Every morning I'm fighting with my daughter on getting up and getting ready for school. This is a constant struggle which leaves us running LATE every single day. I get our clothes ready at night, lunch at night and breakfast in the morning. It takes me more than 30 minutes each morning trying to get her out of bed. Do you have this problem with your kids? if so, what do you do?
Thank you all for your comments. I'm a really busy mom, I work a 9 to 5 and own my own business so, I leave one job to go to the next. I put her to bed at about 10p and wake her at 6:30ish..I of course get up at 6am and get myself together just to let her get a little more rest. She takes a daily nap at school as well. Even when she goes to bed earlier it's a struggle... so, I'm gonna try some of the suggestions you all made and let you all know how it works! thanks so much, mamas... You ladies rock!!
What time are you putting her to bed at night? My 4 year old goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up on his own between 6-6:30am every day. He also takes an afternoon nap for an hour and a half every day. Sounds like your daughter is tired and needs more sleep! I'd try for a nap in the afternoon and/or a much earlier bedtime.
Are you sure her bedtime is early enough? If it is try this: Your daughter may be too young but we did this with our son, now ten. For every minute he stayed in bed after we woke him up, he had to go to bed that many minutes earlier that night (even weekends). We now have no trouble getting him up at all because he doesn't want to go to bed any earlier than his regular bedtime. Good luck.
I used to have a daycare parent who had this problem. One of the things she did to help the morning rush was to put her daughter in a clean sweatsuit before bed. then the next morning she brought her straight from home already dressed in the sweatsuit. Not something that would work with an older child but it worked. she then had a snack on the way to my house. the little one didn't like missing good breakfast and dressing in something different inthe morning. didn't take long to get her schedule straightened out.
I tried the dcking time when mine refused to get out of bed. There could be an issue of not enough sleep--maybe go to bed 15 minutes ealier might help. My kids still do this sometimes. I started waking them up and making them get out of bed right then. It is a tiny bit harder on me because I cannot yell at them to get up while I am getting myself ready for work but it usually works. They are not allowed to sit on the couch until they are all ready to go because then they will go back to sleep.
I have resorted to having a spray bottle of water ready--and I have used it. Sometimes a light spritz gets them moving though I didn't start that until they were 7 or so.
One option is to start 'docking time' in the evening. Tell her she needs to get up at X:XX time in the morning OR tell her she has to be out of bed, dressed, potty, teeth brushed, hair brushed within 20 minutes (or whatever you find acceptable). Set the timer. If she runs over on time, then let her know that she will need to go to bed that much earlier at night. If you want her to be downstairs and ready within 20 minutes and she takes 30, 45 - then she goes to bed 10, 15 minutes earlier.
Just read your what happened - 10:00 seems awfully late for a 4 1/2 year old. Try slowly backing up the bedtime about 15 minutes each night until you reach a more reasonable hour (sometime in the 8:00 neighborhood). She isn't getting out of bed because she is probably sooooooooo tired and needs more sleep!
We have had this problem forever with our youngest. Bed earlier helps. Actually, 10-6:30 seems way too little sleep. 15 or 20 minutes more isn't gonna help--she probably needs a good couple hours more. See what she sleeps on the weekend when there's no time pressure and get her the same during the week. We open our daughter's blinds a half hour before she is to get up, and go in about every 10-=15 minutes with a reminder that she needs to wake up. Honestly, a half hour to get out of bed is a hassle but if she needs it she needs it. It generally takes our daughter 30 plus minutes to get up. Try opening blinds, maybe some music, a glass of juice ready by her bedside to drink....we even resort to the occasional "if you get up and out we can stop for a donut on the way". When all else fails my husband just goes in, forcibly dresses her, picks her butt up and puts her in the car. Thank heavens he takes her to school most days!!! Good luck!!
