How to help an early waking toddler sleep?

Question

My son is 2.5, he has always had a harder time sleeping until a reasonable hour, (usually wakes around 6/630)  but ever since I had to transition him to toddler bed he is waking around 530/545 consistently and just not getting enough sleep. He usually takes 1-2hour nap in the day also and goes down around 8/815. I’m kind of at a loss and having a hard time not getting my first quiet moments that I fight for each morning to get in the Bible and have my coffee before my boys are up. Anyone have any tips for this? Kiddo is wide awake at this time and doesn’t seem he will go back down. If I try to have him stay on his bed he will unplug the sound machine and wake his brother
Editing to add, their bed time routine starts at 7, he usually falls asleep at around 8/815 and I can’t start the routine any earlier as I do not get home from work until 530/6 and the earliest we can eat is 630 and I am a single mom so have no help. Also adding he won’t take toys to bed or lay in bed playing quietly. Our sound machine does turn to a morning/ok to wake setting at 7am.

Answer

I feel like he wakes up at a reasonable hour. You may not like it (I don’t either), but it’s totally normal. My 3 year old wakes up anywhere between 5 and 7 each morning. It doesn’t matter if he goes to sleep at 6:30 or 9:00. I would try to make sure he’s in bed sooner. I read that you can’t start any sooner but maybe you could shorten the routine somehow. A quick bath (if you bathe each night), brush teeth, one story, and to sleep. I love getting up alone to enjoy my coffee alone but they rarely happens with kids.

Answer

If bedtime routine starts at 7 I would try to shorten it so maybe they're asleep by 745. Sometimes when my toddler is dilly dallying I pretend I am a sports announcer and time him to see how quickly he can get PJs on for example. Another thing I've done is cut out a bedtime book and instead tell a story from my imagination; this allows for a dark room during storytime.

Answer

His bed time is pretty late. I would put him down sooner. My kids when they were that age went to bed at 6:30.

Answer

Sadly you can't really stop them from waking up I was one no matter what time I went to bed I was up  at 5. My cousin's and daughter are the same way sometimes they grow out of it but some don't

Answer

At that age, my son was going to bed at 8pm, waking about 7:30/8am. But he didn’t take a nap. 
Does he tell you why he is waking up? Could he be hungry? Maybe he needs more food in the evening? 
Other thing to consider is sleep begets sleep. I know this is true and tested out on my son. If he goes to bed late(even 15 minutes), he wakes up earlier. If he goes to bed early, he wakes up later. Almost always works this way for him. 
I would suggest trying to get him to bed alittle earlier and see how it goes. Also a snack right before brushing teeth might help too.

Answer

I think that bedtime is fine. Both my girls go down at 8 pm and they are 3 and 21 months. Especially since he is still taking a nap. Have you tried giving him some books or something to keep him in bed for a little while longer when he wakes up. I know my oldest takes a book to bed every night. It seems to help keep her occupied for awhile before she actually gets up out of bed. They also makes nightlights that will turn a certain color when it’s okay for him to get up out of bed.

Answer

My kid goes down between 5&6pm and stays in bed until 7:45 or 7am. I'm not sure why their bedtime is so late but if you're family can have a 4pm or 5 dinner that would allow you to be up before your kids. 
The other option is you wake up at 4am or so every day. I had a grandmother who made that part of her routine until the day she died. She has told me she didn't like getting up that early but that was the only time she could make work.

How to help an early waking toddler sleep?

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