Sleep for 3-year-olds -- am I being unfair?

[jhrabosk]

DD (almost 3.5) wakes up between 6-6:45 every morning. Doesn't matter what time we put her to bed. We've tried going early (by 8PM) or pushing closer to 8:30ish. I'm convinced that she's not getting enough sleep. I'm also convinced that it's not necessarily her internal clock, but a habit she's developed b/c we get up around 6 and our bathroom is next to her room. She is capable of sleeping through our bathroom noise and has done it in the past, but this seems to be ingrained.

We get up early and turn on white noise. I've put a digital clock in her room and tell her that if it says 6 she needs to go back to sleep. Nothing works and I'm losing my cool. Particularly on the weekends when I desperately want to sleep until at least 7!

I know I could put her to bed earlier to ensure she gets enough sleep, but it pains me. We get home between 6-6:30. We would literally be giving her dinner and putting her to bed. We might even have to stop eating dinner together.

Anyone BTDT? What is your 3yo's sleep like? Anyone have success getting them to sleep later, or do I just need to reset my expectations?

TIA!

[KpbS]

DS1 is the same way--except the later he goes to bed, the earlier he rises!! He is good for 11 hrs. if he goes to bed at 7 pm. Any later and we get into the 5:30-5 am zone--awful! Since he really needs 11 hrs. and it is horrible to have a grouchy bear we just zip through things in the evenings with the occasional exception for a special event.

hth

[AnnieW625]

My almost three year old sleeps about the same amount of time, and every once in a while will sleep until 7am, but that's on a weekend when we aren't up and moving around. We work full time so we are up by 5:30 or 6 am every morning. I don't think she'll go to bed much earlier or sleep later until she gives up her nap which she is not ready to do.

[KrisM]

My 2.75 year old is usually up at 6:30 regardless of bedtime. She's in bed at 7:15 most nights. DS was like this, too. We just do early bedtimes and it works, but I stay home, so that helps. DH gets home about 5:30.

[o_mom]

My 3 yo is up between 6:30 and 7:30am almost every day. He goes to bed by 8, but sometimes earlier and really he does need more sleep, so we aim for 7:30pm bedtimes, just don't always get there.

I have not had any sucess in changing it and can't figure out why he wakes up earlier sometimes. I have just decided that *I* need to go to be earlier if I want more sleep.

[Moneypenny]

DD is an early waker and has been her whole life. No amount of tweaking bedtimes or naptimes has been able to change it, so we just go with it. When she was around 3, we told her that we would come get her when it was wakeup time and she was free to read a book or play quietly with her stuffed animals until that time. Surprisingly, it worked!

We did have to rework it a little when she started waking up to go potty at night/early morning, but now she goes to the bathroom, comes to get a quick hug from me and DH and then puts herself back to bed where she plays quietly until the alarm goes off.

[hillview]

My 3.5 year old is the same. I put him down at 7 or 8 and he is up btwn 6 and 6:45. Doesn't matter if he goes down at 9!

He does have a clock in his room and he isn't allowed to come get us til 6.
/hillary

[citymama]

Sleep is a VERY sore subject in our home right now. DD turns 3 next month. For the last 6 months, no matter what we try, she will not fall asleep before 9.30 or 10 pm. She wakes up around 7 or 7.30 am. OK, we'll take it.

However, for the last 2 weeks, here's her night: sleep at 10 pm (wants mama by her side); wake up around 1 am, needs mama again; wake up around 2 am, mama, mama; wake up around 4 am, mama refuses to go, and poor papa is up with her till 6 am; falls asleep again around 6 am and sleeps in till 10am if you let her!

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but an early morning waking after a full night of sleep sounds absolutely heavenly to me right now! Good luck and I hope you are able to work out a good sleep balance.

[fivi2]

In general, my 3 yos wake up time stays the same (right around 7:00, some days earlier). We recently gave up naps and I now have to make sure they are in bed by 7:00pm. Which usually means asleep by 7:15 - 7:30. If they go to sleep later than that, they are bears the next day. And, usually when they wake up extra early it is when they went to bed late. So late bedtime leads to earlier mornings (and less sleep) in our house! Of course every child is different and has different needs.

But, I would try putting your dd to bed earlier for a week and seeing if it makes a difference. It may not, but then at least you will know and won't have to worry about it anymore! I know it will be hard. We don't do a family meal - the girls eat and go to bed and then dh and I eat. (we do eat together on the weekends). Is your dc still napping?

[WatchingThemGrow]

holy cow, citymama.

I want to try the "read a book or play in your room until the alarm goes off" thing. Instead, DD wakes at 6, then screams for 1)a bow (hair is in her eyes) 2) Dolly is missing (usually in the crook of her arm) 3) daddy or mommy - changes every day. I just let DH get her regardless. He's such a morning person, which I'm not.

[m4nash]

My DS turns 3 next month. He is normally in bed by 9pm and up around 7am, but we do have days where is he up as early as 6am. He also takes 3hr nap in the afternoon. If he sleeps past 6:30am he seems well rested during the day, but if he's up any earlier he'll need an early nap and generally sleep an extra half hour or so.

[MoJo]

When does it get light there?

My DD seems to get up with first light. . . if that's your case, help is coming when we "spring ahead" in a few weeks, and it will be dark an hour later in the morning.

I've always hated DST (grew up in Indiana, where they didn't observe it until the past few years) but this year, I'm looking forward to it!

[egoldber]

My kids rise early, between 6 and 7 every day, no matter what time they went to sleep. This is a very normal wake up time for kids.

[hannah]

How about trying a light on a timer and tell DC that they can come out of their room when the light pops on? I am pretty sure we started the light on the timer with DD when she was 2.5 yrs and it worked for us. If she woke up early she was expected to stay in her room and be quiet - reading books, writing, playing with stickers, etc. Just a thought.

[Ceepa]

There isn't much to do. I second pp's suggestion to go to bed earlier yourself. It helps.

[C99]

Does she take a nap at daycare? If so, that may be the issue. She's getting too much sleep and doesn't need the nap. My 3 y/o sleeps from 7/8 p.m. until about 7 a.m She does not nap. DH and I are never up that early in the absence of a child waking us up. Usually DS2 wakes DS1 up and DS1 wakes DD up.