Ideas to wake up a DEEPLY asleep toddler

[Amy@STL]

I am in desperate need for ideas to wake my 21 mo. He has always fallen asleep late and woken up late but now I am trying to change the cycle. If I let him sleep naturally, he wakes up by 9 am, up from nap by 4-5 pm and doesnt go to bed till midnight or later. He just doesnt tire, and once he sleeps , he sleeps through night. Always been so.
I want to know how do I wake him up in the morning and again from nap? He would ideally want to nap 3-4 hrs!
I am trying to wake him up by 7 am. Anything later than this doesnt help. He sleeps soo deep, I am just unable to wake him up. I have tried calling him, singing loudly, holding the alarm phone to his ear:( , turning on bright lights in the room, etc.
I tried letting him go without naps but he still needs them. So, please I want to know how others do it?

P.s: By the way, he gets it from me, I am a total night owl and still have trouble waking up early

[D_McG]

They say to move bedtimes a half hour at a time.  So I'd wake him a half hour earlier and over time adjust from there!

[MrsGregory]

Is he sleeping in his room or near his own belongings?  I was a VERY deep sleeper.  My father would come in with pots and pans, the radio blaring... he once upended my bed with me in it and swears I only woke up long enough to glare at him, pull my blankets back around myself and went right back to sleep. 

My mother would come into my room on tippytoe and start.touching.my.stuff.  Worked every time. 

Maybe if he has a lovey, you can start taking it away (not really!  Imagine the howling!) or just move it away from him... 

Just a wild shot, there.  Good luck!

[tooraloora]

When I need DS up and he's really out, I turn into Monster Mommy and "eat" his belly while growling at him and informing him that I'm going to eat him all up if he doesn't wake up. Once the smiles start (with eyes still closed), I go for his neck, toes, belly again, nose, etc until I hear a little giggle. Then I scoop him up, hold him over my head, blow a big raspberry on his belly, bring him in for a very quick cuddle, and then attack him again. If I can throw him straight into play-time mode he won't go back to sleep and I don't get the "Oh I'm so sleepy and you woke me up!" grumpiness.

[Amy@STL]

Thanks for the ideas. Waking him half hour earlier does not work. I tried it for weeks.

I finally have started going no nap days. He is easily out at decent bed time but days are cranky and bad. In fact he never had any tantrums before this, but I simply cant do the 1 am sleep time anymore.

[Super~Single~Mama]

Could you do short naps while out and about? My ds sleeps pretty soundly sometimes, but not as much when he's in the stroller. If you could get him nice and worn out (ie, take him to the park for 2 hours from 8-10am and play monster mommy is coming to get the never sleeping baby - chase him all over), then put him in the stroller and see if you can get him to fall asleep. Then wake him after an hour - so nap from 11-12 - and then wear him out again in the afternoon to see if his bedtime will go earlier?

When he went to sleep at 1am what time was he waking up in the morning? What time is he going to bed now, and what time is he waking up? If my 3yo doesn't nap, he sleeps from 7:30 to 6:30 or 7 - so almost 12 hours. Your ds probably needs that much sleep, if not more if he's a little younger, so if there is any way to make sure he is getting the right amount of sleep that would be ideal. It may take some experimenting and seeing what works and what doesn't, but don't give up.

[cristeen]

I don't know that I would have cut out the nap, but definitely cut it back.  I know for my DS if he's not up from nap by 4 at the latest, then he's going to be up until 9 or 10.  If I want him in bed at 8, I have to start waking him up about 3:30.  A few days of that should help the whole schedule adjust.  After waking him up from his nap, I'd concentrate on physically exhausting him.  If you can't take him to the park, roll a ball around the house, or chase a balloon around, or get up and dance together, or whatever it takes to wear him out so that at a more "normal" hour he's exhausted and ready to drop.  A few days of doing all of that should help reset his schedule.  But you'll need to be really consistent with it to keep it that way. 

As for physically how to wake him up, I have to stand my DS up on his feet between my knees.  I talk to him, sing to him, stroke his face/neck/shoulders, encourage him to wake up, tell him it's time to wake up, and expect that it's going to take close to 5 minutes before I see the slightest glimmer.  And it's going to take at least 10 minutes before he can stand on his own (not fully awake yet, but about halfway).  I have to keep egging him on, talking to him the entire time, or he'll go right back to sleep.  I cannot wake him up in a lying down position - it doesn't work. 

I was the same way as a child, I remember waking up in the shower once still in my pjs because I had wet the bed and they couldn't wake me up.  I know I rolled out of the top bunk once and kept right on sleeping - my parents came to investigate the sound and just tucked a pillow under my head, covered me with a blanket and left me there. 

HTH

[Peony]

DS1 gets into sleeping in cycles if I let him. I have to work on it every single day to prevent it, one off day and we are back! He is almost 3.  He only naps in the car these days, if he takes a regular nap then he won't go to bed at night. This happened within days of turning 2. Going to no naps takes them a while to adjust and no naps doesn't mean they don't ever not nap. I don't lay DS1 down to nap but if he is tired enough he will just fall sleep in the car or stroller or on the couch. 

[Amy@STL]

Originally Posted by Super~Single~Mama 

Could you do short naps while out and about? My ds sleeps pretty soundly sometimes, but not as much when he's in the stroller. If you could get him nice and worn out (ie, take him to the park for 2 hours from 8-10am and play monster mommy is coming to get the never sleeping baby - chase him all over), then put him in the stroller and see if you can get him to fall asleep. Then wake him after an hour - so nap from 11-12 - and then wear him out again in the afternoon to see if his bedtime will go earlier?

When he went to sleep at 1am what time was he waking up in the morning? What time is he going to bed now, and what time is he waking up? If my 3yo doesn't nap, he sleeps from 7:30 to 6:30 or 7 - so almost 12 hours. Your ds probably needs that much sleep, if not more if he's a little younger, so if there is any way to make sure he is getting the right amount of sleep that would be ideal. It may take some experimenting and seeing what works and what doesn't, but don't give up.

I tried this as well before going no nap. No amount of physical tiring is going to make him fall asleep before 11 and its too late by then. I kept a log for few months and my observations are:

He sleeps 12-13 hrs total. 2-4 hrs nap plus 9-10 hrs night.
He is incapable of short naps:) once he is down he will sleep solid, like a dead log. If I somehow manage to wake him, he will be sitting on my lap and keep dozing off( i am like this too, i cant take a short nap) i have tried srtoller, cars, my lap, floor etc. He really gets mad when woken up and rest of the evening goes down the drain.

I was stuck in a cycle of late night and late mornings, and was unable to shift the pattern. He slept around 12-1 am and got up at 9-10 am.

I am very concerned about him missing out on sleep...which is the reason i delayed cutting out nap for so long. We live in a 1 bed room apt on third floor and the complaints from downstairs were beginning to really stress me.

Now he sleeps 7 pm to 7 am and if he falls asleep by himself i let him sleep. We have gone no naps for three weeks and he has napped twice in that period. First week was bad, but now the days r going better. I must confess I can take proper shower for first time since he was born... I also enjoy getting half hr to connect to my husband , which was earlier not possible coz i had to p,ay with my freshly woken active boy.

I hope his health is not damaged in anyway!