How to get 13 month old to sleep past five AM?

[saffrongirl]

Sleep has always been a struggle.  Right up to her first birthday, she was waking every two hours like an infant would.  We finally sat down and (literally) had a talk with her about the better good of the family and mama's daytime moods, etc.  The day after her first birthday she finally slept for about four hours straight and it's been better since then.  She now gets laid down for bed while still awake (around 6:30) and might fuss a bit but then goes right to sleep.  In general, she sleeps until 1:30AM and then nurses a bit, then goes back in her crib until she wakes at about 4:45-5AM.  And there lies the "problem."  4:45 is VERY early for mama and the rest of the house.  I've tried just going in when she wakes up and laying her back down, but then she'll just stand up and yell "MAMA" over and over until I go back in again.  I've tried putting her to bed later, but she still wakes up at the same time and just ends up crabby all day.

Any ideas?  Or should I just be grateful to be getting some sleep in the night and suck it up? 

[nola79]

She may just be an early riser. My son was like that, and still is at age 8. He woke up at 5am for the longest! Then 6, and he still wakes up in between 6:30 and 7 now.
I have also tried putting him to bed later and it does not make a difference. Even now, when he has sleepovers and they stay up half the night, he still gets up at the crack of dawn.

I'm glad she's sleeping better for you, though.

[lifeguard]

What happens if at 5 you bring her to bed with you & try to go back to sleep yourself? This is what I have always done with ds & if he's not tired he'll generally play quietly there for a little bit anyway. 

[PatchChild]

Ds has always been an earlier riser too, sooo hard on me.  He's three and a half now and we have made progress.  He has a very dim star shaped light on his wall that is now attached to a timer.  The rule is, you can call for Mommy once the star turns on. 

It took a while to get him there though.  For a long time, I'd still answer when he'd call in the darkened room.  Once in there though, I'd check the star with him.  Is it on?  No?  Then it is still night time.  I'd encourage him to go back to sleep or to rest quietly and read or play in his bed.  Lots and lots of repetition later, he's gotten the idea.