Afternoon Ladies,
I have three children 6,4 and 1. It makes no difference at what time I put my two eldest to bed, without fail they are up at the latest 5am! Sometimes earlier! It's killing me! They are exhausted, I'm exhausted! They are very active and eat well, so there is no reason they should be up when it's still dark!!!!
I've tried clocks, white noise, rewards, asking them to stay in their rooms if they are awake....etc, I'm out of ideas!
Does anyone else have any ideas? It makes no difference if I put them to bed later, they go about 6.30pm and are fairly good at going to bed, usually asleep by 7pm, but we struggle to even get to 6pm some nights as their so tired and emotional etc
Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated 😊
5 Replies
Have you tried putting them to bed later for at least a week or two?
Their little bodies need time to adjust to a new routine.
I'd try a new night routine and stick with it for at least a fortnight.
E.g.,
5.45 pm - dinner
6.15 - go for a walk, scooter/bike ride around the block, play in the yard.
(If that's not possible, some form of indoor activity to wear off that last bit of energy).
6.45 - bath/shower. Then wind down on the couch.
7.30 - bed time.
I'd also make sure things are really boring when they get up at 5.
No screens, no entertainment, no snacks, 2 choices - stay in their own bed or come and quietly lay in mum's bed until it's time to get up. That will require some persistence on your part though.
Blackout curtains
Children who are 6 only really need 10hrs maximum. For a whole fortnight - bed later! 7.30-8pm. It will work wonders. Stick to it though
Their body clock is out of whack a bit. 6:00 asleep is too early for that age group, kids that age only need 8-10 hours sleep so they are getting the right amount of sleep. I know you said that it doesn't matter what time they go to sleep but you need to try and get their bedtime to be 8:00 at the earliest regularly. Then they will find their natural wake up time at about 6am. Start by delaying meals and not too much activity while you re establish bed time.
They are probably hard wired that way. Not much you can do. They will eventually sleep later.