Help! I Need Sleep!

I can relate. It has been some time since I had little ones. Keep them on a routine. Start putting bowls, cereal and small containers of milk low enough for 4 year old. See if you can breast feed the one at 5:30 and allow the others to start getting breakfast for themselves while you supervise as you feed, have few outfits layed out for morning so they can pick and dress themselves. My kids went to bed by 7 and woke at 6. and took naps/quiet time at 2pm. I would go to bed no later than 10:15. Happy Mothers day...Keep up the great work.

I have 3 girls as well! 6,4, & 2..... I've told my kids that it is too early to wake up when they wake up before 6AM & they need to go back to sleep. Last summer I put tin foil on their window to make their room really dark! That helped them sleep longer. I didn't do the tin foil this summer, just put a blanket over the window & my 2 yr. old is waking up by 6 or a little earlier! Ugh! I have a friend who has a night light on a timer. When the night light goes off in the morning at 7AM then her kids are allowed to get out of bed. If the night light is still on then they have to stay in bed. Hope these ideas help! This too shall pass. :)

My kids have been waking up much earlier lately also. I think it is summertime and their little enternal clocks tell them to get up and get going when that sun comes up. I put a darkening shades on their windows, it doesn't make much of a difference. Putting them to sleep later will not get them to sleep longer in the morning, so don't deprive yourself of the time you have in the evenings.

In my experience kids just wake up at that time. And if I put them to bed later they still woke up early. My daughter used to wake up between 4:30am and 6am everyday. Now that she is 3.5 years old she sleeps later on most days. I think it is just a maturing of their brain and it gets better when they are older. I might suggest just leaving the dish with a quick rinse and do them in morning. See if you can get to bed a half hour earlier or so. Good luck it does pass.
T.

My kids tend to get up with the sun. Now the sun is rising earlier they get up earlier. I have not reached a solution. Maybe you can try room darkning blinds.

My four little ones -4,3,18mo. and 4 mo. are ona similar schedule. The 4,3 and 18 month old are put to bed at 8 as well, and usually play arond for a half hour. It is usually worse if I change up their routine at night, or let their naps drag on past 1 hour or so. They wake up on average at 6:30-7:00 in the morning. The baby seems to be going through a growth spurt and wakes at midnight, 3-4AM, and again at 6:30AM. Nothing I do seems get them actually asleep at bedtime except keeping naptime at an hour to an hour and a half, or to sleep in later.
I decided to add a mandatory rest break when I was sure (relatively so-LOL) I would not be interrupted. The only time EVERYONE seems to be consistently asleep is at nap time, and I have started power napping AND hitting the old excercise routine in that hour or two. If I am exhausted, I nap for 30 min. and set the timer. So I am not exhausted and groggy when the kids wake up, I excercise to my DVD or on my excercise bike, and it perks me right up. Then I do someting that is fun for me until they get up. I am also trying to make it into bed earlier than 11pm- still working on that! BTW, I am also doing the Flylady routine- if you stick with it, it really works! I had to tweak it a little to get it working for my family. Hope this helps.

I have both of my kids in bed by 7:45-8pm and they both get up between 5:30 and 6am. They are 2.5 year old and a 11 mo old. They are just programmed to get up I guess? They both take naps during the day as well. If you find an answer please let me know, but I just figured they've gotten the sleep that they need because they aren't waking up tired.

D., Sounds like your kids may be early risers. You can try putting them to bed later, but from my experience (and listening to my friends) it may not help. My daughter also rises earlier in the summer when the sun comes up earlier. Do you have thick shades in their rooms?

I don't have any great tricks for getting them to sleep -- but would encourage you to try to change your morning routine to accomodate. Can you spend time with hubby in morning? Or can he get up at 5:30 and let you sleep until 6:30? Will girls entertain themselves or each other for awhile? I hope you can nap in the afternoon when they do. Good luck!

D.,
Some kids just get up early. My 8 yr son gets up at 6am. He used to get up even earlier and I would tell him to go back to bed. It doesn't matter if he goes to bed at 8pm or 10pm. He still gets up at 6am always has. He always has gotten up early and I think he always will.

He used to wake us up because he has to have breakfast as soon as his feet hit the floor. By age 5 I ended up making one of my low cabinets into "his" cabinet. It has all his plastic bowls and cups. I also put the cereal on a lower shelf in the pantry. I told him if he wants to get up that early ok but don't wake us up on the weeked. He makes his cereal and watches cartoons. (I leave the house at 5:30am on weekdays so I like to sleep until 7 on the weekend)**that was before the baby** now we all get up by 6am.

Your kids are too young to make their own breakfast but they could get their own drink and entertain themselves if you show them what they can do. He was pretty excited when I also made a shelf in the fridge for his drinks and snacks (apple slices and such). He felt more responsible and capable.
Worth a try - K.

My son has also been getting up earlier lately and I knew that it was due to the sun coming up earlier now. I went and bought some black out curtains for his room. It was the best $60 I have spent. He is back to sleeping in until 7:30.
Check to how much light is entering their room in the morning. If it is pretty bright then you might want to make the investment as well.

I hate to tel you this but your kids are just eary risers.all 4 of my biological children have been ike this.My stepsons could sleep all day if i let them.But we're up every morning at about 5:30-6:00 with my 3,5,7,and 9 year old.You may just have to leave some of your housework till the morning.Good luck!!

My daughter (26 months) goes to bed between 8 - 9 and awakes between 6-7 most days. She naps 1.5 - 2 hours a day. So it seems like yours are getting the typical 10 hours. Everything I read says about 10 - 12 sleep is needed. So I think the kids are fine, you may just have to get yourself to bed earlier.

I fought that concept until just recently - since I got stuff done or just unwound it was not unusual to be up past 11 pm. Now find myself in bed around 9 and doing those things (cleaning kitchen, loading dishwasher, etc) in the morning while she eats breakfast.

Good luck.

I am sorry that I am not going to be able to give you much advise, I am writing to say there is nothing you are doing wrong. 8:00 bed time is GREAT and it is so important for you to have time alone with your husband.
My kids go to bed at 8pm also, they are 4 and 3, and they were sleeping until around 7:30 - 8. The past several weeks they have now started getting up between 5:15 and 6am. What has changed? The weather...the sun coming up earlier and the birds chirping outside. We have blackout shades in their rooms but we notice that every summer, their sleep schedule changes and they rise up earlier. I know it is so hard for you though b/c you have a little one you are up with to, this will pass, soon your 5 month old won't need to eat at 4:15 and you may get another hour of sleep which would be great.
Best of luck!

If your kids are like mine, they have an eternal clock and sending them to bed later will not result in them staying asleep longer. I went through this and I had to learn that getting myself to bed earlier was the only way to get more sleep. Also take a nap when they nap... Hope this helps.

sounds pretty normal to me. My kids started doing the same thing, so I tried putting them to bed earlier (7:00-7:30). They still wake up at the same time but I get that extra half hour to hour. Keeping them up longer will do nothing but make you even more frustrated becuase they somehow know when to wake up. My 3 yr old son wakes up at 6:18 everyday no matter what time he goes to bed.

Hi D.,
Yes, I would definitely try room darkening shades and a room air conditioner or ceiling fan that keeps the room extra cool. Sometimes little ones will sleep longer if their rooms are cool and dark. Do they sleep in the same room? Maybe one is waking the other up. If none of this works--I would suggest laying down with them during naps so you can get some extra sleep. The housework will still be there when you wake up!
Sleep is one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health!
Good luck!
K.

Hello,
I hope you can get some sleep!! I feel that that is too early of a bedtime. Sorry!! How many hours are you wanting them to sleep. If they sleep until 7, that is 11 hours. If you want them to sleep until 8, that is 12 hours. Most childern that I know do not have such an early bedtime. Can you sleep that long? I can not without getting a bad headache. Good luck!!

This is not what you want to hear... BUT... my two (now 4 1/2 and nearly 3) have always been early risers. About 6am is normal. My older one is not napping anymore, younger one naps maybe an hour, about 3 times a week. He's starting to give that up.

Well, I gotta tell you - my kids have been getting up early almost since day 1. I am not a morning person, but I've learned to deal with it. I say we don't get up until there's a 6 on the clock, but it's usually about 6:02 when she wakes up! I try to have them in bed about 7:30. Unfortunately, in all these years, no matter what time they go to bed, they are up around 6. Changing bedtime has made no difference, even when we might be out at a special occasion and they're up until 9, they still wake at 6. Some kids are just like this. Everyone tells me I'll be glad when they go to school because they'll be up and ready and I won't be trying to drag them out of bed.

Try pushing bedtime forward a little, maybe try to give your 4 yr old some "quiet time" but not necessarily a nap. But don't be too surprised if you only gain maybe a half hour in the am. Adjusting bedtime doesn't work for a lot of kids. They are just morning people. My friend's 2 sons are the same age and they get up early just like mine! Sigh.

*Oh, also - PS - my kids sleep in the DARK. They both have blackout curtains AND black felt over their windows. No night lights. People joke that it's like a cave in their rooms! And they still wake around 6, sunlight or not.