Early riser

Liam has taken to getting up between 5am and 5:30am for the past week. There is actually very little difference between the two - it's just WAY TOO early. We have tried a number of approaches to get him to stay in bed longer. Telling him to go back to sleep is the most obvious. In which case, he screams, at the top of his lungs and wakes up Ben (who is then up for the day also). I have tried rocking him in his room, in which case, he screams at the top of his lungs and wakes up Ben (who is then up for the day also) or he will relax and be rocked but if he falls asleep, he wakes the second I stop and begins screaming at the top of his lungs...

I do not offer him a beverage in his room because he is a creature of habit and if I try that approach, he will want milk at 3am the following day. I also do not dare step foot with him in our bedroom because he will decide that sleeping in our room could also start at 3am the following day. And, he does not sleep in our room.

My favorite sleep book advises that if you have determined that this is the time he is going to wake up, go in his room, flip the light on and say "good morning" and act like it's a natural time to get up. The idea is that he won't like that approach either and will opt to not call out for you in the future.

Here he is at 5am - happy as a lark.



Side note: He has been taking naps - approx. 1 to 1 1/2 hours and goes to bed about 8pm. In my humble mama opinion, that's not too much sleep for a 2 year old.