Need Help with Ealry Morning Waking Toddler

maybe he isn't getting enough sleep and it makes it more difficult for him to rest soundly at night. i have a 2 year old and we had the same problem. we started putting him to bed earlier and letting him nap longer...the opposite of what you think you should do! this worked for us. now instead of waking at 5am he is sleeping until 6:30 or 7am. i also put a baby gate in his doorway. he can open his door but can't leave his room. he usually opens his door and cries for 5 min. then we ask him to go back to bed. before using the baby gate he would come out of his room 10-15 times and wouldn't get to sleep before 8:30pm. good luck!

You got some good advice. One thing I would like to say...I have taught preschool, I had 3 kids in 5 years, I have dealt with babies and toddlers. THEY ARE NEVER SAFE UNSUPERVISED. What you may think is a toddler proof room, would still pose hazards for some kids. Having said that, if my kids were up/awake, then I was up in any given situation. They came and woke me up and we got up together. Sometimes they would pile in bed with me for 30 minutes for cuddles and snoozing.

The half door is a good idea as long as you are not using his room as a giant play pen--no way to get out without your unlocking the door. If the door is just used as an incentive to get him to stay in bed and you can still see each other that is good.

I did require mine to stay in bed at bed and naptime whether they went right to sleep or not. Screaming was not allowed. A pop on the bottom stopped it. They could lay in bed and look at books until they were sleepy or an hour of nap time was passed. Usually they fell asleep quickly after they learned that they had to stay in the bed. ;-)

What I did was put them to bed at 8 and get up with them at 6. Mine was up at 6 every day! LOL But that was plenty of sleep for him at that age. He also napped from 1-2:30 or so.

One point I don't see mentioned. When you go back to work, what time are you getting up to get you both out the door dressed and fed? When I worked I got up around 5:30-6:00 to get myself and a 3 yr, 7 yr and 8 yr olds out the door by 7-7:20 every day. You may find that next month when you have to go back to work it is nice to have the extra time so that mornings can be pleasant rather than rushed. ;-)

Good luck,
ts

My daughter started crawling out of her crib when she was 23 months, I think. Soon after that she got her toddler bed. I put her down in bed about 9:30-10:00pm, she will not wake up till 7-8am, if i leave her door cracked, she will come wake me up. If I leave her door shut she is usually fime and stays in bed or maybe even plays a little. I usually get up around 9-9:30am, if she does not wake me up. As long as his room is toddler kid proofed, then maybe try leaving the door shut, he may just stay in bed and get some more rest. If he starts screaming then you know he is up.

Good Luck
J.

Hi M.,

One of the things we had to do with our daughter when she was little was put a 2/3 of a door on. Picture the top part of it off like at Sunday School. We also put the door knob lock on the outside of the door. I know it sounds cruel, but she was safe and secure. We would put her to bed with her routine like you said. Give her a couple of chances to stay in her bed. Then if she choose to keep getting up, the door would get closed. Now, she could still see out so it wasn't like she was shut up in her room (a major comfort to her). We were able to peek in on her, encourage her to get back in bed so the door could be open again etc. On some nights she was determined, she would just fall asleep at the edge of the door. Eventually she would say, I'm staying in my bed tonight, and she did! We had a sticker chart for the nights when she was a big girl and that went for a coloring book or baby doll etc.

We didn't cut the nice door that came with the house. We took that one off and got a generic door from home depot and painted it white. She's 7 now, and we've talked about painting it with chalk board paint since it's flat. Anyway, that's what worked for us. Good luck!

S.