Help! Ds is getting up WAY TOO EARLY!

[AugustMama]

I nightweaned ds (17 mos) around 5 weeks ago. He is now sleeping all night but getting up way too early. He has always been an early riser but this is ridiculous! His average wake-up time is 4:30 a.m. and this morning he woke up at 3:30 and WOULD NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP :yawn. I just don't know how to help him sleep longer. Bedtime is around 6:30 or 7 pm and he takes one long nap from about 11 am to 2 pm. Any advice or BTDT would be appreciated. Oh, and he sleeps in a crib in his own room if that makes a difference in your advice. Thanks! :)

[ValiantJoy07]

That nap sounds very long for 17mos, and probably the culprit. 17mos only needs 12-13 hours (2 hours more or less either way! Some kids do need more nad some LO's really do need MUCH less) per 24 and it sounds like that nap in the middle of the day is filling up his sleep needs so that he doesn't need to sleep past 3:30-4 in the morning.

I have a very high needs girly who seems to have very low sleep needs (she defies what all experts say, so frustrating!)...at 13mos she really only needs 12 hours of sleep per 24 if she gets anymore than that she is up every hour at night. I have to limit her nap times in order to get her to sleep well at night...If she sleeps more than an hour- hour and a half (depending on the time of day) I have to wake her up. Since I have discovered this she is a MUCH happier person and she is sleeping through the night at night (and isn't waking at 4am wanting to play! which we were really struggling with).

Also we have found that she sleeps best if she goes to bed when we do...She goes down around 9-9:30 pm and sleeps untill 7:30-8:30 am and then takes 2 short naps during the day. I would try limiting his nap to 1-2 hours he may be a bit fussy for a few days untill he gets used to it, but I bet the early wake ups will stop... Try whatever you do try for 10 days...the no cry sleep solution says to give things 10 days to see if they are really working or not! HTH!

[AugustMama]

Thanks for your reply. DD took a 2-3 hour nap at this age so I didn't even think about trying to shorten the nap. :doh It will be hard though cause I love that long break in the middle of the day. I definitely want to try putting him down later but I am a little :nails that he will continue to wake up early and just be getting less sleep. I have read the NCSS but it has been awhile. Maybe I will go through it again and see if there are any suggestions in there. I have not had much luck with the advice in that book though. :shrug

[TuneMyHeart]

Ellie got up much earlier when she weaned. I missed being able to nurse her back down for a couple more hours of sleep. ;) We've tried everything to get her to sleep later, but nothing worked. She now goes to sleep about 6 pm (she doesn't nap).

[Niphredil]

Do you think he could be hungry? My DD is 21 months and still wakes up hungry sometimes. Before he had a chance to fill his belly & sleep more... maybe if he had something to eat or a cup of milk he'd be better able to resettle.

[Ali]

My first started sleeping through the night at 13 months and he also began having shorter nights. Our bedtime became 8:00 (had been 7:00 before) and he would sleep until 6:30 or 7:00am. Then he took a great 2-3 hour nap at noon. Maybe yours would fall into a routine like that.