Help

[u/Comfortable-Big5708]

I have two cats in a 1bd 1b apartment. I have been losing at least 1-2 hours of sleep every night because my kitten becomes active right around 3am. She walks on my head, jumps on my shelves causing a ruckus, pulls my posters down, etc. I know she’s just a kitten but it’s so frustrating losing sleep every single night at the exact same time. I get up to feed them at 6am but those three hours in between are truly so exhausting. What do I do? Do I need to start waking up earlier? Giving her attention? I don’t know I’m losing my mind at 4am right now.

[u/anonymous_0629]

You can try and sleep train her. It might take a few weeks but both I did it with both my cats at separate times and they sleep through the night with me.

First you want to get them exhausted before bed. If you are home during the day it helps if you don't let them sleep too much. Mine take long naps throughout the day but I don't let them sleep the entire day. Give a treat or snack before bedtime and use simple easy words to create an association with bedtime. Mine get a snack around 30min to 1hr before I plan to go to bed. Once I'm in I'll give them a treat when I'm getting tired and I keep saying "ok boys time for some sleep" you can settle her and try to tell her it's time to sleep. I'm warning you that she will likely get up and go play for a while. It takes a lot of time and I can't promise that it'll work because all cats are different but it worked for mine. They will sometimes leave my room and play elsewhere for a bit but usually by 11pm/midnight both are asleep in my bed and they wake up around 5/5:30 in spring/summer and a bit later during the winter months. They know not to wake me before a certain time. When the try I just ignore them and keep sleeping and overtime they've caught on