Toddler early morning awakenings are one of the most challenging sleep problems for parents to deal with. They can also be a big problem in preschoolers. Fortunately, you can get your child to sleep later. Here’s how.
When I meet other parents socially, there is one question I get asked more than any other. “Why does my child get up so early in the morning?“ and, more pressingly, “What can I do about it?” I’m going to talk about toddlers and preschoolers here (1-5 years of age).
When should toddlers and preschoolers wake up in the morning?
When assessing this concern, I always see if the parents have realistic expectations. Most little children are morning people, which is a real challenge if you are a night owl like me. Expecting your toddler to sleep past 6:30 AM is usually unrealistic. An age appropriate wake time in this age group is probably between 5:30-7:30 AM. If your version of acceptable wake times on the weekend is 8 AM, you will probably be disappointed. Some children naturally wake up between 5:30-6:30 AM. If your child sleeps a little later, it is generally not cause for concern. Some kids’s circadian rhythm is naturally phase advanced– colloquially, we call them early birds.
Another thing to consider is how much your child is sleeping at night. In generally, toddlers aged 1-2 need between 11 and 14 hours in a 24 hour period. Preschoolers need 10-13 hours. Note that this also includes naps. Some children may fall outside of this range. (Here’s an article on normal sleep duration in children).
Practically speaking, it is very useful to track your child’s sleep schedule for a few days to see how much they are sleeping in a typical 24 hour period. I would recommend doing this on a two typical weekdays and one weekend and figuring out the average. Most children are pretty consistent about their sleep needs. For example, if your toddler usually sleeps 12 hours when you measure it, this will likely remain consistent until they get a little older. Measuring your child’s sleep needs will help with your next steps.
How to address early morning awakenings
Step One: Make sure your child’s bedroom is set up to avoid early awakenings.
Make your child’s room as dark as possible. Those black out blinds are expensive but they may be worth it. Most kids are really light sensitive, especially if they are morning early risers, and limiting light exposure can make a huge difference. One spring, my kids were getting up earlier and earlier with the longer days. This was getting a bit painful until daylight savings time bailed us out and magically made 5:30 into 6:30 AM.
Some children really like the feeling of being enclosed. If you can, avoid switching your child from a crib to a bed until they are three or four, unless they are jumping out of the crib. Changing from a crib to a bed is often a “Hail Mary” move for desperate parents, but in my experience it often backfires. If your child is in a bed, sometimes a bed tent can be very helpful to make your child less conscious of changes in their surrounds.
A white noise machine may be useful if a parent needs to get ready for work before the appointed hour, if the garbage truck comes by at 5 AM, or if one child tends to wake another. We use this one, which appears to be indestructible. Some concerns have been raised about the possibility of these machines affecting children’s hearing. Based on my own very unscientific research, I suspect that this is pretty safe for most children.
Step Two: Schedule adjustments
Schedule adjustments tend to work best if your child is getting enough sleep in a twenty-four hour period. Here’s how you know your child is getting enough sleep:
1. When you track their sleep over three days, it is falling in the normal range.
2. When they wake up in the morning, they are happy and in a good mood.
Broadly speaking, there are two schedule changes you can make. Both increase sleep drive (also known as sleep pressure) to help your child sleep in later in the morning.
Shift bedtime later: A later bedtime can definitely help, but it may not work right away, You also need to move slowly– by say 10 minutes a day with the goal of moving bedtime later by 30-60 minutes. Generally, the “sweet spot” for bedtime for most kids this age will be between 7:30-8:30pm. I would make your move then wait a week or two to see if it helps.
Giving up or limiting napping: Sometimes, your child’s daytime nap is shortchanging your sleep at night. Most toddlers give up their morning nap between 18 and 24 months of age. A child older than three may be ready to give up their nap altogether. If you feel like your child is ready to give up their nap (they are fighting you at nap time) you can try dropping them. Alternatively, if the naps are excessively long (more than 3 hours) I would try limiting the last nap of the day to two hours and making sure your child is awake by 4pm. Reducing daytime sleep will lead to sleep extension, usually in the morning. As with a later bedtime, note that you may need a week or two to see the full benefit. Here’s more information on dealing with napping problems.
Step three: changing how you respond when your child wakes up early.
Your child may be awakening because of behavioral reasons, especially if they are not getting enough sleep at night or are irritable in the morning. Often child who wake up irritable are waking up out of the NREM part of their sleep cycle, where it is normal to awaken out of REM sleep. If you take your child into your bed every time they wake up early, they are not going to start sleeping in on their own.
In other posts, I’ve talked about sleep onset associations. These are essentially bad habits which can be changed. (For more on how the psychology of habits affects sleep in children, read this article). This means that if your child requires a certain set of conditions to fall asleep, they will need them again whenever they wake in the night. If your child needs you to fall asleep at bedtime, I would actually consider sleep training at bedtime first. Teaching your child to fall asleep independently at bedtime WILL improve early morning wakings.
Even if your child is falling asleep independently, you can still inadvertently create a need for comfort from you in the early mornings. When a child is brought into the parents’ bed when she wakes very early ( before 5 AM), they will soon start to wake up anticipating this comfort. We went though a month with my son at ten months of age where I was lying on the floor with him with a pillow and blanket every day at 4:30 AM (pathetic, I know). I was essentially trying to have my cake and eat it too– get to sleep some more but avoid a sleep association. It didn’t work. The next step was ignoring him until a later and later time until he got to 6 AM. So we got up with him at 4:40 AM, then 4:50 AM, then 5 AM and so on, until he slept until a more reasonable time. He fussed a bit but it was not a terrible amount of crying. If your child is in a crib, you can just start moving the time you get your child out of their crib later. Again, go slowly.
For older children (three and up) a wake up alarm clock may work with older toddlers or preschoolers. Set up a timer with a light or just try out one of these OK to Wake Clocks . Our older son tends to rush out of bed if he hears his brother stirring or me getting ready for work. He likes his new clock and will wait for it to turn green. The key in being successful with this is going slowly and being realistic. That is to say, buying one of these clocks will not make your two year old sleep until 9 AM on the weekends. I would recommend picking a time about ten minutes later than your child’s current wake time, then moving it later by ten minutes every day or two until you reach your target wake time. This maximizes your chance of success and your child’s sense of mastery. A sticker chart can be helpful in this context, or even (!) an M&M or jelly bean every time your child gets up when you wish them to.
Don’t neglect negotiating with young elementary schoolers. When I first wrote this post my boys seven and four. This has made mornings much better. My older son understands time very well and will actually take his brother downstairs or read him stories if we ask him to. This is simply lovely. On the weekends we ask them not to get us before 7:30 AM and, unbelievably, they have complied. Once your children are old enough that they do not require direct supervision, I don’t have a problem with parents turning on a show for their kids for 30 extra minutes of sleep on the weekend.
Other questions and answers
What if my child wakes up hungry?
A light bedtime snack (something not too calorically dense but with some fat and protein) can be helpful. Think a glass of whole milk or peanut butter on a cracker.
What if my child started waking up early all of a sudden?
Although I don’t like the term, this may represent a sleep regression. Here’s an article on how to deal with this.
What if my child’s diaper is soaking wet?
Night diapers can be very helpful.
The keys to success are having realistic expectations, keeping your child’s room dark, and responding consistently to how your child wakes up in the morning. If you have persistent early AM awakenings (e.g. 4-5 AM or earlier) it is worth discussing with your pediatrician, especially if your child seems really cranky and tired during the day.
Have you struggled with too early mornings with your child? What has worked for you? What hasn’t?
Sleeping Mom says
We have dark curtains and white noise in our two year old’s room. The white noise lets us have a life and not have to tip toe around him, and the curtains are a miracle. It was overnight; the next morning after putting them up, he slept in much longer. We have a nightlight in his room so that if he gets out of his toddler bed he won’t trip or run into a wall (yes it’s that dark with the curtains!).
Craig Canapari MD says
The curtains are absolutely worth it. Unless you want your little one up at dawn.
Angela DePace says
We just got the ok to wake clock for our 2.75yo and she loves it! About a third of the time, she had been coming into our bedroom in the early hours to sleep in our bed. No one slept as well, including her. Last night, she excitedly told us about “going back to sleep when it’s yellow” and “saying hello to mommy daddy when it’s green!”. And this morning she popped into our room chipper at 6:15, right on schedule, announcing ” mommy, daddy, it’s green!” Thanks so much for the suggestion!
melissa norman says
Hi i was just reading this and i have a few questions, my 4-5year old son has been getting out of bed for the past month or so at 1:30-3:30 and i have tried everything that the internet and people have trown at me he gets into everything like the fridge,cubourds exc. He even turned on the stove and nearly burnt our house down. He even opens the front door and has left the house before what can i do im at my whits end i have another 3-4 year old child that is perfect and im afraid my oldest is going to teach him bad habits please gelp
Craig Canapari MD says
I would recommend that you discuss this with your pediatrician as this is a serious safety issue.
In this context, I would consider double gating his room (one gate above the other) to keep him from getting out at night.
Kari says
I’m glad to have found this blog. My 31 month old has a horrible time falling asleep and wakes up throughout the night. He screams his head off at about 4am until we give him a bottle and falls back asleep in bed with us.
He recently gave up the pacifier which made mid-night waking even worse.
We also have a 5 month old (they share a room) who wakes up every time his older brother cries in the middle of the night. He also seems to be following the same habits. We had tried sleep training the older (numerous times throughout his first year), but he would cry for hours and it didn’t get any better. He also had many ear infections and viruses from daycare which didn’t provide a consistent battle field.
We recently tried letting the younger cry-it-out but after an hour we couldn’t bear it. I know some say it takes a few hours, but something just didn’t feel right about it.
Brigirl says
I’m a child and I wake up at different times on the weekend or on school days because I can’t sleep but I go to bed at 8:30 but I’m in the 5th grade
Craig Canapari MD says
Dear Brigirl. I think you should talk to your parents and your pediatrician because they can help you out.
Jacqueline says
Is it boys that just wake up early? I have a boy 6 who gets up at 5.30 to 6.00. It does not make a blind bit of difference what time he goes to bed. He can go to bed at 6.00pm and still be up early he could go to bed at 10.00pm and still be up same time . My daughter who is 4 lays in all the time and can get up at 9.00am. My other 2 boys were exactly the same in getting up early until they reached teenage yrs then all they did was sleep and eat. Also i have another girl and never had problems.
Craig Canapari MD says
I’m not aware of any gender effect in this age group. This is an interesting observation, however
LI says
Hi there, thank you for posting all of this helpful information. I have a (sleep trained) 1 year old who has been waking up at 4 or 5 am for the past few weeks and I think it has to do with his going down to 1 nap a day for daycare. I have read “Healthy Sleep Habits..” and followed the advice by putting him to bed earlier, at 6:30. You suggest moving the bedtime later. Just wondering your thoughts on the earlier bedtime. Thank you!
Craig Canapari MD says
Personally I have not found earlier bedtimes to be helpful in this context. What happened when you move the bedtime earlier? Also, why is the day care insisting on one nap a day? Most one year olds will take two.
Zahrah says
Hi there, my almost 2 year old takes a hour nap at daycare but refuses to nap on weekends. I think he is constantly overtired bc of nap refusal. Sometimes we so get a 45 min nap though on the weejend which seems enough. He continually yawns all day but is not super cranky. For past year he has been getting up at 5 am but in last month has switched to 430 am. With such a small nap on weekends what time should I put him to bed? If he would nap on weekends I would be happy to do 7 pm but I usually put him earlier and he is asleep by 630. Should I be pushing him to 7 pm in order to get him back to 5 or 530 am? Thanks. We are totally struggling with the 430 am, 5 am was hard enough!!!
Craig Canapari MD says
It is unclear what the issue is without knowing more details– does he sleep in a crib or a bed? What do you do at nap time? At bedtime? At 4:30 AM?
Zahrah says
Hi! I forgot to mention we do black out blinds. We tried sound machine but he screams for us to turn it off. I have tried giving a snack too right at 5 pm in case he is getting up early bc of hunger but it didn’t seem to help.
Craig Canapari MD says
These are useful interventions.
Andrea says
Hi there, ive read your blog and all the comments – thank so much for the tips and information.
I have a 2 year old who has never slept through the night. We have a number of issues 1. The sleep associations – she is used to a bottle and either mom or dad laying with her until she falls asleep. 2. She wakes multiple times throughout the night looking for her bottle. (We have been working on this issue – attempting to wean her off of the bottle slowly) 3. Each time she wakes, she is either screaming or crying. Often time so hard that she throws up. 4. She cant fall asleep on her own, and cant put herself back to sleep upon waking. 5. She is now waking up for hours on the middle of the night from 1 until 4 am…..this morning she was up for the day at 3:30 am….every night its either one or the other……we’re completely exhausted and don’t know what else to do….
Do you have any helpful hints on how to tackle all of these issues? Do we work on one at a time? Or work on them all at once? We’re really trying to be consistent, but its so hard to keep up some days (especially with a newborn as well). She’s wearing us down….
Craig Canapari MD says
I would address the feeding issue first by reducing the amount of calories received during the night by 1 oz/bottle per night. Once a given bottle is down to 2 oz then the next step is to switch to water. I would also see her pediatrician to make sure there is no medical condition e.g. acid reflux waking her up at night. Then you need to work on getting her to fall asleep on her own at bedtime and the night awakening will start to improve with time. If you have further questions I’m happy to be available for a Virtual Consultation (see the sidebar to the left). Good luck
Anastasia says
We have 16 month old fraternal twins that we have sleep trained and, overall, the sleep training has worked wonderfully. However, just in the past couple of weeks they’ve been waking up very early (4-5 AM), whereas before they would wake up at 6 or 6:30 AM. We put them down for bed at 6:30 PM, but it does sometimes take them awhile to fall asleep. We have black out curtains and a white noise machine. We’ve attempted changing their diapers at their early wake up time and putting them back in their cribs but that has been only minimally successful. I believe its probably their naps that are the problem – we’ve been transitioning to one nap a day because one of the twins won’t take a morning nap, but the afternoon naps don’t seem to be long enough most days. We really miss the 6 AM wake up! Do you have any suggestions for extending their overnight sleep? Thank you!
drcraigc says
It might be time for a later bedtime at this point, especially as it seems to take them a while to fall asleep at night. Recognize that moving bedtime later may take week or so to move the needle on the AM awakenings. I would start by moving it to the time they are actually falling asleep at night.
Kristen says
I know this post is older and I have zero idea if anyone will see this, but it’s worth a shot…I have done everything on the above list and my 2 year old keeps waking up between 3am and 4am and wants to be up for the day. On days when he won’t nap, he is a hot mess.
I am not sure what else to do. We switched to the big boy bed because he was flinging himself out of the crib and we tried a toddler bed and that was a fiasco because he started sleeping on the floor.
Keeping my fingers crossed that someone sees this and has had a similar issue.
drcraigc says
Wow that sounds really challenging. What are his sleep hours eg bedtime and nap time?
Jennifer says
Our toddler boy turned 2 this month and just started climbing out of his crib in the early mornings between 3 & 4 am (even in his sleep sack) and coming into our room. We immediately put him back in his crib, but he will keep climbing back out over & over again unless we stand next to his crib until he falls back asleep…which can take an hour or more. So does this mean we should put him in a big boy bed and how do we address the early morning waking & getting out of bed issue? He goes to bed at 7:30 and wakes for the day around 7:30. He takes an afternoon nap for about an hour & a half. Also, he just started crying & getting out of his crib when we lay him down for bedtime and again we have to stand next to his crib until he falls asleep. I used to be able to just lay him in his crib awake and he would fall asleep on his ow. Seems like all of this started at the same time. Any advise?
drcraigc says
Often these events come in clusters and are called sleep regressions. If you kid can get out of the crib you may be stuck switching to a bed. Unfortunately, this means that you need to think about his whole room as being a crib (meaning you need to be confident that you can keep him in the room and not worry about him hurting himself. You could gate (or even double gate) your sons room to keep him in. Or you can bring him back to bed each time. The first step will be re establishing good sleep in the bed.
Laura says
Hi! My daughter will be 3 in December. We have never slept past 6 in her almost 3 years of life. For the past 2 months she has been getting up between 515 and 530. We have tried everything!! I don’t even necessarily expect her to go back to sleep I just want her to learn to be ok with quiet and down time on her own. She will not stay in her room no matter what we do. It is a ridiculous battle every single morning. I’m not sure anything will work. My husband and I aren’t even asking to sleep in late….6 am would be nice!! Any thoughts/suggestions?
Jessica says
I am at a crossroads with what to do next with my 15 month old girl. she has had 1-3 week periods of sleeping well through the night last of that was in May. It’s now September and the last few months have been awful and stressful for our whole family. We had a failed attempt at CIO after 5 days I threw in the towel as no progression occurred. Then I tried the sleep lady shuffle approach which seemed to work for a few weeks or so at bedtime but never helped with any night wakings. I was tinkering with her naps and earlier bedtimes- adding a morning nap which was helping her nap longer in afternoon. But tiried to combat over tiredness really didn’t help her night wakings either. So we just got through a bad week where she was sick and teething so it seems that everything is back to square one. My husband wants to try CIO again but I was considering hiring a pricey gentlee sleep coach. Also she is a baby that never misses a thing and anytime she wakes up she is standing in her crib. I have no idea how to get her to lie down on her own and self soothe!
drcraigc says
Wow, it sounds like you are having a really hard time. If she was falling asleep on her own for several weeks but still waking up at night it is worth talking to your pediatrician to make sure that there is not a medical cause. If there is not, then you may need to apply the same sleep training techniques during the night. If you are still looking for help, consider looking for a local pediatric sleep doctor as well. Good luck.
Linda Gulliver says
I have two grandsons, both at school, aged four and six. They go to bed about 7pm. My daughter does all the right things calming them down, ending up with a gentle story. They sleep in separate rooms but the older one wakes at 5 to 5.30 a.m. it was 4.30 this morning! He is constantly ratty and very tired. What wakes him so early? They have blackout blinds. My poor daughter is at her wit’s end. Her husband works away most weeks. Any advice please?
Craig Canapari says
A 7 PM bedtime might be a little early, especially for the six-year-old. Fortunately with the end of daylight savings time, the children’s weight time will likely move an hour later, at least on the clock. I hope your daughter gets relief soon.
Jennifer says
We too have resorted to sleeping on the floor in our daughter’s room (she’s 22 months old). After she wakes up at 4-4:30, we try to put her back to bed and after 30 – 60 min, she may fall asleep until about 6. So far we have not tried leaving the room after she has fallen asleep for fear that if we leave and she wakes again, it will start the whole process over. If she is not asleep by 5AM, we give up and allow her get up since this is close to the time she used to wake up (before it was around 5:30-6).
You mentioned that when you found yourself doing this, you ended up ignoring your child at a progressively later time until they learned to wake up at 6. Can you give some more details about how you did this? Was your child in a crib or bed (our daughter is in a toddler bed)?
Background info: She usually goes to sleep between 7:30 – 8. She takes about a 2 hr nap during the day. We have an Ok to Wake clock, but I’m not sure it’s helping. My daughter is very headstrong. I’m afraid if she isn’t put back to bed right away, she will just stay up until the preset time instead of trying to go to back to bed. Or best case scenario… fall asleep on the floor of her room. With the time change approaching, I fear the worst.
Craig Canapari says
Hi Jennifer. My boy was in a crib (he was about 8 months old at the time). The key with the OK to wake clock is starting with the time she is waking up then slowly making it later (by ten minutes a day). The end of DST will likely make this a bit worse although the shorter days and longer nights tend to help. At the end of the day, if she stays in her room, it is tolerable if she does not wake you up. If she does come out of her room, you need to bring her back to bed without discussion. If she comes out, you close the door for a minute with the expectation that she be in bed when you open it. If she is not in bed, then you close for two minutes, etc.
This is a really painful issue. I wonder if she is a kid that needs less sleep than her peers. Is she otherwise cranky or falling asleep in the car, etc during the day?
Dayanne says
Dr.Craig please help! My 20 month old has been waking up at 5:30am for almost a year now and I’ve learn to get used to it by now because she does go to bed pretty early, but lately she had now been waking up at 4am it totally throws off her nap schedule and I don’t know what to do with a 4am wake up time. Please please help me! This is her normal schedule 5:30am wake, 1st nap 11-1, 6:30pm bedtime, but not with a 4am wake up I don’t know what time to put her down for nap?
Craig Canapari says
If she is napping from 11 AM -1 PM it is unlikely to be affecting her wake time. You could certainly try a later bedtime at this point, but remember it won’t affect her wake time for a few days. 7 PM might be a good starting point. Good luck.
Dayanne says
Thank you so much for replying it means a lot!! Things haven’t gotten any better. I can’t get her to wake up past 4:30am now. This is her new schedule I’ve been trying to stay consistent to this schedule to hopefully get her used to it.
Wake 4:30-5am
1st Nap 11am-1pm
Bedtime 7pm
This schedule it’s defiantly not working due to her early wake up. Do you suggest something else?? Please help Dr. Craig. Thank you!!
Judy says
My daughter has the same schedule as Dayanne’s. She’s 17 months, wakes between 4-4:30 every morning (as she’s been doing for the last year!), has one nap (switched her to 1 nap about a month ago) between 11 – 1, or sometimes even 1:30. She goes to bed at 7 pm, usually falling asleep within 15 or so min. When she wakes I go to the door, tell her it’s not yet morning and leave her to cry in bed until 5:30 …. she’s *never* fallen back to sleep, even when I tried going to her and shusshing, patting etc). It doesn’t get light until 6:30 but I can’t leave her to cry until then, so I turn on all the lights and pretend 5:30 is morning and get her up then. I’ve tried earlier bedtimes, later bedtimes, limiting naps, adding naps. I’m in the process of weaning her now because I think maybe she’s waking to nurse (which I don’t allow her to do until morning) but I don’t feel optimistic that will work either. Any other ideas?? Dayanne, what finally worked for you?? Thanks so much!
Craig Canapari says
This is a pretty difficult nut to crack as some kids are just early risers. I think the weaning is a good idea. Good luck.
Lisa says
Our 10 month old has been sleeping through the night since 5 months. Bedtime ritual starts at 630, sleep at 7 (falls asleep in under 5 min usually) and was waking around 530 am. We’re OK with 530, because I’m a morning person, too. But in the past 2 weeks, he has started waking at 4am. We’ve tried sleep retraining – checking on him every 5-10 minutes. He quiets down easily, but starts crying again as soon as we step away. The first few nights, he would settle in 15-20 minutes. But the past few nights have gotten worse. He seems sleepy and cranky, but won’t sleep – on his own or while being rocked. We don’t want to introduce bad habits. But we’re worried he’s going through a separation anxiety phase (mostly separation from Dad, whom he’s with during the day) and don’t want to make that worse. He was also teething recently (8th tooth!) and is excited about learning to stand and walk. And has had a cold. We’ve tried to wait out these other issues and comfort him, but it seems to be getting worse. Now we’re having trouble with naps as well. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Craig Canapari says
Sleep regression is pretty common as children approach walking. There’s no magic technique to help here. Keep working on the fundamentals (high quality bedtime, consistent sleep and wake times) and recognize that things won’t be perfect likely for another week or two. If he is not settling during naps or taking a long time, don’t let him extend his nap so he’s more tired at bedtime. Best of luck.
Kathleen Ramshur says
My son will be 23 months on 30th of this month. He has never been a great sleeper but we have been very diligent and consistent with sleep training. He has a twin sister who is a good sleeper. Recently moved and they now have to share a room.
He used to wake 6/6:30 at best before move- in his own room
Now he is waking 5/5:15/5:30
He’s a screamer – so when he wakes feom naps or in morning he just screams until we come get him. Sometimes even getting him doesn’t calm him. All this screaming usually wakes his sister who needs more sleep and would sleep later if she could (6/6:30). He is also a short napper in his crib. He sometimes wakes at 1 hour or less but usually naps 1.5 hours. If earlier wake we take him and put him in our bed and he falls back asleep (without us in there) and will get about a 2 hour nap total. We put kids down and they are asleep by 7ish at night.. Never later –
Sometimes a bit earlier if naps are shorter. Nap time is noon until they wake.
One more note.. He screams when wakes he cries and chats his sisters name or “daddy”and other words (?) until we get him and on occasion will still do this after we get him for 30+ min after waking. He gets mad if we touch him but gets mad if we don’t… Like nothing works to help him calm… Except…. (Winnie the Pooh DVD)
Almost like it takes his mind off being so upset.
My knowledge from all my sleep training reading tells me he is tired and needs more sleep… But I just don’t know.. Oh and with early wakes he will fall asleep in the Car or stroller so we have to be careful not to let him do this if we go out before nap. If he cat nap sleeps for even 5 minutes he will NOT take an afternoon nap and this is a bad bad senerieo considering bedtime is 7pm.. When this happens I have to put him down at 5:30pm and he still wakes at 5/5:30 am
What do you suggest we do to correct these issues?
Thank you in advance!
Craig Canapari says
I can’t really address all of your issues here. If you want to extend your daughter’s sleep I would consider moving her into your room and then work on the early morning awakenings for your son. See my FAQ for more information.
Tanya says
My daughter is 2 years and is afraid of the dark. Her mornings are getting earlier and earlier. It was 4 am this morning. She is also being very clingy to me, and wants nothing to do with daddy these days. What can I do?? I work until midnight some days and that makes this even more challenging. Sleeping has been a struggle a lot in the past few months. Including her not sleeping during the night and never wanting to nap (she sometimes doesn’t at all), and crying and screaming at bedtime. We have done check ins, leaving the light on for her in the hall and extra night lights. Any suggestions, please?!
Craig Canapari says
Has there been some transition in her/your life that may have triggered this? A later bedtime can help a bit with the struggles. I would be leery of making it too light in her room– it should not be bright enough for you to read in there. If she is really anxious you could try either sleeping in her room temporarily (on a separate bed) or having her have a bed in your room, but recognize that it can be hard to extricate yourself from this situation. Good luck.
Paul says
Hi Dr Craig
Our 3 year old is always in bed before 7pm and always wakes up around 5am. He is very good at staying in bed until his clock radio goes off at 7am. But he will not go back to sleep once he has woken.
We have tried everything. He has blackout blinds, has had the grow clock, etc, etc. His room is not noisy. He is always tired and grumpy. Sometimes he wakes in the night too. He is at pre-school so can’t nap in the day. Although if ever he does at the weekends or holidays, he can’t sleep at bedtime.
Any ideas how we can encourage him to go back to sleep once he wakes up? Every morning we have the same conversation about going back to sleep if he wakes before his radio comes on but it falls upon deaf ears and tired eyes. He is so lovely when he’s not tired and so miserable when he is.
Many Thanks
Paul
Craig Canapari says
This is a pretty tough situation. It sounds like you are doing everything right. There’s no obvious solution here. He is essentially sleeping 10 hours in a 24 hour period which is on the low end of normal. I’m guessing if he goes to bed later he gets up at the same time.
Michelle says
My 11 month old is an early riser, but she wakes at different times every day. I used the Ferber method to sleep train her a month ago, and ever since she wakes anywhere between 5am and 6:30am for the day. She used to always sleep until 7, which is what we would like-or at least 6:30. (She falls asleep at 7:30pm.). When she wakes before 6 she is still so tired and miserable but won’t go back to sleep. We have tried a later bedtime and an earlier bedtime but she still wakes at random times (in the last 5 days she has woken at 5:40, 6:15, 4:50, 5:25, and 6:25). I was trying to keep her in her crib until 6 every morning, but I think it confuses her that some days I would get her right away when she woke up and other days I wouldn’t. Her room is very dark and she sleeps with white noise. I just don’t know how to convey to her an appropriate wake time and when she wakes too early she is so overtired all day she has shorter naps. Any suggestions?
Craig Canapari says
I think you need to be pretty consistent when you go to her in the morning. That being said, 7:30-6 AM is not a terribly abnormal sleep period.
joan says
you said- The next step was ignoring him until a later and later time until he got to 6 AM. So we got up with him at 4:40 AM, then 4:50 AM, then 5 AM and so on,… to clarify you both got up and out of bed and started your day at 4:40 and then a few days later a later time or waited if he slept longer?
joan says
sorry, and i assume that means CIO for the increments if necessary?
Craig Canapari says
Yes. We would get up with him at the appointed hour but would ignore him until then. This may entail some crying.