baby wakes up sooooo early ... any advice??

My daughter is almost 16 months old. NO matter what time I put her to bed she is up between 5:30 and 6:30. She sleeps through the night and usually goes to bed about 630-7. I am being selfish, I know, but even if I keep her up til 8 or so... she still gets up at the same time1!! Ugh... anyone ever gone through this? Any advice? Or should I suck it up and deal with it!!!! LOL whichever is fine but some extra Z's would be nice =]

Thank you!

I have a 4-year-old who has always gotten up early. She doesn't sleep any later than 6:30am (unless she goes to bed at or after 11pm which is something we're not willing to do!). I myself have always been an early riser so it's probably hereditary.

At 16 months, I think your child is supposed to sleep about 11 hours a night (which is what she's doing). How long have you tried putting her to bed later? It takes quite some time to change habits. If you continually put her to bed at 8pm and she keeps getting up at 5:30am after a few days (or weeks) the lack of sleep should catch up to her and her body should adjust. Just stick with it and make sure she doesn't take extra long naps to make up for the lack of sleep overnight. Children are creatures of habit so it's hard to change but if you tough it out (there may be some really grumpy nights!) things should work themselves out.

If, after several weeks, she's still not adjusting, I'd say that she is just going be the type that wakes up early. Are you living with your fiance? If so, do you take turns getting up with her in the morning?

Hopefully trying to adjust her schedule by keeping her up later does work if you go that route!  My son was the early waking baby, that went into early waking as a toddler even if we kept him up.  I even tried taking out his nap which I don't advise to anyone since that led to a really cranky little guy!  Now, he's in 2nd grade and still springs out of bed at 5:30. 

how long are her naps during the day?  I would try to push the bedtime a little later and do it for a least 1 week and then see what happens

She usually naps between 1-2 hours during the day. My fiance works and I don't so I figure the right thing to do is let him sleep til 8 because he has a hard day ahead. Maybe, I am to easy on him too =] I will try and keep her up til 8 fr a couple weeks maybe. I have only tried it once or twice but I maybe just have an early riser! If i do that is fine, but some extra sleep time owuld be nice. Thanks for all you responses

Sometimes there's just nothing you can do. Whenever I tried to keep my kid up later in hopes she'd sleep in she'd wake up at the same time & be a crankypants.

I think it's amazing that your kid sleeps through the night. Mine didn't until she was around 20 months. Annoying!

I think the best parenting advice out there is "whatever it takes." Sometimes the kids just have to watch tv while mommy naps on the couch.

Yea i was very lucky with her. She started sleeping through the night at 6 months (not the full 11-12 hours, but 8). I think I am stuck like chuck in this LOL because she gets so fussy if I keep her up passed like 715ish. Oh well, lack of sleep is the price you pay to have such a blessing!

I understand that she gets fussy past 7:15 but that's because she's in the habit of going to bed then. If you stick it out and deal with the fussiness for a week you might see some changes. If not, then I'd say you've got an early riser on your hands.

You might try picking up a copy of "The No-Cry Sleep Solution For Toddlers." I never made it through the book but it has some good advice on structure and changing habits.

You are so lucky that she sleeps throught the night. My son is three and he still wakes in the night, once in a while and gets up early. i think you are lucky and i wish my son went to bed early and got up at 6:30. He goes to bed at 8:30 or 9 adn gets up at 7. this morning he was up at 6:30.

My son is nearly nine and has done that his whole life....  Even in the womb he would start thrashing about at 6.00am!   Most nights he goes to bed around  8:30pm.  When he was a baby I'd go to bed the same time just to catch up!!!  New Year's Eve this year he stayed up until after 12.00 and still he was up at 7.00 am the next day.    He's now big enough to understand that he's to read a book quietly at the weekends rather than wake me up.  I'm sure once he hits the teens he'll need to be kicked out of bed in the morning ... but maybe not.

So sorry... I don't think you can 're-programme' children who are naturally early risers.

I have always had the experience with my kids that trying to keep them up doesn't really help. They often wake up at the same time anyway, and are often cranky and overtired. Sometimes it is just better to have an early to bed early to rise kid. That way at leat you can have a little break in the evenings! My kids always went to bed early and woke up early. They still do! I agree with gi-jane that you can't really reprogram a natural thing. Good luck to you!

Yes you can reprogram their sleep!

Usually kids around this age will sleep around 12 hours at night- so going to bed so early contributes to the early wake-up.  Expecting them to sleep 14 hours at night is the problem.

Put them to bed later and just let them cry it out in the morning until a reasonable time (like 8pm to 7:30am).  After a few mornings they'll get the hang of it and sleep in more.

Try the book Solve your Child's Sleep Problems by Ferber.  It worked wonders for me and my kid, who has slept through the night since 6 months old.