3.5 Year Old Early Riser - Seeking 'Something' to Help Her Sleep In!

Updated on November 12, 2009
R.R. asks from Minneapolis, MN
7 answers

My 3.5 daughter is an early riser. Usually she's up before 6, and since the time change, it's closer to 5 am! In the past, we've allowed her to come downstairs (she shares the upstairs with her 1 year old brother) and will color or do puzzles until we wake up. However, lately she's wanting the social interaction- trying to wake up my husband and myself to talk, play, etc. We've tried keeping her upstairs, only to have her wake her younger brother up! I, too, tend to have problems sleeping in- it seems my body is 'wired' to wake up at the same time each morning (5.10!) unless I take a sleep-aid, where I can fall back asleep until a more reasonable hour. Do any of you have any suggestions on what we can do to help our daugther sleep in? She goes to bed arond 8 (although lately she's been so tired we've moved it up to 7.30- and having her stay up later does not work- she still awakes at the same time!) She attends preschool full-days and naps most afternoons for an hour or so. Any herbal supplments? Home remedies? I think if she could just get her body clock adjusted to a later wake-up time we'd all be in a better place! Thanks in advance for your replies!

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T.N.

answers from Minneapolis on

R.,
We had this same problem. Seriously - very early risers. We bought our children digital alarm clocks and took a sticky note and covered up the minutes so that only the hour was showing. We told our kids that they had to stay in their beds - quietly - until the number was a '7'. The first several days, they would ignore the new rule and we'd have to bring them back to bed, show them the '6' and tell them to wait until it said '7'. Be firm and leave the lights off. After they finally got it, they would still wake up early, we could hear them rustling around, but they would stay in bed until '7'. Showing up in our bedrooms at promptly 7:01am. After a few weeks, they - for the most part - actually started staying asleep until 7:00. They still wake up promptly at 7:00, even though they are now 6 & 8 years old. It's just how their little internal alarms have been set. But, it worked and WHAT A RELIEF. Mommy was tired! Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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M.K.

answers from Sheboygan on

My SIL has an early riser. They bought her a princess alarm clock. She is not supposed to come out of her room until it goes off. They set it to a "reasonable" time for them and showed her how to turn it off. Since your little one is sharing a room, look for an alarm clock that talks or tells stories where you can adjust the volume. Then try a sticker chart--after so many days of staying in her room until the clock goes off, she gets a prize. Then continue but make it longer stretches (start with 5, then 8, etc) Worth a try!

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M.D.

answers from Minneapolis on

Put a digital alarm clock in her room. Tell her when it says the desired time- 6:30, for instance- she may come upstairs. Tape up the number 6:30 next to it so that she knows when 6:30 arrives. When it hits 6:30, she will pop upstairs. She may or may not go back to sleep, but that will help you get some sleep!

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L.L.

answers from Omaha on

Shorter naps!!!!!!!!! I wouldn't let her sleep more than 20 minutes and make sure the nap is before taken no later than 130 pm.
Banana before bed time?
Black out drapes.
Clock.

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K.R.

answers from Minneapolis on

When our older son was 2 he already knew his numbers. When he started waking up at 6 or earlier, my husband took him on a special shopping trip to get his very own clock. They bought a digital clock, and set it up in his room next to his bed. (We covered up the minute numbers with paper and tape.)

We told him, "In the morning when you wake up, you can get up when the clock says 7." From then on, he stayed in bed until the clock said 7. It worked so well we did it with our younger son, and we even traveled with a digital clock, so that we could sleep until seven while on vacation.

Can you do that with your daughter, and put a pile of books next to her bed that she can read?

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K.H.

answers from Minneapolis on

sleepy time tea worked great for my kids..its natural..and it works..everynite at bed time we had a tea party...they never caught on until they were 7-8 yrs old....

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L.G.

answers from Minneapolis on

Had this "issue" with both my kids - we eliminated the naps and now they sleep in to a more reasonable hour - but they still get the same # of hours of sleep - just all at night!

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