 

DS just turned 2 and has been a touchy sleeper from the start (planets have to be in alignment to have good sleeps).  He loves his sleep and used to have higher needs than most children.  That seemed to drop off around 16-18 months.  I've mainly been having shorter naps.  I was kinda in denial, playing with the nap time +/- an hour until I accepted that he's now an average sleeper and a two hour nap is probably about right.

But the last couple months, we have VERY early mornings, 5~6 am (usually 5:30) and it's still dark out.  I've had early morning wake up issues randomly over his whole life.  Sometimes they've sorted out themselves and he goes back to 6:45~7:00 am, sometimes I did WTS.  I usually don't have to go in and he'll happily chat away in his crib until I get him up at 7 am -- but it keeps ME awake too!

I know he's not cold.  It's still dark, so no light problems in the room.  We just finished teething so that's officially over (have all 20 now).

Naps are currently at 1 pm for about 2 hours and he's down for the night by 7:15 (and VERY tired by then).  Moving the bedtime back seemed to make early wakings earlier.  But didn't try it consistently.

The WEIRDEST part of this though... We have "quiet time" in his crib at 9 am every day so I can take a shower.  This started out with him reading books and playing and has progressed to him asking me to turn off the lights and close the door!  And he actually has been falling asleep in there around 9:30 every other day, sleeping for 45-90 minutes for the past two weeks!  No sound machine or anything (my once sensitive sleeper, HAH!).  He can't possibly make it through till bedtime, so I often give him a catnap about 4 hours after he wakes up and then bedtime is somewhere between 7-8 pm, depending on how late the 2nd nap was.

So I'm not sure where to approach this first.  Not let him fall asleep at quiet time?  Push back nap or bedtime to end the early wakings?  Try WTS again?  How much sleep is realistic for this age?  All the babies on my birth thread seem to be longer sleepers.

thanks for a new set of eyes...

[UNCMomma]

Hmmmmm...

My LO started dropping naps altogether at age 2, but I'll try to offer a little advice!   

Could you move the nap earlier (say 12?) and don't let him have the 9:30 AM nap?  Then adjust bedtime a tad earlier if needed, but not much if it causes earlier wake ups.  I swear, the only reason my girls ever wake early is b/c of overtiredness.  So maybe he's just had some accumulating overtiredness that's causing the early wakes and the urge to nap around 9:30.  Esp if he's happy, I'd keep leaving him til 7 so he knows that's when wake ups are.

Good luck!

[Layla]

Hi Julie - I agree with pp, try not to let him have the nap in the morning and bring the naptime and bedtime forward.

[imsmum]

Think I read in Ferber's book (which I read for the sleep info not for the CIO!) of a similar situation where what had happened in the very early nap actually represented night sleep that had been "hived off" and formed a very early nap.  I think the advice was to basically CIO  (obviously not recommedned , but you could do WIWO instead) and not give the earliest nap.  Not usre about whether he suggested moving the mid day nap slightly earlier and trying a super early bedtime but I guess that makes sense to avoid overtiredness.  Anyway if you can take a look at the Ferber's book you can see the approach but adjust the method from CIO to WIWO.