5 Year Old Waking up SUPER EARLY!

how dark is the room? we had the same issue with my son until I covered his windows with a blanket plus mini blinds. L.

J., this might sound silly, but try putting her to bed a half hour or so earlier. My five year old actually sleeps longer when we do this (doesnt really make sense, I know)... also, a digital clock in there might help if you tell her she cant come get you until she sees the SEVEN in the front and have some books out for her to look at - good luck! J. ps - the time change might help!

I would have quiet activity's put in a special box or container in her room and tell her that those activities are for her to do quietly in the morning and during the afternoon during rest time on her bed. You could even ask her to help pick out things to put in the "Quiet time" box. Some ideas are puzzles, books etc.

if they don't share a room, our daughter woke up that early since she was 3 years old... i'm not a morning person at all. we made sure her room was kiddie happy, and had some toys in there. we also put a (she picked it out)digital clock and set the alarm and told her when it beeped she could come out of her room, but had to stay in there until it beeped, it works still today and she's 6. good luck

I have two children who share a room, a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old. Our youngest has been waking at 5:15!! When she sleeps until 6:30 we refer to it as "sleeping in" :)

She has always been an early riser. Our pedi says that some kids just are and that if she is sleeping through the night that there is not much we can do. We tried many things to manipulate her sleep patterns. We tried keeping her up later at night, which only resulted in her waking at 5:15 still tired and cranky. We have also suspected that she wakes so early so she can get some alone time with a parent before her big bro wakes up and shares the attention. Could this be the case with your daughter?

Regardless, we have found that if we leave her in her room, she will lay there and sing and play with her dolls fairly quitely. She will also look at books. This play does not seem to wake her brother, who sleeps to a much more reasonable 6:30/7!

It will also be interestesting to see what will happen this weekend when the clocks change. In our house we are hoping that it may retrain our youngest to at least sleep until 6!

We had a special toy basket that i took out only at night after my oldest fell asleep and if she got up before us she could play with those toys until we got up. It sometimes bought us another 20-30 mins. She had her own room though. Maybe you could try a special journal with princess colored pencils she could draw in or something that you make out to be very special, only to be used at that time of day.
good luck

Hi J. ...
My youngest son, who is now 9 y.o., is an early riser, too. If his history is anything to go by, your daughter's won't change much ... she'll historically be an early riser. The only times James sleeps late is if he's up late ... that may be your answer. Though it may not be something you want to face, if your daughter has no reason to be up at 6am (e.g., to get ready for school) and you want her to sleep later, you may have to let her stay up later. As I said, those are the days my early riser sleeps later :)
We always just allow James to get up early ... he's the youngest, but he's very good at being quiet when he gets up. That may be another solution ... trying to teach your daughter what to do when she wakes (e.g., practice turning the bedroom door handle quietly, not talking when she wakes up until she's out of her room, etc).
Another rule we have for James is that he's not allowed to get up out of his bed until the alarm clock has a "6" on it (sometimes he's up BEFORE 6!!) ... I know that's not what you want, but maybe your rule could be a 7. Of course, then the trick is teaching her she has to be quietly laying in bed until that magic 7 happens. I'm not sure that'll work for a 5 y.o, but you could certainly give it a try.
I'm not sure these solutions will help, but like I said, I don't think the amount of hours her body needs for sleep are going to change, so you'll have to make other adjustments.
GOOD LUCK!!
:)
B.

My boys are 4 1/2 & 6 and we have recently found the same problem. Same thing happend last spring as well....strange. But at any rate, we put a digital clock in each of their rooms and told them that it was okay if they woke up early but they couldn't get out of bed until the clock's first number was 7! So, if your son has some special books or stuffed animals that he likes, maybe put those beside the bed and he can play quietly until the hour you would like for him to get up. Hope this helps!

S.

That is a very normal time for children to wake up. We are up at 6:30 anyway.....
I would tell her that she could go to the living room, quietly and have a snack. Set it out the night before for her to eat(banana, muffin..etc). Have a pile of books for her to look through or children's magazines or have the sock pile there for her to sort. At 5 yrs old, she should be able to do a few chores as well. Quiet ones, of course.

Some people are morning risers and that is okay. You just have to teach her what she can and cannot do when she gets up. Do not discourage this habit. It is actually a good one that will help her to get up for school, work and get a lot accomplished in the morning.

Regarding her in the afternoon, it was a rule in our home to lay down and rest for one hour from 2 to 3 approx. That way the children stop the stimulation of the day and recoup a bit for the rest of the day. Do not wait until she is so fussy that it becomes a battle. While the baby naps, it may be a good time for her to as well. Even on the couch, if you do not want her in the same room as the baby.

Try giving her a later bed time even if it is only 30 min. My son does the same thing and this worked for us for a while.

I feel like you are talking about my son! I wish I could wake up and be surprised to see that it was 7:00, not 6:00. Sometimes I will lay with him in hs bed, or have him come in with me for an extra 1/2 hour or until his brother and sister wake up, whichever comes first.
Good Luck!

I agree with Kathy. Some kids just get up early, and 6:30 is really not early. Some 5 year olds are up at 5 AM, so consider yourself lucky!

I give my kids "quiet time" every day after lunch. I don't care what they are doing, but they have to stay on their bed and not disturb others. I line this up with the baby's nap, so I can get some rest time for myself, too.

My kids share a room, too. I make my oldest one have quiet time in my room. She lays on my bed with her books and her Leapster and her color wonder markers (or whatever she wants on that day). It has really, really been helpful to me.

Good luck!

I don't think that is so unusual. My 5 year old also goes down at 8 and wakes up around 6:30. I'd be curious to hear the advice you've been given I always just though that is normal and probably won't change. I am very tired all of the time and sometimes I tell her to stay in the bed with me for an extra half hour or I'll put the TV on and come back upstairs and rest if I am very tired. I think is't normal 8 - 6:30.

I wasn't going to say it, but...

My husband and I wake up at 4 for my husband's job (he's a truck driver). My 3-year-old usually gets up at around 5:30; my 5-year-old is our late sleeper: 6:30!

Just have some things that she can do on her own handy so that she can keep herself occupied.