Trouble Getting Child up in the Morning

Get a bedtime ritual that your child goes to bed earlier than they do now, start with 1/2 hour and see if that helps, and if not, go a full hour. If she's not getting to bed on time for you, she needs more physical activity.

Our son Jack (4) sometimes is crabby and groggy in the am so I go in and shut off the humidifier, open the shades, remove some covers and say good morning about a 1/2 hour prior to when I need him up and getting ready for preschool, or whatever we are doing that day. 15 minutes later, I go in and sit on his bed, rub his back, cuddle if he wants to cuddle for about 5 minutes and start talking about trains (his love) and if he had any dreams. This usually helps him focus and slowly wake up happy. If I still have trouble, I just start bugging him in his room. I'll poke at him, prod at him, tickle him and just tease him until he starts laughing and then wants to play more. Sometimes we need to play "chase" around the house a bit, but being silly usually works for us.

If he's determined to make it a power struggle, I just tell him that all the things he likes to play with are off limits if he's not getting out of bed and getting dressed by the count of 3. If he doesn't comply, I take ALL of his trains (which he loves), all of his cars (which he loves) and bring them into my bedroom. He doesn't get anything back until he comes home that night and he has to have been good and not crabby during the day and when he gets home. This always works at our house, but we prefer to use the joking around stuff first and pull out the big guns only when we really need them.

I always try to remember, that kids, just like adults, sometimes are bed bugs and kids don't get the option of having a cup of coffee to help them "Wake up". :)

Hope that helps!

Hi D.! One thing I hit on that worked wonderfully was having my kids sleep in their clean sweats and the next day they were dressed for the day. At six I'm not sure she will still want to wear sweats all day, but at a younger age they were great! I could just haul the kids into the car and off to daycare!!

Good luck.

Does she sleep well at night? Get to bed early enough? Trouble getting up in the morning may be a sign of sleep deprivation or even a medical condition that is interfering with her sleep at night. Does she snore? Does she still have her tonsils and adenoids? I would work on getting her to bed earlier at night and if that doesn't help or she snores I might have her evaluated for sleep apnea. Good luck!

Getting her to bed earlier, maybe? I have dressed my kids the night before(sweat clothes) so all I do is get them up. Put her coat on and shoes on, then carry her out to the car, put her in her car seat, comb out her hair, have a granola bar and glass of milk(nonspill cup)ready for her to have when she finally is awake which will be in the car. There isn't alot to do when you have a child who isn't a morning person, but to make it easier on you and her by only doing what needs to be done.

My Daughter went threw the same thing last year. The only thing that i found that worked was for every time I had to reminder her to get going she had to go to bed 15 minutes earlier then her bed time that night. They other thing that worked was to tell her i was leaving in ten minutes and if she wasn't dressed or ready to go she was going in the way she was. One day she went in her Pajama's to daydaycare. She of course got dressed as soon as she got there cause she realized how silly she looked. After that we have not had a problem. Good luck

my only suggestion is getting the child to bed earlier...i assume this child is in school with daycare in the morning?? the kid is probably not getting rest time during the day and is in need for more sleep. At the end of the week, we normally have an early bed night...like 6:30, just to give our 5 year old more sleep. It definately helps with getting her up and she is in a better mood. I am sure it is hard being the youngest and going to bed before everyone else...but this is probably your best bet for an easier morning....

I have 4 kids ages 5,4,3 and 1 and they go to bed at 6:30 (except for the 3 year old who's special needs). A lot of people can't believe they go to bed so early but they sleep until 7 am when I have to go in and wake them up. They get at least 12 hours of sleep and I think they really need it. My oldest sometimes gives me a hard time about getting up and I just tell her that if she's that tired still that she can start going to bed earlier if she wants to. That usually gets her right out of bed :o)
Best Wishes,
J.

The first thing that came to my mind was the same thing I've seen the other mothers suggest, earlier bed time. She's still young enough that she needs more than the typical 8 hours of sleep at night. Other than that, maybe start a half hour earlier trying to wake her...but even with that, she'd need to get to bed earlier, since she'd be getting waken up earlier.

I agree with the previous poster Jennifer. People can't believe we put our kids to bed when we do. We put our 4 year old to bed at 6:45 and she is usually sleeping by 7. She wakes up on her own at 7 the next morning. She does not nap during the day. (During the summer we have a different schedule). I find that if she doesn't get at least 12 hours of sleep she is hard to get up and she's a bear all day. :(

I have read in several articles and books that if children need to be woken in the morning it means they are not getting enough sleep.........they should wake when they are well rested I guess.

Hi D.,
I would have to agree with the others, start with an earlier bedtime. If that doesn't work, maybe see a Dr. From a very early age, my childhood dr would always feel my thyroid, he must of suspected a possible problem back then, but he never tested me. I had a very hard time waking up in the morning even tho I slept thru the night and would sleep about 12 hours, and I would sometimes fall asleep in kindergarten. They teacher sometimes had a very hard time waking me. Maybe if he had tested me, my hypo thyroidism wouldn't be as far advanced as it is today, which was finally tested ten years ago. I'm not sure if they do testing on children, but it is worth a try if you already have been doing the early bedtime with her. Hypo thyroid is becoming more and more common these days for some reason. Wish they could find the real reason and a cure too.
Good luck, C.