3 Year Old Morning Routine Makeover

It’s time for a 3 Year Old Morning Routine Makeover! If your toddler wakes up too early and your mornings consist of clinginess, whining, and endless tantrums, I have some simple tips today that will completely transform your morning.

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I flipped over my phone to check the time: 6 AM. Like clockwork.

I reluctantly pulled myself out of bed and trudged upstairs to see my 3 year old standing behind the baby gate holding all of her stuffed animals tightly.

“I’m ready to come downstairs,” she said in the sweetest little voice.

Convinced that she was ready, and armed with the confidence that today would be the day she actually COULD come downstairs at her wake-up time (6 AM) and actually be READY to start the day, I said:

“Okay, let’s go get you a snack.”

Not two minutes later that sweet little voice transformed into every toddler mom’s biggest annoyance: THE WHINING VOICE.

“Buuut, I don’t want a plain GoGo, I want a cinnamon GoGo.

I don’t want you to go in the other room to get ready, I want you to stay out here with me.

But I don’t want to come in there, I want you here.

No I can’t wait until you make coffee, I want you to read this stack of 1,863 Disney Princess books now!”

Ummm…**checks clock** 6:15 AM. Perfect.

If this sounds anything like the mornings in your house, by this point you’ve either erupted into a lack-of-sleep-induced-adult-size-tantrum of your own, burst into tears, or stood silent in complete and utter disbelief.

Really any of these responses is fitting for this particular form of Groundhog’s Day.

I’d like to believe there is a special place reserved in Heaven for moms-of-early-risers.

I’ve heard (and even met) some unicorn children who sleep until 8 AM – can you imagine?

But not my girl.

She has always been an early riser, and she has always had her fair share of sleep issues, but waking up way.too.early. has by far been the most troublesome.

Before we dive deep into this whole morning routine makeover, you may find it helpful to remember two essential things:

1. Hindsight is 20/20. I wish I would have done a lot of things differently to sort of “reprogram” my 3 year old’s sleep habits, when she was say, 18 months old. That being said…..
2. It’s never too late to change things. Older toddlers CAN learn new tricks. New is fun and interesting to a 3 year old, and my child is proof that anyone can turn things around.

And now for the question every overtired mom wishes she could answer:

Why Does My Toddler Wake Up So Early?

Here’s the good news and the bad news:

• It is developmentally appropriate for toddlers to wake early.
• They are essentially programmed to do so.
• If your toddler wakes up early in a good mood (and stays that way), there’s probably not much you can do about their wake-up time.

However, if your toddler is waking up early and within 15 minutes they are a complete mess, it’s time for something to change.

This is your best indication that they need more sleep.

Easier said than done, I know.

Okay, So Where Do I Start?

There are a few “fixes” that may help your toddler sleep in later.

• Shorten the time between dinner and bedtime: If your dinnertime is 5 PM but your toddler isn’t going to bed until 8 PM, chances are they are waking up hungry. Try making bedtime earlier or dinner later, whichever works for your family’s schedule.
• Offer a filling snack before bed: Try offering a banana, or some real whole grain crackers with natural peanut butter. Nothing exciting, just something simple to keep them full all night.
• Nighttime Potty Training Problems: If your toddler wakes up early because they have to pee (and then can’t fall back asleep), you may have to go in to have them pee at a time that won’t impact their wake-time. For example: we found that if we had our 3.5 year old pee anywhere between midnight-2 AM, she would sleep longer in the morning. Yes, being up in the middle of the night stinks, early wakeups + cranky toddler = worse.
• Put your toddler to bed early: The ONLY way to break your toddler of an overtired sleep cycle is to put them to bed at least an hour before their usual bedtime. For example: if your toddler is hellbent on waking up at 5 (and they are a mess), and you usually put them to bed at 7, try putting them to bed at 6 every night for a week. This isn’t forever. Just until their sleep cycle resets. When it comes to sleep, more is more.
• Don’t starve them of sleep: Many desperate parents might think that keeping their toddler up late will help them sleep in. And many parents find that this is very untrue. You may even discover that the later you put them to bed the earlier they wake up. As mentioned above, more sleep is more sleep.
• Offer breakfast at the same time everyday: Train your toddler’s body to expect when to eat. I used to make the mistake of offering a ton of food (thinking she must have been starving!) first thing in the morning, no matter how early she woke up. Pick a time and stick to it. Keep it simple: “No breakfast until 7. If you’re hungry before then you can have a banana or a GoGo Squeez.” – or, you know, sleep until 7 🙂

What Should I Do if My Toddler is Still in their Crib?

If they are still in their crib, I would not be in any rush to “allow” them to wake up and come out of their crib.

• My younger daughter (21 months) is still in her crib and if she wakes up too early, I let her stay in her crib, even if she is awake, until at least 7 AM.
• Usually she just rolls around singing to herself, and sometimes she will stand up and lay back down.
• If she is crying or screaming for me, I will go in comfort her, maybe nurse her again, and lay her back down, just like I would if it was the middle of the night.

I realize that was A LOT of information, and there’s still plenty more to come. Around here, I like to go in depth and give plenty of advice, lots of options, scenarios, plus tips and wisdom from my life with my two girls.

3 Year Old Resources You’ll Love:

• My 3 Year Old’s Daily Routine
• Preschool at Home for 3 Year Olds
• Daily Feeding Schedule & 3 Year Old Meal Ideas

3 Year Old Morning Routine Makeover

Part 1

Choose your okay-to-wake time.

This is more for you than anything else. What time are you okay with starting your day?

This is important. This is the time you’ll stick with, and consistency is everything.

Our okay-to-wake time is 6:30 AM, because my 3.5 year old wakes up around 6 and my goal is to keep her in bed until around 6:30. If your toddler is a chronic early-riser, it might be a stretch for their okay-to-wake time to be 7 AM, because it’s unlikely they’ll actually wake up anywhere near that time.

So if my daughter wakes up before her okay-to-wake time, because she has to potty, or thinking it’s time to get up, we treat this like a middle of the night wake-up. I’ll simply have her use the potty and then tuck her back in and leave the room.

Read: 3 Year Old Bedtime Battles & How to Stop Them

The goal is really to treat their early wake-up like it’s still the “middle of the night”, especially if it’s still dark out (good blackout curtains can also help with this!).

The perspective shift for me was remembering that just because my 3 year old was awake, didn’t mean I had to start the day. I could still be consistent with tucking her back into bed or having her lay down with me until a more reasonable time.

Alright, before we move on here’s the quick recap:

1. Adjust night-time routine as needed
2. Choose an okay to wake time
3. Treat early morning wake-ups like it’s still the middle of the night

3 Year Old Morning Routine Makeover

Part 2

The secret to a successful morning is preparing the night before. While it is tempting to crash early or stay up late watching Netflix, the reality is, 6 AM is decidedly not the time to be scrambling around trying to get your life together before your kids wake up.

In my opinion, “waking up before your kids” is something that’s reserved for “kids who don’t wake up at the crack of dawn.”

I would be more than happy to wake up before my kids if they both slept until 7.

The “makeover” factor in this part of our morning routine involves switching out TV for an easy, minimal-prep activity you can set-up quickly the night before.

Read: My Stay at Home Mom Morning Routine

While I am not against a little screen-time in the morning, I realized that the prospect of watching TV every morning was part of why my 3 year old was busting out of bed every day 🙂

So instead of TV, I have 2 things set-up:

• Melissa & Doug Daily Calendar
• Morning Activity: Morning Basket, Busy Boxes, or The Preschool Playbook

These activities are meant to be simple. Something that is age-appropriate that your toddler can do on their own while you make coffee, breakfast, pack lunches for preschool, etc.

Learn more about my go-to morning activities, here.

And from there, we start the rest of our day!

—> If you are a stay-at-home mom, this post details a daily routine with a baby & toddler, and here we discuss a daily routine with a toddler and a preschooler.

Follow Marla on Instagram for more on toddler routines & daily tips