My early bird is driving us batty!

I mean seriously, 5am EVERY morning??? I shudder to think what it will be like next week with daylight savings ending!

And I have no idea what to do next. He won't resettle the normal ways. I try giving him a drink, playing his sleeptime music, lying with him in his bed, bringing him into our bed. I have even tried phenergan but it might as well have been water.

And of course that means by 10am he is shattered and ready for his only daytime sleep.

Anyone got any suggestions? I can't remember this with my eldest even though a early waker too.

My little sausage doesn't fall asleep till about 8pm and he's always up by about 6am!

I agree with MrsMojo!!! DVD's can be a life saver if you just aren't getting enough sleep. When my older girls were little this was our weekend thing so that DH and I could have a little bit of a sleep-in as we would be up during the week at 6am for work.
It does get better, now I can't get my girls to get up in the morning I practically have to drag them out of bed.
Now I use them to watch Alyssa some mornings.

MrsMojo wrote: How do you feel about going into the lounge with him and putting on a wiggles dvd while you nap on the couch? (or even better, send DH to do it while you continue sleeping)

That's what happens at the moment. I kick poor DH out of be to deal with the toddler and I stay in bed and feed the baby.

I am just dreading daylight savings and I feel bad for my poor DH who never complains but usually falls asleep on the couch once the kids are in bed for the night.

I wish there was some easy way to reprogram him.

Your DH is really good WigglesFan. I was really impressed with the way he got up and sorted out breakfast for our niece and your oldest 2 and took control of the older kids while we looked after the toddlers at bedtime while I was staying.

Have you checked out the sleep store? They have heaps of articles including this one The Early Bird: Waking up too early. Also I'm pretty sure OB now has a sleep expert again, you could ask him.

MrsMojo wrote: Your DH is really good WigglesFan..

He is an absolute gem! I did good picking him, aye?

MrsMojo wrote: Have you checked out the sleep store?

I'll have a look at those articles later today.

We have been brainstorming about the things that might influence his ability to sleep better:

Warmth: He often kicks off his covers and it has been getting quite cold around 4am. So now I am putting him into his fleecy sleepsuits.

Dark: It has been light earlier here in Auckland. But even now, when it is darker in the morning we still have a small nightlight on in the hallway which casts a dim light into his room. We are turning this off.

Hunger: He is a very poor eater and we have dinner at 5:30pm. He may be waking due to hunger so we are now having a story and suppertime before bed with filling low GI foods (I'm cooking an oaty slice right now).

Tiredness levels: He may simply not be tired enough to need more sleep. I haven't been out and about as much as I should due to a small baby and recovering from a c-section. I am going to try and do more with him during the day and DH is going to do stuff with the two older ones at night to wear them out.

We started doing all this yesterday and maybe its a coincidence, but this morning he slept an hour later - to the more reasonable time of 6am!