The waking early could either be because sun is coming up earlier and/or because she's OT at bedtime from all that playing! I think it's a given that you try blacking out her room better. I just use a sheet over my son's window. DH hates it, but it works!
The canines come in around 18 months and lots of parents see sleep disruptions at this age, long before there are the classic teething signs. I probably would try giving her some motrin at bedtime and see if that helps. Just give it a try. If she settles earlier then you have your answer! If she doesn't, then we try something else.
Another possibility is too much daytime sleep. She's getting 2.5-3 hours for her nap. Some toddlers have a hard time falling asleep with that much day sleep in them. So another option would be to wake her after 2 hours no matter what. If you do that, then I'd have her IN BED by 7 at the latest.
The final possibility is that the teeth are making her more tired than normal. The canines are the King Hell Teeth, lol. Even with kids who don't normally have trouble sleeping during teething will often have problems when canines are coming in. I don't know why, but teeth often make kids extra tired! For my son we had to make naps and bedtime 30 minutes earlier or he'd get OT and have NWs/EWs. I think I'd try my other 2 suggestions first [a) meds at bed, b) limit nap to 2 hours] and then after 3 days on each of those solutions, I'd try an earlier bedtime. So, instead of 4.5 hours of A time before bed I'd try 4 hours. It's worth a shot.
Playing up at bedtime is a typical OT sign for toddlers. A lot of parents make the mistake of making bedtime later when kids do this. But with toddlers it's usually means time for an earlier bedtime. Let's see if the first 2 suggestions work before trying earlier bedtime with your DD. Unless something else strikes you in something I've said that seems more likely -- you're the best judge as you are the expert on your kid!
Keep me posted! I'm sure I can come up with more ideas if these fail!
