Toddler bed question....

Cookie_monster_7

My dd (27 months old) has always woken up crying in the morning until we get her out of her cot but if it was too early she would go back to sleep for a wee while if I went in and told her to. However now if she wakes up early she shouts "mummy out out out" over and over and won't give up, and me going in to settle her makes her more angry. I refuse to get up with her until at least 6.50am because it would just end up being earlier every morning.

What I am wondering is....if we get her a proper bed instead of keeping her in her cot and we close the safety gate on her bedroom, is she likely to get up and play in her room until I go in or will she just wail at the safety gate?

Anyone have any ideas?

SkintGypsy

If you don't want her to keep doing this she needs to know that before 6.50am is not a time for talking, playing or anything else. Giving her a path of escape is unlikely to help the situation IMO. My daughter went into a toddler bed at about that age, but kids that little do not want to occupy themselves quietly in their rooms when they wake up.

What time does she go to bed? Maybe she needs a later bedtime, or a blackout blind?

xmaslolly76

You never know until you try is what i say. What does she do now when you take her out of her cot is she happy to stay in her room and play or does she demand your attention once she is up ?

My older two were always early risers but they were quite happy to potter about in their rooms playing with their toys for a while until it was time for us all to be up.

billybobberyl

we put my ds in his big boy bed with the bars off at 2 years old, we told him it was for big boys now he is not a baby anymore and we are very proud of how clever he is, however to show us even more he must stay in his big bed all night and not get out unless we say so!
never dreamt this would happen or still be happening. he is 3 in july and has never once, even in the morning got up out of his bed, he lays there for up to an hour at bedtime chatting away and even in the morning wont get up, we have a gate on his door and have told him he can play if its light but still he wont get up!
basically i think reassuring her that its a nice thing, if you dont already own one get her involved in choosing it, picking the covers hellp put them on etc, make her feel grown up and explain to her, shut the gate and cross your fingers!!
wordt case she still makes the fuss but you can still wait til your ready, we do not enter his room before 6 am!

daveyjp

Never lock a child in a room with a safety gate, they aren't wild animals. You have at least another 3 years of your daughter getting up early - our daughter is awake anytime between 5.30am and 6.30am and she is nearly 4, but by then she has had 11 hours sleep.

Children don't understand the concept of time or of going back to sleep if they wake early, or lying in and to them 5 minutes is half a day. A 27 month old certainly doesn't understand the concept of finding something to do until 6.50am appears on the clock!

Going to a larger bed is just another change in routine which in 6 months time you'll look back on and wonder why you bothered about it!

pigpen

Mine went into a toddler bed at about 2.. they had a gate on the bedroom door.. for their safety.. it isn't about locking them in their room it is about stopping them wandering half asleep and falling down the stairs!!

They would get up and play for a while.. mine did have a potty in the bedroom to avoid the other problem.. though mine rarely ever wanted to be up before half 7.

Cookie_monster_7

When I get her up we go straight downstairs and get breakfast so I think that maybe if she could get out of her bed she'd be at the safety gate howling! I just don't know what to do I want her to stay in bed until 7am. She goes to bed at 7pm and doesn't nap through the day so I don't want her having a later bedtime. Besides, when it has happened that she's gone to bed later she still wakes up early. We have blackout blinds on her window.

Anytime from 6.15am (usually 6.30am) she'll wake up and straight away start shouting for me or her daddy and she'll carry on shouting/crying until we get her up. We've tried going in and telling her to go back to sleep, tried calling through that it is too early and tried ignoring her. I hate to ignore her completely though in case she feels scared but I think that that is likely to be the best way to get her to learn to wait. My OH thinks I should just put earplugs in and go in at 7am when I'm ready but I can't stand listening to her wail.

What do you all think?

pigpen

would she be accepting of one of those alarm clocks that has a bunny or whatever that wakes up at getting up time.. ?

Don't get out of bed until bunny wakes up..

daveyjp

Sorry to burst your idyllic bubble of a wish to stay in bed until 7am, it isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Accept the fact that 6.30am is your new time for getting up. It's a scientific fact that young children are early birds due to their body clock. In ten years time you'll be the one trying to get her up for 7am!

We stopped our daughter from falling down stairs by putting the stairgate across the top of them, not by locking her in her room.

Cookie_monster_7

daveyjp wrote: »

Accept the fact that 6.30am is your new time for getting up.

Why shouldn't the parent be able to dictate the time to get up? Why should a 2 year old boss me around? Surely that is sending out the wrong message. We are good parents who take great care of our dd, meeting her every need and most of her wants. I draw the line at cooking her a separate meal if she doesn't like what's on offer for example and this has resulted in a 2 year old who eats a good range of foods including lots of fruit and veg so I don't see why I should cave in about getting up earlier each day. I do feel very confused about how to tackle it but I don't think giving in is the answer, what would I do if she decided she wanted to get up at 6am or 5.30am?

[Deleted User]

Cookie Monster, I don't think Davyjp, was suggesting you are a bad parent or giving in to your child, HOWEVER you can't dictate their sleep pattern at this age. I remember my bro telling me his yougest daughter used to wake at 6am, every day and i remember thinking why? I didn't have kids at that point.

However i have done my share of 5.30am starts and they are grim. Up until last week my two, 3yr and 2yr just slept reliaable past 7am, but all of a sudden without warning i've been experiencing anything from 5.30- 6.30am wakings. I'm trying to get to the bottom of it, cos its draining for us all, my two are yawning by 11am. I wondered if its someone going to work, but it happens at weekends. I wondered if the nightlight was too bright, but then my son woke before my daughter and she was more the prob.

I reckon sometimes they have these blips, you have to ride it and have a plan that is consistent. I rang my HV last week about it, she said most toddlers rise between 6-6.30am that is pretty standard, anything before or after is unlucky or very lucky!! I think ou have to accept their bodies just arnen't in sync with yours, which is what my bro found and now i'm finding.

Unfortunately my "unlucky" daughter is disturbing my "lucky" son, but that is a seperate issue.

i've had my daughter at her request in a big bed since 17m, so that isn't the problem and never needed a gate for her, so i reckon its an individual thing.

Btw, if you find out the answer, please share, there will be thousands willing and begging to know.

Good luck.