This always happens this time of year. My two year old has decided to wake with the sun. She is getting up too early and as summer nears it will only be earlier. I also have a newborn at home and he sleeps later but I am having to get up with her so as you can imagine sleep is limited. My husband is an airline pilot and travels a lot so most of the time it is just me at home. Last summer we covered her windows but that made it dark in her room all day and night. I hated not having natural light in her room during the day. Does anyone have any great suggestions on how to keep her in her room later. I have heard about the clock idea where I tell her what time she can come out but she isn't too great with numbers yet so I don't know if that would work. Maybe an alarm and when the alarm goes off she can come out? I know there are room darkening shades but they won't fit behind our blinds and I don't want to take the blinds down completely. Any suggestions would be great!
Thanks!
Put her to bed 15 minutes earlier every day until this stops. I know it doesn't sound like it will work, but try it and you will see improvement. Try reading Healthy Sleep Habits HAppy Child by Marc Weissbluth. This book helped us so much. Now my daughter is 9 and a great sleeper for YEARS thanks to this book! It brought us from no sleep to great sleep!
I hope my response doesn't come across the wrong way - I really want to try to help.
But, is she waking too early for you or for her?
It sounds to me that she's waking with her natural circadian rhythms which are different for everyone. Our son (3.5) can go to bed at 11pm, and he still wakes-up at the same time every morning. Our daughter (2) would sleep until 9:30am if you let her.
We keep the blinds open in both kids rooms as our son's developed a fear of the dark.
I don't think your idea of having an alarm tell her when she can come into your room is bad - but what if she's afraid to come in when she really needs something? Like during potty-training if she's had an accident.....will she just sit in the soiled clothes?
My husband and I would take turns when one of the kids got up early, we'd go into the family room, get out a blanket, put one of their shows/movies on (basically without volume) and rest in there with them so the other parent could sleep as much as possible.
If it were my child, I'd probably just get up with them and enjoy the time together. My kids are 21 months apart, so I know what it's like to have 2 little ones and the demands of each - the difference is I was going through chemo from the time our daughter was 10 weeks until she was almost 9 months. So, I had to balance side effects, a job, and 2 little ones - each moment with them is a gift (even if it's a really early morning gift when you'd rather be sleeping).
Good luck.
Hello K.,
We have hung some Thick material curtains in our boys room. If they are closed at night, they can keep the room darker in the morning. That seems to work for us anyhow. Take care and I wish you luck in finding a solution that works for you.
D. P.
a good thing with the clock is to write the time their allowed to get up in blocks similar to the numbers on the clock, then tape it above the clock and when the numbers match, that's when they can get up.
I would recommend getting blackout shades, so you can have darkness at night and raise them during the day to let in natural light.
I HATE getting up early...like 5:45 this morning. But, my 17 month old has his own agenda. I really hated it in the beginning but now I don't mind it.
This is what I do:
Make the coffee the night before and program it for 7 (although lately I have to manually turn it on)
Get up with my 17 month old, fix my coffee and fix him a bowl of dry cereal to snack on
Then, while he snacks and plays quietly in the living room I drink my coffee I watch some TV.
It is really relaxing and gives me some time to wake up and think before my other child wakes up and my day must begin.
My son's bedroom is on the side of the house where the sun comes up. His windows have blinds and curtains. When the time changed I had a friend sew a navy blue sheet on the back of his curtains which makes his room so much darker. He started napping better and sleeping a bit later. Since its curtains, when he's playing I can open them and the blinds and have plenty of natural light shining into his room.
I get what Dana says about taking turns with getting up, but not everyone can do that. My husband works 3rd shift so I have to get up with our son. Its tough but its what I signed on for when I had a baby
We ended up having to get dark curtains for our daughters room. It makes it very dark in the room and all I have to do is pull them open and the shines in! Good Luck!
I use black out curtains in my son's room. They block out most of the light, but I can open them during the day and his room is nice and bright. I pinned the sides to the wall to block out the light that leaks in through there and just hook them back when I want the light. I know they sell them at Target for fairly cheap. When my son sleeps at his g-ma's he has the early morning issue now as well. She keeps telling me she wants to put in curtains like we have.
Hi Kayce,
I feel for you with your little one becoming an early riser. I had a thought that might work out for you. They sell black out panel curtains at various locations. I have seen them at Walmart for about $20.00 per panel I believe. You can install a curtain rod above the window and hang these on. During the day you can pull them back so the daylight comes in and at night close them. The room will stay dark until you open them. Your daughter may not wake up until she sees the daylight. Some children/people have very sensative or thin eyelids. This may be why your daughter is waking so early!! My daughter is working night shift and needs to sleep during the day. This is proving to be a bit difficult due to her not being able to sleep because of the daylight. I am considering getting a set to install above her current curtains so she can pull them over the more sheer curtains and blinds. I have seen this done over French doors where the sun shinning in is disruptive to TV viewing. The curtain rod was installed a few inches above the door frame. Good luck. I hope this works for you and you can get your needed rest!!
J.
