Does this pass? 3 yo early wake ups

[Anonymous]

For those of you who had young children (preschool age) who woke up too early, is this a phase that passes, or do I need to settle in and get used to it?

DS has been waking up between 5-6am for about a month now. Just curious about whether it changes as they get older.

(And yes we’ve tried it all, green light clock, latch on the door, toys in the room, no toys in the room, rewards, etc.)

[Anonymous]

The point isn’t that you try it all. It’s that you try 1 thing and stick with it and adapt that strategy to change as your child progresses. Trying everything results in nothing.

[Anonymous]

Still napping? This was one of our first signs to ditch the nap. Of course, we ignored it and struggled through nap time for another month or so because damn I love nap time.

Anyway kid was more tired and sleeping better at night.

Just like with the baby stuff, their schedule is going to change quite a bit as they age.

[Anonymous]

Wow I just posted almost the same thing about my almost 4 year old. #solidarity

Without a nap he’s insufferable and he naps super hard. Maybe we can try shortening it. I know at this time of year making sure his room is staying dark even after sunrise is helpful too. People on my post said it’s likely just a phase. Hoping they’re correct

[Anonymous]

What time is he going to bed?

[Anonymous]

When my kid did this, we just taught her to play on her own for a while in her room. Then she’d wake us up when she got hungry, generally at a more acceptable hour like 6:30 or 7. You may need to help him figure out what toys in his room are best for this solo play time.

If you recently potty trained and he’s waking early to pee, you may have to suck it up and deal with it for a while, but focus on getting him independent in the bathroom so he can go on his own in the morning without waking you.

Also make sure their aren’t things waking him up prematurely. Does he have blackout blinds? If not, get them. A good white noise machine will block out things like an early morning trash truck.

This will pass. My DD is 5 and it is a rare morning when I see her face before 7am, and when I do, it’s usually just to say good morning or get in a snuggle— she can get herself breakfast, get dressed, and use the bathroom on her own, so it’s not like when she was younger and her waking up meant I had to go to work right away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow I just posted almost the same thing about my almost 4 year old. #solidarity

Without a nap he’s insufferable and he naps super hard. Maybe we can try shortening it. I know at this time of year making sure his room is staying dark even after sunrise is helpful too. People on my post said it’s likely just a phase. Hoping they’re correct

Truly everything is a phase with kids so it has to be correct! the only question is how long of a phase. For my kids, after doing the basics like room dark, slight schedule adjustment attempts, I always found trying a million things never worked and eventually it jsut ended and you’re like why? With my second I’ve kind of given into it and don’t fight it when he goes through little early morning phases and for some reason for me at least it makes it easier.

[Anonymous]

The sun is rising at 5ish. You need to make sure the room is 100% blackout.

[Anonymous]

What time does he go to bed and does he still nap? If he is napping still I would cut that out. It’s taking away from night time sleep.

[Anonymous]

For us, it’s 4 AM for our 3.5 year old. And he screams so loud he wakes the entire household and won’t go back to sleep. It’s been 6 months with no change. We are so exhausted and depressed

[Anonymous]

We are struggling with this with our 3.5yo too. She still naps at daycare, but then will often be awake until 9pm and then is up by 6am. Weekends we've stopped pushing the naps and can generally get her to sleep a bit longer at night. I suspect when she moves up to the next room at daycare the napping frequency will decrease.

FWIW, my 6yo is also an early riser in the summer and always has been. We have blackout shades/curtains but he always wakes up earlier this time of year. Tends to sleep later once the sun is not up so early.

Honestly, I've stopped fighting it, they ignore the clocks and short of locking them in their rooms I can't get them to stay in. But breakfast is served at 630am and they need to entertain themselves in the meantime.

[Anonymous]

Eh, I disagree that you shouldn't try multiple things.

Based on the wakeup time, sounds like a sunlight problem. Can you go into the room just before he wakes up to see if there are any gaps in your blackout shades?

Otherwise, how much sleep is he getting? Could he need less?

[Anonymous]

OP here. He stopped napping around his third birthday (April). He still will every now and then with our nanny, but it’s rare. And yes we have all the things — blackout curtains, light up clock, sound machine.

OP here. My guess is it’s a deadly combo of needing to pee, dropping the nap, dropping the paci and daylight savings time. It all happened this late spring.

He goes to bed at 7 still because he’s exhausted by then. Pediatrician said he definitely still needs a 7pm bedtime if he’s not napping and is up between 5-6am.

This morning it was a 4:47am request to pee. I’ve been up since then. Going to be a long Fourth.

[Anonymous]

Yes. It took one child about a year before they naturally started sleeping later around 4 yo. I made mornings really boring. No TV. Healthy breakfast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. He stopped napping around his third birthday (April). He still will every now and then with our nanny, but it’s rare. And yes we have all the things — blackout curtains, light up clock, sound machine.

OP here. My guess is it’s a deadly combo of needing to pee, dropping the nap, dropping the paci and daylight savings time. It all happened this late spring.

He goes to bed at 7 still because he’s exhausted by then. Pediatrician said he definitely still needs a 7pm bedtime if he’s not napping and is up between 5-6am.

This morning it was a 4:47am request to pee. I’ve been up since then. Going to be a long Fourth.

Sorry, typos. Sleep deprived! Ha.