How do you keep your 3yo from getting up at dawn?

CubbyMama

K used to sleep until 8ish every morning, but when she got sick last month, she started waking up at 6:30am.  Since then, she does that every morning, sometimes getting up as early as 6...and besides the fact that that's WAY too early for me when I'm up with E 1-3 times a night still, it's too early for K, too.  She wakes up cranky and whiny, and comes into our room crying hysterically over ridiculous things.  Waking up to screaming/crying immediately puts me in a bad mood, I end up yelling at her, and our day is off to a sucky start every morning.  It must end!

I'm thinking about putting a digital alarm clock in her room, putting paper over the minutes so just the hour shows, and telling her she needs to wait until it shows a 7 before she can get up.  I can just see her yelling/crying from her room if she wakes up and it's not at 7 yet, though, and when she does that, it also wakes E up: double ugh.

Any other suggestions?

Mrs.JDD

Claire gets up at 6 or 6:30 so I just put her in our bed, turn on Disney, and go back to sleep until Jack gets up.  Works great!

JOEBunny

Our DD is not allowed out of her room until 7 on weekdays and 8 on weekends.  She plays if she wakes up.  If she comes to us before then (unless she really needs us), she is not allowed cartoons.  We go and get her when it is the right time.  She has a clock, but doesn't really get it yet, because it has to be exactly that time for her to recognize, so if she looks and it is 7:11, instead of 7:00 she doesn't know that is after 7.

Hooray2005

CubbyMama:

I'm thinking about putting a digital alarm clock in her room, putting paper over the minutes so just the hour shows, and telling her she needs to wait until it shows a 7 before she can get up.  I can just see her yelling/crying from her room if she wakes up and it's not at 7 yet, though, and when she does that, it also wakes E up: double ugh.

Any other suggestions?

This, exactly.  Target sells a great digital clock with a huge display that you can even change the color read out (makes it fun for them to have some choice of "what color number do you want tonight - red or green", etc.)  cover the minutes and on the paper draw a big "7" and "8" (so if they "forget" what they're looking for, there's a reminder right there).

And yeah... at first she may scream.  The first day gently go in and remind her she needs to stay in bed/in her room until there's a 7 on the clock, then she can call for you (or just come out, whatever you do in your house).  Then, if she continues to call do.no.go.back.in!!  Going in will reinforce the little game of calling too early   It may take a couple of days (or a week!) and yeah, it might wake the baby for a few days (sucks, I know!) but really does work in most cases.

DS ALWAYS gets up before 7AM, yet he does stay in bed until then - granted he's not always quiet, but he stays in his room

Maybe put a fan or white noise machine in the baby's room for a bit to block some of the morning screaming

brightning

My daughter wakes up absolutely no later than 6:30, too, and she's often a cranky mess in the mornings. That is no way to start the day!

What I do for "rest time" (naps are long gone) is plug a light into a timer. Because she likes to have all the lights on when she's in her room, when the light goes off, rest time is over (though most normal people would probably do the opposite). This system works really well for her. If she falls asleep, the light clicking off won't wake her up. It's an easy system and she totally understands it.

Maybe a similar system could work for your daughter in the mornings? The timers are less than $10 and you just plug one into an existing lamp.

Hooray2005

JOEBunny:

Our DD is not allowed out of her room until 7 on weekdays and 8 on weekends.  She plays if she wakes up.  If she comes to us before then (unless she really needs us), she is not allowed cartoons.  We go and get her when it is the right time.  She has a clock, but doesn't really get it yet, because it has to be exactly that time for her to recognize, so if she looks and it is 7:11, instead of 7:00 she doesn't know that is after 7.

Would she be able to tell better if you put a post-it over the minutes so just the "7" showed (you could even draw  the " :00" on the post-it so the clock read "properly" for her

Mrs.LB705

We have a clock that has a light built in, and we have it set to 7:30.  If the light is on, he can get up and come downstairs.  If not, he has to stay in his room (not necessarily in bed though--he can read or play in there).

Hooray2005

Oh, and daylight savings time is coming up (next weekend, right?), so that will work in your favor, too (at least clock-wise).  You could also not completely "spring forward" her clock, so she'd sleep in a bit more

Confession:  we have DS's clock set about 15 minutes behind so we get a few more minutes of sleep in the morning

hikerbeth

I put a clock in her room (digital, each number is a different color) and she knows not to get up 'til the first number is "7".

She has plenty of books and toys to play with if she wakes up early and needs something to do.

Rink08

Mrs.JDD:

Claire gets up at 6 or 6:30 so I just put her in our bed, turn on Disney, and go back to sleep until Jack gets up.  Works great!

this. DS has been known to wake up around 5 and play with his toys so I let him bring his one teddy bear into our room, put on the tv for him, and he'll either lay and watch it or end up falling back to sleep.

AggieCouple

We have toys and books all over our room.  Once the kids wake up on the weekends, (most mornings) they'll play/look at books on the floor while we sleep in. Of course, that means until about 7:30 or so, at most.  By then, they're hungry and jumping on us.

I don't think you can control their biological clocks.  The best solution for me has been to try to go to bed earlier myself. 

winomom22

Mrs.JDD:

Claire gets up at 6 or 6:30 so I just put her in our bed, turn on Disney, and go back to sleep until Jack gets up.  Works great!

This. I don't know what else to do. She used to sleep until 8am too 6:30 is way to early for me too given that I work pm shifts and am not in bed until 1am. I tried this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002N4IN0U/ref=lst_llp_sl-0 without results, but the reviews from parents say that it worked. I think our problem is dh set it for 8am and we need to be more realistic and set it for 7am.

wildfloweragain

The post it over the minutes is a fine idea, but you all might want to give your kids some credit.  Both of mine knew by 3 how to wait until it started with a 7 to get up (DD right before age 2, when DS was born, DS a little over 2.5.)  DD might be a bit advanced, but DS is not in areas like those and he really does fine, as long as we get him out at 7 on the dot.

 

Treat it like a new game.  DS reads his I Spy book if he wakes up early.  DD talks to her animals.

butterbeansmama

Do you think that she is waking up early because she has to use the potty? This is something Preston does. He will start to stir around 5:30 or so. As soon as I hear him stirring, I will go get him, he will go potty and then it's back to bed. He usually falls back to sleep until 7:00 or 7:30. He does not get out of bed until we go up there to get him either.

I am going to buy one of those alarm clocks that change color at a certain time in the morning, so that he can get out of bed himself once it changes to the right color (if he wants). He usually wants us to come get him though.

JCS2007

This has worked great for 3 yr old DS, he still wakes 6-6;30am, but will hang until the light turns green at 7:05. It took a few days for him to get it, and we started closer to when he actually was waking then pushed the time later.

https://www.amazon.com/Stoplight-Sleep-Enhancing-Clock-Sports/dp/B002TKLN46/ref=pd_sim_k_4

 

buffalo_buckeye

We do exactly what you want to do. He gets up at about 6:30 and a couple of days he would come in at 6:37 or 6:47...but after a few days he now knows that it has to be the first number. But, he does come in at 7 on the dot, lol. With daylight savings I will probably try to adjust his clock 30 minutes, lol.