2yr old waking up too early

[sandhillcranes]

My son is 2. Will be 3 in nov.
Wakes up every morning around 7. He is pretty fussy and whiney a lot of days and acts tired. I can tell he is tired. He is rarely sick and has all of his teeth . This has gone on for awhile so we have usually had some excuse "well hes just adjusting to time change"..."well hes getting 2yr molars"...."well theres a new baby". Ugh.

We have tried putting in an alarm. It helps but it hasnt done much to change the getting up and unwilling to go back to sleep. He is potty trained so he will insist that he needs to potty. We tried telling him he didnt have to sleep, just rest quietly in his room (he will sit in there for thirty mins and read but it doesnt help bc i think he REALLY needs more sleep), weve tried earlier and later bedtimes. Nothing works.

I have told dh I am fine with the time he wakes up. If he wakes up at 7 but is generally pleasant, great. But a lot of the time he isnt. Wwyd? Do I just send him back to bed? Despite tears and heartache? Or ride out the day?

[happysmileylady]

Does he nap during the day?

[sandhillcranes]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady Does he nap during the day?

Yes. Weve tried no nap and it was a mess

[photocat]

When my eldest was about this age, actually, he might have been older....but he was completely rotten when he got up. Feral.

I started putting a small box with a snack in it beside his bed when I went to bed. Before he went to bed I told him I would do this and that he was NOT to come out of his room until he had eaten his snack. Much, much more pleasant start to the day.

But if he's cranky all day, then it might be something else. Is he in that stage of sometimes still needing a day time nap?

Ok, just read your reply above. Yeah, I'd start him off with some food and see it improves his overall mood. If he's cranky from the get-go, maybe it sets his tone for the day, so if you can change that, maybe it will help.

[MDever]

What time is he going to bed at night?

[sandhillcranes]

Originally Posted by photocat When my eldest was about this age, actually, he might have been older....but he was completely rotten when he got up. Feral. I started putting a small box with a snack in it beside his bed when I went to bed. Before he went to bed I told him I would do this and that he was NOT to come out of his room until he had eaten his snack. Much, much more pleasant start to the day. But if he's cranky all day, then it might be something else. Is he in that stage of sometimes still needing a day time nap? Ok, just read your reply above. Yeah, I'd start him off with some food and see it improves his overall mood. If he's cranky from the get-go, maybe it sets his tone for the day, so if you can change that, maybe it will help.

Omg im trying this!

Originally Posted by MDever What time is he going to bed at night?

usually 8:15-8:45. Sometimes it varies, depending on when he falls asleep but we start bedtime routine at 8

[nonipie]

The snack is a great idea! I might try that for my DD. She is so dang cranky in the morning. The very latest my DS will sleep is until about 6:30-7. & is the absolute max. Some kids just wake up when they wake up. No matter how late he goes to bed he will still be up at the same time so he wasn't getting as much sleep as his body needed. That is how his clock is set so we moved the bedtime up. That pretty much made our mornings SO much more pleasant. At that age he was in bed and asleep by 7:30 at the absolute latest. Now it might be 8:00. I would start your routine an hour earlier.

[MDever]

I am with nonpie. He needs to be in bed way sooner. I would try for lights out at 7pm.

[sandhillcranes]

Yeah im thinking maybe trying for earlier bedtime and not pushing the nap for a few days just to see what happens. I really dont care how early he gets up. Im usually up really early ...I just want him to be less of a grump! He had a runny nose today so maybe it is just worse right now and Im having a mommy-needs-a-break moment hah

[MDever]

I would still keep the nap even if it is only an hour or so. Children that age need a lot of sleep still. 14 hours per day is a good estimate.