Going to drop the F-bomb in regards to my own child.

r9stedt

Why won't my kid f*cking stay asleep past 5 am?

Every.f*cking.morning.

No matter what time he goes to bed--- last night we had a play date until 930 pm, didn't get home and in bed until after 10.  Still up at 5 am despite his usual bedtime of 8 pm.

I'm sitting here exhausted today.   Exhausted and tearful.

I know I am PMSing, but by Friday I have hit my brink every f*cking week of waking up at 5 am every.damn.day. 

It is stupid, but I am resentful towards my exH because he has to get up in the mornings with him a whole 4 mornings a month.  Must be rough, eh?  WHICH IS POINTLESS AND I REMIND MYSELF THAT IT GETS ME NO WHERE TO BE BITTER TOWARDS HIM.

I've tried it all-- alarm clocks, signs, bribery, movies (which is always my last resort because i don't really believe in sitting him infront of any screen), taking him back to bed, shades.  Not a f*cking thing!

mattswife91805

does he still take naps? DD was waking up around 5:30 when she was taking naps, we dropped the nap and now she is sleeping till 7am. She takes rest time, she lays in her bed and looks at books for about 30-45 mins.If she falls asleep during that time which is rarely she is up at 5:30am.

 

grja

My DS is the exact same way but only on the weekends. I'll be dead asleep and I'll feel this tapping on my arm.

Never fails - i HAVE to get up at 5 am during the week and he has to be up by 6:30 for school. Its a struggle to wake him up every single day. Saturday and Sunday? Tapping on my arm at 5. I don't understand it at all.

r9stedt

It is a RARE day that he will take a nap.  Only if he has been doing something extremely exerting--- lake, fishing, etc.  He rests at preschool, but his teacher has told me that he rarely takes naps.  They write it down if he does, and I haven't noticed that he has in WEEKS.

mikeandmonica

Our boys weren't much better than that for the longest time - it was making us very irritable - I get up way earlier than that during the week for work, so on the weekends, I want to stay in bed until 7 at least PLEASE!  So the new rule is that if they wake up before 7, they can get up/go to the bathroom/whatever, and then they go back into their room to play (we'll usually leave a bin on the floor of their cars or trains or their puzzle bin, etc). quietly, or come lay in bed with us.  I don't need to sleep that late, but I do need to relax that long.  It works out well - they get some quiet time to start the day, and I get to stay in bed a little longer.  I'm hoping and praying that now that it is staying dark out a little longer they will start sleeping in a bit more!

r9stedt

Our house is so tiny, that I can't sleep when he is up.  I just can't.   I can rest and stay in bed (which I need to do), but the 5 am call of "MOM.  I am awake." or "Mom. I am hungry."  or "Mom. Can I snuggle?"  or "MOM. I'm naaaaaaaked!" is just too much.  

cokt

I am sorry. My almost 4 year old was waking up at 5:30am and I was still waking up multiple times a night with by baby and it was sending me over the edge. I know you said you tried lights and bribes already, but this is what is kind of working for us right now. I got him this:

https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3955135&CAWELAID=453281837

and we set it for 7am. The first week or so I bribed him with things like donuts for breakfast if he stayed in his room until it changed color etc. He still wakes up early-but now it is like 6:15/6:30ish, but he stays in his room. I told him he can turn on the lights, look at books, do whatever he wants as long as it is in his room and quiet. But now the baby is waking up at 6:15am every morning, regardless of when he goes to bed, and he is still waking up at night. How is it as much as I love to sleep, I got two kids who think sleep is the enemy?! I feel your pain. I hope something changes soon and you can get some more rest.

r9stedt

I haven't bought anythign like that.  he has an alarm clock in his room, that he knows he isn't supposed to get out of bed until it says 7.   Does that work?  No.

So, therefore, I am too cheap to buy another 'device' that will not last past the novelty stage for him. 

AnnapolisLari

I feel your pain. Not 5am pain, but not long after. We have the clock, but he ignores it.

I will say that the time change will make a difference for us. I noticed that the mornings that it was really dark and rainy, both kids slept until 8am.!!!!!! But those stupid fvckers have extended DST until what, November?

Ciarrai

My cousin was/is like this.  My aunt would leave a bowl of dry cereal (covered) out and a little cup of milk in the fridge.  She taught him how to make his own breakfast and turn on the TV and not to come in to wake her until the close said 6:30 by like 2 and a half or 3.  (Yes, she had to teach him what 6:30 looks like on a clock and he had no idea what it meant, but it worked...)

peekaboo716

My DS was like that. Every.single.morning. getting up at 5:15 or 5:30. It's so painful. And he would wake up earlier if he went to bed later

He stays in bed a little longer now (6:30 or so), but there was nothing we did to do it. We just kept shoving him into his room every morning. He has learned that he has to stay in his room with the door closed until then. He plays with his cars, reads books, or does his magnadoodle until then. Yes, I can hear him, but at least I am still cozy in my bed. And I wish I could say that it works all the time, but it doesn't.

So, no real advice from me, just sympathy and (((hugs))).

r9stedt

Ciarrai:

My cousin was/is like this.  My aunt would leave a bowl of dry cereal (covered) out and a little cup of milk in the fridge.  She taught him how to make his own breakfast and turn on the TV and not to come in to wake her until the close said 6:30 by like 2 and a half or 3.  (Yes, she had to teach him what 6:30 looks like on a clock and he had no idea what it meant, but it worked...)

We already do this. 

We don't have cable, and the only DVD/TV is in our bedroom (which hasn't even been turned on for WEEKS).  

 

He just feels the need to come in and pester us.

"i'm playing with cars."
"The cat attacked me.
"My pillow is blue."
"I can't find toby."
"Where are my wooden tracks?"
"NAKED IS MY FAVORITE THING!!"

eclaires

Jackson was getting up at like 6:30 for awhile (which, I know, still later than 5, but hello, no one in my house is allowed up before 8.  I can't function before 8), so we did a couple things.  We bought blackout liner and made curtains for his room, so his room is pitch black at all times.  We just have a cheapie alarm clock, so he is told that when until the first number is 8, he can only leave his room to go to the bathroom and he has to be quiet.  If he isn't, he loses privileges for the day (this varies based on what he is most into at the time - playing with his BFF down the street, his 30m of video games w/ Daddy after dinner, etc.).  And then we enforced the sh*t out of it, and have been super consistent.  This morning, after months of being good about being quiet, he was being super loud reading to himself.  So I went in there and he lost privileges.  He threw a fit, but a) he's old enough to be quiet in his room and b) he KNOWS the rules.

Admittedly, our rules were more born out of the fact that he was waking Scarlett up from being so loud and then she was a screaming mess due to lack of sleep.  So it was very easy for me to lay the smackdown.  

Anyway, once the rule was made and enforced, he started sleeping later.  Probably partially due to the complete darkness of his room and partially due to realizing that he was going to be bored if he didn't sleep longer (and end up in trouble).  Eventually, he started sleeping until around 8.  Sometimes he is up earlier, but he is quiet and doesn't wake me up.

kelly&paul

for some reason, the later my dd goes to bed, the earlier she wakes up. We have to be super strict about her bedtime. ds used to be like this but now he'll sleep till 9 if you let him!

katie277s

This may sound silly, but what would happen if you just told him its not time to wake up yet and that he has to stay in bed?  At 5AM, I imagine it is still dark.  I'd try telling him its still night time and he can't get out of bed until it's daylight.

Mominator

I have no advice, but I'm sorry! I will admit though, my kids sleep pretty well for me but are always up at the azz crack of dawn for exH, he's tried everything and can't get them to sleep later.

ak1234

Is it possible for him to go to bed earlier?  Even just a half hour might make the difference. 

My son is younger than yours, but if he goes to bed at 9, he starts stirring at 5...if he goes to bed at 8, he doesn't wake up until 6-7.  At this point, 7:30 seems to be his ideal bedtime - he will sleep until close to 7.

mamarazzi

We had problems with Law getting up at 6am and here are a few things we found:

-The less sleep he got, the earlier he got up.  It was a cycle.  It still works this way.  We tried to keep him from napping but that made it worse.  Now, if he jacks around at night and goes to sleep late, he gets up really early and then fights his nap.  But, if he sleeps consistently well, he sleeps better at night, later in the morning and takes a decent nap.

-We got one of the "Teach Me Time" clocks and he got rewards if he stayed in his bed until the light went on or privileges taken if he didn't.  The boys share a room, so it was really important that Law sleep better because he was waking his brother up and he REALLY needs his sleep.

-He's allowed to look at books in his bed quietly if he can't fall back to sleep.

He's now sleeping until 7:30 most mornings.  Sometimes closer to 8.  We're all much happier people.

Here are some things I might try if I were you:

-Gate his door.

-Figure out something he really likes and keep it from him if he doesn't stay in his bed and reward him if he does.  Does he still like to wear boots all the time?  Don't let him if he gets out of bed too early.  Whatever.  We gave Law stars on the fridge if he stayed in his bed and he earned surprises.

-Try giving him a nap if he isn't anymore.  Or try putting him down earlier.  It might take a few days to get him into a good routine and to see effects. More sleep often = more sleep even though it's counter-intuitive.

-If he really just won't sleep in, no matter what, maybe get a portable DVD player if he likes movies?  And only let him have it in his bed in the mornings.  That way you can get some better uninterrupted sleep.

((hugs))  I'd be positively losing my mind if my kid(s) was(were) getting me up at 5am. 

mikeandmonica

I agree on the gate on the door too - we have a walk through on on the boys' rooms - so they are both able to open it and get out/go to the bathroom, but it is kind of a deterrent for them coming in the first time they wake up/constantly run aroud the house and get excited, etc.  (P.S.  The main reason for the gate is that it makes noise so if they sleep walk we hear them and can make sure they are okay.  Sadly, they both sleep walk frequently).

r9stedt

I can't quote everyone here. blah, I sound like I am making excuses, but i am not.

We tell him 5 am--- it is not time to wake up.  He ends up laying on a pallet at the end of our bed until about 545 when it is light out (in our room).   Hard to convince him to go to bed when it is light out?

Gate-- we used to do this when we lived in my old house.  However, the doors are not plumb in this house, so the gate doesn't work.  Besides, he is FOUR he will push the damn thing over!

I just needed to vent this morning. 

mikeandmonica

Vent away - it totally sucks.  You have my sympathy.  (the gate I was talking about was a walk through one - where you step on a lever to open it -- then (hopefully) he wouldn't just push it over).  Maybe take away fun things that day if he doesn't stay in his room?  I don't know - totallysucks.  If you find something that works, let us know!

firefightersgal

Nora is the same way. I swear the child is allergic to sleep. Im cool with her soaking up screen time if it allows me to sleep, though. She gets her own breakfast and never gets into anything, so i am not concerned about her roaming the house. However, she does come in every 15 minutes to ask when i am getting out of bed. I can't fall asleep at night, but I go right back to sleep easily in the mornings. It is super frustrating to have a child who does not sleep, but ive given up the fight in the mornings.

grja

The gate is a joke in my house. My ds is also 4 and knows how to open every gate in our house (we mainly have them since dd is only 2). But yeah, a gate is not going to contain my 4 year old.

meganorr

Ciarrai:

My cousin was/is like this.  My aunt would leave a bowl of dry cereal (covered) out and a little cup of milk in the fridge.  She taught him how to make his own breakfast and turn on the TV and not to come in to wake her until the close said 6:30 by like 2 and a half or 3.  (Yes, she had to teach him what 6:30 looks like on a clock and he had no idea what it meant, but it worked...)

 

I remember my mom doing this with one of my brothers. He'd get up at 6am every day in the summer and on weekends year round. Could never get him out of bed for school, though.

meganorr

r9stedt:

Ciarrai:

My cousin was/is like this.  My aunt would leave a bowl of dry cereal (covered) out and a little cup of milk in the fridge.  She taught him how to make his own breakfast and turn on the TV and not to come in to wake her until the close said 6:30 by like 2 and a half or 3.  (Yes, she had to teach him what 6:30 looks like on a clock and he had no idea what it meant, but it worked...)

We already do this. 

We don't have cable, and the only DVD/TV is in our bedroom (which hasn't even been turned on for WEEKS).  

 

He just feels the need to come in and pester us.

"i'm playing with cars."
"The cat attacked me.
"My pillow is blue."
"I can't find toby."
"Where are my wooden tracks?"
"NAKED IS MY FAVORITE THING!!"

This is frickin' hilarious, by the way. You seriously need to write a book--"Thing My Son Says at the Crack of Dawn." I'd buy it.