4 year old waking earlier but tired during the day?
Hi there. I have a 4 year old boy who has always been high sleep needs. The last few weeks he’s been waking earlier around 6am instead of his usually 6:45-7:15ish wake time. He goes to bed at 7:45. He’s been very very tired since waking early.
I’ve made his room pretty much pitch black, put a wash cloth over his ok to wake clock so he can still see the color but it’s not lighting up the room as much, been giving him warm milk before bed, removed a blanket so he’s not too hot, given him a softer pillow, tried a nap a yesterday but he didn’t sleep, and turned up his sound machine a bit. He’s pretty sensitive to the sounds of my husband (also his dad) getting up and getting ready for work in the morning (yes I’ve stressed to him so much that he needs to stfu lol).
We have put him to bed a bit earlier when we can but it doesn’t seem to help a ton and it’s hard because our daughter (2 y/o) goes to bed at 7:45 every day, earlier doesn’t work for her so the sound of us putting her down in her room right next to his room keeps him up even though we try to be super quiet. I think we might have to try even earlier.
I think my son’s sleep needs have decreased a bit but he’s still not getting quite as much as he needs. No major changes in our life recently. Has anyone had their ~4 year old do this? Is it a growth spurt? Developmental leap? Tips to help him? I’m so tired of seeing him so tired and just want to help him.