Early starts

[*beannaithe*]

Hi all, just wondering if anyone has any pearls of wisdom on how to deal with a 13mo who thinks 4am is a good time to start the day?

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Go to bed earlier yourself.

I used to have snuggle time, where we lay in bed and I napped, or would give in and get up, but quiet games/reading.

I wish I'd used the tv, specifically night garden dvds, earlier. Transfixed baby, sleeping mama.

[MrsFabuloso]

We are early risers too. 4 am for my 3 rd child, it used to be 5 am with my DD and DS1 and I thought it couldn't get worse, how wrong I was! 4am is all kinds of wrong for a person who doesn't do mornings, it's wrong for any person! I have tried it all to try to get my kids sleeping until at least 6am, and it hasn't worked. DD is 6 1/2, so it's been that long since I have been trying to 'fix' it. Nothing works, so I have finally just realised I have to suck it up. Go to bed earlier, or deal with having 5 hours sleep every day.

[*beannaithe*]

Bummer. I'm usually not far off being up for the day then anyway cos its about the only time I have to get things done and have a few minutes of me time. Oh well, guess I can't cmplain about it too much when she has me as an example, gonna have to work on the quiet thing with her cos she doesn't get the whole concept of awake and quiet

[Mrs O'M]

I could have written this post and also have a 13 mo who loves 4am wake ups. Subbing in for some more ideas for coping with this/ changing routines.

[rmf]

I don't go to her if she just chatting and sometimes she just goes back by herself. Don't feed the baby before 6.30 or whenever is ok for you to start the day. Try to resettle, keep it dark and boring

[Santosha]

My little guy went through a phase of this when he was about 18 months and, sounds easier said than done, but I just refused to start the day. I would lay him back down, say 'it's night time, time to sleep' and then leave. If he got back up I'd try again a few more times or go and lie in his room (single bed in there) and either cuddle him in bed with me or keep an eye on him in the cot and continue sending clear messages (with as little chat and engagement as poss) that it was time to sleep. Sometimes (rarely) he'd go back to sleep, sometimes he'd just wriggle and pull my hair, poke my eyes or dance around the cot but regardless I refused to turn the light on or get up until 6am. It got frustrating at times but at least I got to lie down and it seemed to register eventually with his body that there was going to be no food, light or activity at this hour.

Gradually the wake-ups got later and now at just-turned-two it's reliably after 6am, which I don't love (oooh 7.10 this morning felt like such a treat!!) but I can handle!

Good luck, early starts are not fun and can make for veeeery long days.

[AnyDream]

Block-out blinds (and keep the house dark when they get up) and lots of late afternoon sunshine - to tweak the circadian rhythm. What ever you do, don't turn on the tv or any other kind of blue/green/cool white light in the mornings. This might involve putting them down gradually a little later too.

Definitely reinforce the "it's still night time" message in whatever way you can, by treating it like any other night-waking session.