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Hi. My 2 1/2 year old son has always been an early riser. His sleep at night was averaging 10 hours and I was starting to get about 10 1/2 for awhile. Last month we went to NY (from Calif.) then the time changed and he got a cold. Now he's been waking at 4:30 for 2 weeks, with night sleep averaging about 9 hours. He has bags under his eyes! He is wide awake at 4:30; if I go in silently and lie down with him, he does not go back to sleep. It's hard to leave him (to cry it out) because at times he cries out that he needs to go potty (although, he's not doing this now that he's up so early, like he was when he was sleeping until 5-5:30 or so). His bedtime was 6:30 until this past April (time change) then we moved to 7:30. I've been trying to get him down these past couple weeks between 6:30 & 7:00 to make up some sleep but have had some trouble doing so. Even when he was sleeping his best, I still felt like he needed a somewhat early nap (by 12:00 noon) because of his early wake time. He's still too young to understand the numbers on the clock ("don't call me until 5:00). Also, my husband wakes at 4:45 with the dog 3 days a week and I think my son is somewhat conditioned to this and might be why he's always been an early bird (we do our best, but it's a small house...) Thank you. Oh, also, sometimes he's taking 2 1/2 to 3 hour naps now; should I limit those? (I feel bad since he's so sleep-deprived right now....)

Hi there Lisamarie,

I believe I sent you a copy of the ebook by private email, let us know if you don't receive it for some reason.

My quick two cents and then I'll pass it over to the moderators: try putting him to bed 12 hours from the time he wakes in the am. If he wakes at 5:00am, put him to bed at 5:00 pm. He likely needs his bedtime earlier as the early evening is the best time to catch up on lost sleep. Babies and toddlers generally will not sleep in in the morning to catch up, but they will go to sleep earlier in the evening.

I'm sure you'll hear more on the early bedtime Wink

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Darcie French, BSW
Founder of Empathic Sleep Teaching

Hi Lisamarie -

Welcome!!! I became a big believer in the early bedtime ... and still use it when sleep issues arise!! I would still offer up an earlier nap on the days he's waking super early, but even if he does nap, he may still benefit from a super-early bedtime. I know 5-530pm seems ridiculously early, but it does work. It's worth a try!!
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Kris

I am just curous... if you start to put your child down earlier in the evening (like 5 or 6pm) is that just the new schedule (and you deal with the 5am wake ups) or do you do this for a while and then try and get back to a more normal bedtime? (it used to be 7 - 7:30 for us)

Also, my toddler is taking 3 hr naps to make up for the lost sleep as well. Do I limit these?

Best,
Kelly

Yes, the early bedtime (prior to 6:00pm) is a temp solution to help the child catch up. More sleep generally equals more sleep. Instead of waking him from his nap, I'd go with it even earlier in the day. If that doesn't help, then I'd try waking after 2 sleep cycles (1.5 hrs approx) instead of allowing 3 hours. But first, I'd go with offering more sleep vs limiting it.
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Darcie French, BSW
Founder of Empathic Sleep Teaching

Thanks for the reply. I really appreciate the advice. I know I need to give this really early bedtime (and earlier nap -- it is about 12 noon right now) a try. I had moved his bedtime up by ~ 45 minutes, but it hasn't done too much -- he still seems a bit over-tired at night to me and doesn't settle down right away, etc. I may also move the bath to an earlier time in the evening. (it was right before books, then bed, but I think it hypes him back up.) I, of course, have a 7 month old to deal with as well... and my husband works late, so I need to figure out what to do with her while I get him down! She'll survive though... and we will find a groove again (hopefully!) Thanks again for writing back.

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