My daughter is an early riser. She is 6 years old and wakes before 6am every single morning (has no idea that Saturdays are for sleeping in LOL). We recently put a clock in her room and told her that she cannot get out of bed until 6:00. This seems to get her to stay in bed. She will get up sub-6am to go to the bathroom, but will go back to bed.
The issue here is that she won't go back to sleep, ever. She lays there and watches the clock until it says 6:00. Its like she can't go back to sleep cause she is so concerned with the clock...She tells me she can't fall back alseep, but I don't think she even tries...I am thinking about taking the clock out of her room, but I am afraid if I do that then she will get up and come ask me what time it is and then she will be even more awake...
Do other moms struggle with the early riser? Or is it just me? What have you tried? Any thoughts on leaving or taking the clock?
Thanks for the suggestions. I like the idea of the music alarm. That might help her.
Just to clearify, its not a problem that she gets up early...And I am proud that she is listening, I just was hoping to ease her "stress" a little by not having her lay there staring at the clock. When she told me this morning that she can't go back to sleep I thought it might be that she was thinking too much about the time, thats all.
Also, her bedtime is 8pm, but it doesn't help to put her to bed later, we have stayed up till 10pm or later once in a while and she still wakes up at the same time. Even when she was much younger. Its just the way she works. I am ok with it. I just don't want her to be so worried about it.
I told my DD that she doesn't have to sleep (we usually have problems in the night) but she has to be quiet. I don't care if her herd of sheep take flight, just as long as I don't hear them.
I think as long as she wakes on her own and is rested, let her read or something quietly til 6. I think she's doing quite well to wait til 6 for you.
We just told her to be quiet. She could play quietly in her room, color, read or watch tv or a video.. By 6 she could make herself a bowl of cereal or eat some fruit. Even heat up oatmeal in the microwave.
We slept in from the time she was 5 with no problems. We just had cereal bars and fruit for her I always kept the box juices on the bottom shelf of the fridge.
Once kids awake in the morning, they are up. Expecting your daughter to fall back asleep is unrealistic. I don't see what the problem is. Your daughter is obeying your request of not leaving her room before 6:00, but you are still not satisfied. So what if she stares at her clock until 6:00? What a good little girl she is, listening to you! This is not a problem!
Here's what we did with our son. My husband bought one of those timers that you plug into an outlet, and then plugged in my son's lamp to that. We set it for the time we want him to come downstairs, and it comes on at that time and goes off 15 minutes later. Most days he is awake waiting for his lamp to come on. I also heard about a nightlight that is a moon at night and then at a set time, it turns into a sun and that tells the child it's time to get up. I think it's called the Good Nite Lite. Good luck!
We put a blackout shade up in our daughters room to keep it dark in there longer. It helped. Now we've got her sleeping until at least 8am. We told her if the sun isn't up it's still sleepy time. I was sick of her wandering in just as the pale light of morning was just tickling the sky. (I swear this kid was a rooster in a previous life...)
Now when we go into her room and lift the blackout shade up, at a decent hour, she'll perk right up, rub her eyes and say, "I made the sun come up by sleeping all night, right?"
This is what we do with our early riser. To us it doesn't matter if they lay there awake until the clock says (for us) 7:00 or 8:00 depending on what time bed time was. When they are laying there they just have to be quiet so they don't wake anyone else up. I think as long as she is being good and staying in bed then it shouldn't be a problem. You could always try pushing back her bed time too.
You did not mention what time she goes to bed...is there any way she could be allowed to stay up a wee later on the weekend? Also what time does she get up during the week? Lots of studies I have read say we should get up at the same time every morning. I usually do not have trouble with my kiddo's waking up at odd times unless they are ill or until they get used to daylight savings time. I second the momma's who suggest letting her do quiet activities until 6 A.M. like coloring. My niece who has very erratic sleep patterns is even allowed to watch tv as long as she does it quietly.
I say leave the clock, it seems to be working.
try putting the clock in the bathroom
I have no suggestions, but a GOD LOVE YOU! I would NEVER be able to function that early! My kids (4.5yo and 17mo) routinely sleep until 8 or 9 :)
Take the clock out of her room. Put a table, coloring books, crayons, etc in it. She should be allowed to play quietly until 6a.
We tell our 4 year old on the weekends that she's not allowed to get up until it's light outside. She's always allowed to go to the bathroom, but if it's still dark she has to go back to bed. Right now it starts to get light outside right around 7:00. It was rare, but a few times she would wake up around 3:30 - 4:00 and think it was time to get up and play and she would cry when we told her she had to go back to bed. Now that she knows she's not allowed to get up until it's light outside she does good. She'll come wake me up sometimes and say, "Get up Mommy. It's light outside now." I can't wait until she's a little older and she starts to sleep in a little more or she lets us sleep in some.
What if you tried setting the alarm for her? You could explain that you will set the alarm for 6:00 so she doesn't have to worry about laying there looking at the clock waiting for the right time. Maybe if she knows the clock will go off and wake her up she will relax a little and be able to fall back to sleep for a while.
My kids are up between 5-6 every day.
These days, I leave them in there until at least 5:30. (Sadly, I've come to be comfortable with a 5:30am wake up on the weekends).
Sometimes their little clocks are just set differently.
So, DH and I take turns getting up on the weekends, so that each of us always gets a sleep in day. I sleep in on Saturdays, he does on Sundays. It works for us.
I haven't read what others put but we put a nightlight on a timer and he can't come out of his room (unless he needs to potty) until the light goes off. Works great for us!
Let her know that you want to sleep later. Then set her up with qite things to do in her room. Tell her when she wakes she can play quietly. Once a child is up, they generally can't go back to sleep. She is a "lark"; her sleep/wake cycle is biologic, and can't be changed (until she is a teenager!) When she learns to read it will be much easier.
I think I would leave the clock because I like you think she'll then get up to ask you what time it is to see if she can get out of bed yet. You could do a couple of things. One is to set the television to a cartoon station before you go to bed on Friday night. That way, she can get up and turn on the television and watch for an hour or so while you sleep. The second would be to tell her she can get out of bed at 6:00 but she has to play quietly in her room until say 6:30 or so again giving you a little bit more sleep. My granddaughter does real well playing in her room for up to an hour after she wakes up on weekends. Good luck! She will start sleeping in soon and then you'll have problems getting her out of bed for school. When that happens, you will long for these early rising days to come back! We're just never happy (lol)!
You can encourage her to play quietly so that others can get their rest. It would be good to decide together what toys she might take out and play with when she is up before 6. It is important to not try to change her, but to work with who she is.
What if you set the time and music alarm for 6a, but then put black electrical tape over the display. Tell her she can't get up until the music plays.
Hi Mama-
Apparently, children like to be awake as early as possible to maximize play time. That's my theory, anyway. My nephew is 2.5, and while he sleeps for 8-10 hours, he never sleeps past 6 in the morning, ever. My sister basically tells him to play in his crib/bed until she comes to get him up. If he is hungry or has to go potty, he can say it out loud (they have a video monitor set up so they can hear and see him...it's tiny, but effective). So they will hear the ruckus of him jumping or tossing out his bedding or searching for a stuffed toy somewhere around 5 or 6 a.m. and he is perfectly content to stay there until 6:30 or so. They didn't put a clock in, but there is a sound machine and very light music playing (on repeat from sleepy time) that keeps him lulled for a bit.
I think that maybe instead of setting her on a time she can get out of bed, take the clock out of her room and tell her that at 6 a.m., mommy will come and get her up and she needs to wait. Invite her to read her books, play with her toys quietly in her room, go potty....even have a cup of water waiting for her (set it up in the evening) so she can have a drink, too....and maybe a snack (granola). It might keep her satisfied for slightly longer, and even though she is awake, it will allow you to get a little more rest. If that doesn't work, I say put in the effort to become a morning person (I am not one, so I understand how the early hours are a serious struggle for some people)...Who knows.
Good luck mama! And many hours of restful and uninterrupted sleep!
-E. M
The only thing I could suggest is systematic awakening, like you do with babies. Set an alarm for 5:30 or so, and gradually add five minutes to the alarm time. She'll get used to waking by the alarm, and hopefully you can eventually extend it to seven. I don't think getting up at six is so awful, though.
sounds like you have lots of good suggestions regarding the alarm clock. I just wanted to chime in on bedtime. Have you tried putting her to bed a little earlier? Before my son was born, my daughter (now 4) would go to bed at 8 or 8:30 or sometimes a little later. She was often difficult during the day. Now that I've got her bedtime synchronized with her brother's (about 7-7:30) she sleeps well, wakes just before 7 and is much happier during the day.
You might give it a try. The recent daylight savings change was actually beneficial for us this way!
