Mornings are a battle...advice? (xp)

zach'swife

My soon-to-be 4 yo has started waking up way earlier than he used to. His bedtime has not changed and he stays up much later than we'd like even after he's in bed. We've tried skipping naps a few times and though he goes to bed better, he still is up so early.

But the real issue here is how mornings are starting off on the wrong foot now every day. It's bumming me out to be losing patience with him first thing in the morning...it's not a good start to our day.

I've told him if he can play quietly in his room after going potty (which almost ALWAYS wakes up little sister -- a whole other problem!!) then he can turn on his light and play with the few toys in there. QUIETLY. About half the time, it's okay, but sometimes he just cries and whines (sometimes yells) that he doesn't want to. I try giving other options (books in bed, etc.) but he just wants to get up now.

So...I guess I'm wondering if I'm expecting too much from a kid this age to stay in his room and play independently for 30-45 mins in the morning? Do you have early risers, and what's your routine? 

mrsseguin

When DS wakes up early (before 7am) I try get him to go back to bed.  If he won't, then I just get up.  There's no way I'd ever be able to get him to play quietly in his room.  We usually go out to the living room and he'll watch some tv.  DS can be loud as well and wake up his sister, but we have fans in each of their rooms for white noise, usually it's not a problem.  Also feeding him breakfast right away keeps him quiet too.  What time is your son waking up?

AgrippaRidesAgain

I get up when he gets up. He is up by 6 am most days, sometimes slightly earlier. We get dressed, have breakfast, brush teeth, then watch cartoons if his sister isn't up yet. When he wakes in the morning he is ready to go. I wouldn't ever make him stay in his room longer. He would just be noisy and complain like crazy.

ETA: We cut out naps at 2.5 when he started staying up really late instead of falling asleep easily. It took probably a week for his sleep to adjust to the new schedule.

rsd12

We get up with our kids when they wake too, well unless it is crazy early. In that case I might cuddle in our bed and put on a cartoon. But I would not expect them to play quietly in their room at this age. Most of the time they will go downstairs and play cars quietly in the playroom. What time is he waking? For us, anything after 6am is morning time.

jlw2505

We do a few things - the first is I bought both of my kids the teach me time clocks starting at around age 3.  You set the alarm (no sound) to turn the clock green when its OK for them to wake up.  As they get older, it can work like a normal alarm.  My kids now that if the clock is not green, it is not time to be awake.  They can go potty but then need to get back into bed and try to sleep or read quietly.  As my kids can now tell numbers and we are working on telling time, they also know what numbers to look for which helps as I can say if you don't see a 7 as the first number, you need to roll over and go back to bed.

Also, he might be overtired.  I find my kids are overtired, everything is messed up sleep related.  My 4 1/2 year old naps about 1/2 the time at most - mostly on weekends and rarely when she was at daycare (we shall see what happens in PreK which starts next week).  We limit her naps to 1 hour max or she won't fall asleep.  I aim for 10-12 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period for her.  It is very rare that she wakes up on her own during the week when we get up for school at 6:15 and on weekends, she will wake up anytime between 7 and 8 (every so often 8:30) and we adjust weekend naps based on how she is doing but we still try to have a quiet time at least 1 weekend day.  She has quiet time at school every day and that helps a ton even if she doesn't sleep.

I found with both my kids that the period of giving up naps effect sleep as a whole for a while until their little bodies adjust to just sleeping at night.

Jen748

We have a toddler alarm clock. It is set for 6:40 - the light changes from yellow to green. She knows that if she gets up before "tick tock" is green, she needs to stay in her room. She can get out of bed for a book or talk with her stuffed animals, whatever...but it's not get up time until 6:40.

ldcoffel

My DD will be four in December and can absolutely play alone for 30-45 mins. In the mornings, that is about as long as she can go, but couldn't just wake up and sty in her room. She would come get me, and then I would give her an idea of something to do for awhile. "go play with your ponies." or I've turned on the tv r a few more minutes. 

My baby was an awful sleeper, so I have tried everything for a few more minutes of sleep! 

zach'swife

Thanks all. Sounds like I need to consider dropping his nap. Breaks my heart!

I actually am usually already up by the time he wakes up, but have tried to teach my kids to have a little quiet wake-up time on their own since they were old enough to understand. I found it helped get them ready for the day and wake up a bit more gradually. It has worked great until just recently.

I guess I've been a bit spoiled by two kids who slept in til at least 8 regularly. He does get something to eat and drink right after he goes potty, so I don't think that's the issue. Guess we'll try no nap for awhile and see what happens...

Thanks again for the advice.