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Changing Wake Up Times
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Has anyone successfully changed their children’s wake up times? My two girls are 5 & 2. They have both always been early risers. Sometimes they sleep until 6:30 and will stay happily in their rooms until 7:00, but lately they are waking at 5:30-5:45. They share a room this year and I cannot change that. I do not think there is much of one waking the other. They both generally wake about the same time anyway from what I have observed. I would love it if they would sleep until 6:30-7:00 so my husband and I can sleep in on the rare days that we don’t get up at 5:30 during the week. The 2 year old still takes a 2 hour nap and often ready for it by 12:30, asking to go to bed, because she is so tired. The 5 year old only takes a nap about once every two week and often looks like she is about to fall asleep in the evening sitting up. The old addage about you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him sleep also applies to children – you can put them in their beds, but you can’t make them sleep.
So anyone have any suggestions of how to get them to sleep longer at night? (They are in bed usually around 8.)
Thanks!
A friend of mine had, what I thought was, a good idea. She bought a digital clock with large numbers and covered the minutes side. Then she put the clock in her children’s room and told them they could not leave the room/wake up mommy/however you want to word it until the clock said “7.” With the minute numbers covered, they couldn’t get mixed up and think that 5:37 counts.
That is exactly what we did too! When our oldest son was 2 we pointed out every 7 we could find and taught him to distinguish it above any other number
then we did the same thing and told him that when the 7 was the first number he could get out of the bed – any thing before that he had to stay quietly in his room (because he shared it with the younger two – twins, that’s why there were 3 under 2 just if you were wondering). It was like a whole new world! Now that they are 4 and 2 and 2, they will wake up before 7 and the older one will give the younger two a toy for their beds and they are happy as can be and so am I (I am not a morning person so much) because I try to get up around 5:30 or 6:00 and I know I have at least an hour headway on them in the morning. Another thing that helps them not wake as early, especially when the time changes, is to buy the thick posterboard and tape it in the windows so that it is really dark. It doesn’t sound like you are doing anything with naps/schedules that would be hindering them from sleeping, it actually sounds just like ours. I agree with the horse to water analogy – so far the clock has worked best for us. Good luck!I use a cd player alarm clock set for 7:30 am and tell my 2 year old that she can get up (make noise, etc) when her songs play. No need to recognize numbers this way which is helpful for us since we start this as soon as they are out of the crib at about 18-22 months old. (Great way to start early music study, too. Right now, dd’s plays Ella Jenkins This a way, That a Way cd)
then we did the same thing and told him that when the 7 was the first number he could get out of the bed – any thing before that he had to stay quietly in his room (because he shared it with the younger two – twins, that’s why there were 3 under 2 just if you were wondering). It was like a whole new world! Now that they are 4 and 2 and 2, they will wake up before 7 and the older one will give the younger two a toy for their beds and they are happy as can be and so am I (I am not a morning person so much) because I try to get up around 5:30 or 6:00 and I know I have at least an hour headway on them in the morning. Another thing that helps them not wake as early, especially when the time changes, is to buy the thick posterboard and tape it in the windows so that it is really dark. It doesn’t sound like you are doing anything with naps/schedules that would be hindering them from sleeping, it actually sounds just like ours. I agree with the horse to water analogy – so far the clock has worked best for us. Good luck!
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