My kid wakes up every day at 4am and I’m drowning
- Thread starter mickaela
- Start date
cristina49
New member
@cristina49 Sadly I have no control over the time, daycare manages that. But she’s moving up rooms so I will check when their nap is
@mickaela I am in the same exact boat - and I too am drowning. I have actually just had no other option but to work around this madness and right now he's been waking up closer to 5am but does not go back down. He wakes up at this time ready to PARTY. It's ridiculous. Mine also starts to melt down really early and we start bath time and books at 6pm and he's in his room and crib by 6:30pm every night.
@mickaela We use a clock with a red light at night (light turns red at 730, and when the light turns green (at a time we set, 6:30am) kiddo knows it’s time to wake up. Red means stay in bed, green means it’s time to get up. It’s created structure and expectation around nap time and night time. It takes a little time to train but it is one of the most valuable tools in our toolbox.
think of it like day like savings, they gotta adjust eventually! (Speaking of which, DST is coming up 
@mickaela My son was like this. Unfortunately still is (he is 4) and he is teaching his younger sister to be the same. And I am drrrrreading the time change next week when they will both be up for the day at 3.
We have tried everything. Honestly… nothing works. It’s just their internal clocks and it is what it is. My husband and I take turns waking up with them in the morning because we can’t survive on 4 hours of sleep for 4+ more years.
We have tried everything. Honestly… nothing works. It’s just their internal clocks and it is what it is. My husband and I take turns waking up with them in the morning because we can’t survive on 4 hours of sleep for 4+ more years.
@mickaela I have an early riser, still is in high school. After 2 sleep studies we were told he's just a natural early riser, so solidarity! With that said, 18 months might be to young, but I used to set a snack, water and tablet in his room, our rule was he couldn't leave his room until we got up unless he had to use the bathroom. This graduated to he could get up and make a bowl of cereal and turn on the TV, and now he just gets up and does who knows what. Maybe you could try bringing them into your room in a pack and play with some toys? I would think even if your dozing and not sleeping, that's better then nothing.
@mickaela I had an early riser and followed the advice in this article. He now sleeps until 6:30-7 consistently
https://www.babysleepscience.com/single-post/2014/05/22/how-do-i-fix-my-baby-s-early-waking
https://www.babysleepscience.com/single-post/2014/05/22/how-do-i-fix-my-baby-s-early-waking
@mickaela My son slept through the night way way better once we started leaving a water bottle in his crib. When he wakes up he can have a sip of water and go back to bed. It works so well I can’t believe it was so easy. I want to echo the suggestions to push her bedtime!
My son also does the two hour daycare nap from 12-2 but he’s high sleep needs so it works fine for him (bedtime recently moved to 8pm and he’s 22 months). It’s possible that your daughter wants a bigger wake window before that first nap, but hopefully not!!
My son also does the two hour daycare nap from 12-2 but he’s high sleep needs so it works fine for him (bedtime recently moved to 8pm and he’s 22 months). It’s possible that your daughter wants a bigger wake window before that first nap, but hopefully not!!
soothsayer
New member
@mickaela Solidarity is all I have to offer up. Our 18 month old has been regularly getting up between 5-6am for what seems like months now. We’ve tried earlier bedtime, later bedtime but nothing helps it. He naps 1:30/day so it’s not like he’s taking 2+ hour naps. We have had a couple sprinkles in there where he sleeps until 7 and I wake up in a panic cause I’m so thrown off by it. It always makes me hopeful though that we are turning a corner… only to have him wake up at 5am again the next day. I am also so not a morning person so I am wondering what I did in my past life to deserve this karma.
dmhanson511
New member
@mickaela We were dealing with something similar and this is what we did: you need to pick your earliest morning wake up you can tolerate. We said 6am. So any time he woke before 6am we treated it as a night waking: no food or milk (he was 14 months when we started doing this), no lights on, soft voices etc. We can go in and comfort him, say “it’s still sleep time,” but we do not pick him up out of crib (unless he’s very distressed, sick etc). At 6am you make a big deal of it being morning: lights out, “good morning!” Etc
Sometimes it’s a matter of going in ever 10-15 min to settle until 6am. Sometimes it’s lying on the floor of the nursery not saying anything or giving feedback/stimulation. Essentially you’re teaching them that “morning” does not happen until the given time, so there is no real reward or incentive to waking up before that. Eventually body clock adjusts. He now will either go back to sleep or at least coo quietly until 6. It is a rough couple weeks at first but it worked. Alongside pushing bedtime, capping naps, and letting him eat as much as he’d tolerate at dinner (but sounds like you’re already doing those)
Sometimes it’s a matter of going in ever 10-15 min to settle until 6am. Sometimes it’s lying on the floor of the nursery not saying anything or giving feedback/stimulation. Essentially you’re teaching them that “morning” does not happen until the given time, so there is no real reward or incentive to waking up before that. Eventually body clock adjusts. He now will either go back to sleep or at least coo quietly until 6. It is a rough couple weeks at first but it worked. Alongside pushing bedtime, capping naps, and letting him eat as much as he’d tolerate at dinner (but sounds like you’re already doing those)
blizzardwild
New member
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Code:
6
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+ 10
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+ 6
+ 6
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marcelino99conrad
New member
isluv4real
New member
@mickaela That bedtime is way too early for a child who still naps. You’re going to have to struggle through some crabby evenings keeping the child up later than usual to get them into a new routine. Read books, do art activities, play with playdoh, anything.
My 18 month old regularly wakes up between 4:45 and 5:30. She goes to bed around 8 pm and has a 2-3 hour nap midday. She’s just an early riser (she’s my 4th child).
My 18 month old regularly wakes up between 4:45 and 5:30. She goes to bed around 8 pm and has a 2-3 hour nap midday. She’s just an early riser (she’s my 4th child).
@mickaela My 19 month old was waking up 5:20-5:40 for about 6 months while we lost sanity (and omg 4 is even worse). I got a Hippo Clock (an ok to wake clock) and initially set it for his usualy 5:30 wakeup time and wouldn't go in until it turned green even if that meant letting him cry for a couple minutes. Every time he was quite until green twice in a row I bumped it forward by two minutes. Slow AF process but after a month the clock was turning green at 6 and he would just hang out quietly in the crib until 6-6:15 or so! Even if he didn't understand the concept in words eventually he figured out green light = mommy
(until a round of illness last couple weeks where he went back to 5:40 and I'm now restarting the process).
(until a round of illness last couple weeks where he went back to 5:40 and I'm now restarting the process).