Is there a way to "shift" a schedule for a 19 month old?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

My 19 month old sleeps from 7:30pm-4:30am, and then naps from 12-2. I am getting sick of getting up at 4:30, and he is sooo tired by noon and 7:30 pm and I feel like it is not right to keep him up longer. I've tried earlier bedtime (6:45-7pm) and I've found it corresponds to EARLIER wakeup (i.e. 4 AM), and when I try later bedtime, it is still 4:30AM with a more tired baby who can't make it to noon for the nap. Just as an aside, I posted about this earlier and the resounding suggestion was that I switch DS to one nap which I have done.

Does anyone have any ideas for next steps? I wouldn't be so worried except for daylight savings is coming soon and 4:30 will soon be 3:30 which will in turn be unbearable.

[Anonymous]

The sleep lady book by Kim West talks about dealing with early birds. But, essentially you stop letting him get up at 4:30am. You can let him CIO in his room, or if you can't bear that you can go in the room and sleep in there from 4:30am -6:00am. The point is that he is not taken out of the crib. You don't engage, but he is reassured by your presence and he will learn that he doesn't get up that early. My little guy would talk/fuss for about an hour then go back to sleep in the beginning. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

My DS's schedule shifted over the summer at 16 months. This is when he started to sleep later when he was put down later (as opposed to "early to bed, late to rise"). If I kept him VERY entertained all morning I could push nap time til later, then bed time til later. GL to you.

[Anonymous]

It may be a bit early for him/her to understand it, but you could try a light (like the Good Night Light) that turns on/turns a different color when it is time for him/her to get up. I have had fair success with this (not 100%). I started the light going on just after he usually got up (5:45). Three months later, the light goes on at 6:30, which is perfect for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It may be a bit early for him/her to understand it, but you could try a light (like the Good Night Light) that turns on/turns a different color when it is time for him/her to get up. I have had fair success with this (not 100%). I started the light going on just after he usually got up (5:45). Three months later, the light goes on at 6:30, which is perfect for us.

at what age did you do this? my 18 month old is also an early riser.

[Anonymous]

OP here...tried sitting in with him, not taking him out of crib from 4:30-6am for 2 weeks, and he cried the entire time, so I gave up on that. I like the goodnightlight idea but I'm not sure he will understand that yet.

[Anonymous]

their sleep time is their sleep time.....adjust your expectations and schedule so that you can get sleep at the same time.

[Anonymous]

OP here... I have adjusted my schedule. I actually go to bed at 9pm so I feel ok at 4:30am, but the early to bed early wakeup is hard on the marriage b/c my husband gets home from work around 8pm and we have barely any time together.

[Anonymous]

What if you just kept him up all day and put him to bed at 6:30 pm or 7:00 pm? Some toddlers do drop naps completely at that age. Or maybe just let him nap only 1 hour mid-day instead of 2 hours and see if that helps.

[IansRecovery]

15:42 here again. My post came out differently than I had intended. Sorry.

What I meant to say is.....given the amount of time DC is sleeping, why not put baby down for bed later, like say 9:00 PM to see if baby sleeps until 6:30 AM?

I don't think you'll be able to lengthen DCs sleep time, but you can adjust and tweek the time. Is DC drop-dead tired by 7 PM? Can you hold DC off a bit?

I distinctly remember 8:30 PM being perfect for us, given that Ian slept about the same as yours at that age. And know, that it wont be long before the naps disappear. You'll get longer night-sleeps when that happens.

GL....hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Op here...thanks for the feedback. I think a very late bedtime is what I will try next since earlier and "normal" aren't working out well. I will try for a week and see.

[Anonymous]

Sorry about that, OP. My DS had a period between 6-8 months in which he would wake up around 5 am everyday. It was tough. He gradually moved on his own to a later wake-up time. Has your DS always gotten up around 4:30 am? Does he wake up crying/screaming or just makes noises and up like he's ready to start the day? Because if he's crying and looks sleepy and cranky, you can treat his 4:30 am as a middle of the night awaking and do several soothing techniques to get him back to sleep (rub his back, say night night or whatever word to convey it's time to sleep, hold him, give him a lovey, playing lullaby that you use for bedtime, etc.). Also, have you tried leaving a cup with water in the crib? You can put it in the same place and show it to him before he goes to bed so if he's thirsty in the morning he could drink it and go back to sleep. We did that and most days find the sippy cup at least half full in the morning. Now if you find that whatever you do he only sleeps 9 hours per night, then yes, you should try a 9 pm bedtime for at least a week and see if he will wake up later. Good luck and hope this will pass soon!

[Anonymous]

OP here...he is crying/screaming whenever he wakes up...never ever makes the nice noises to start the day...but when I get him, yes, he is ready to start the day and is able to stay up until noon for his nap. He seems to be rested. He really has 2 speeds --- sprinting or sleeping.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have a very similar second child - he's 21 months and gets up at about 5am every day. It's been this way for about a year, so I've given up much hope of change. I can't do CIO at that hour since we have an older child who wakes up too easily at this hour - and trying to avoid having 2 kids up at 5am has probably perpetuated things since I'm primed to run into the little one's room as soon as he raises his voice above a whisper. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, I can usually soothe him back to sleep without too much drama, but at 5am he literally has to move or he goes bananas. Sorry, no solutions but lots of sympathy!

[Anonymous]

one other thought, though it may be a long shot, is to try to change the rhythm of your day. DS was waking up at 4:30/5 last fall no matter what we did, and I was panicked (like you) about the approaching daylight savings switch. Strangely, he switched almost immediately to waking up at 4:30/5 standard time. I eventually attributed it to him settling into a rhythm - he would have daddy for an hour, me for an hour, then nanny... so he would adjust to stay consistent with any adjustment to the household schedule. Eventually we moved things around enough that how he generally sleeps til 6, but it's something you could try - change dinner time, change morning routine,, etc. good luck!