Help!! My 7 Yr Old Is Waking up Way to Early

5-6 am happens to be the time the sun is coming up now. Maybe he's waking up then because that's when it's getting light in his room. Try darkening the windows (taping up garbage bags doesn't look good, but works well for this.)

Moving to a later bedtime in an attempt to get him to sleep later doesn't work for a lot of kids. Sometimes they're just "programmed" to get up at a certain time. Moving the bedtime later might just make for an overtired kid.

Good luck!

My kids have always woke up that early also. That stinks, I agree.

Some kids are just morning types. My son was. Always went to bed by 9:00 and up around 6:30. I wouldn't try to force him to be different. My daughter was complete opposite - would sleep till noon if you let her. Problem is as they get older, my son who is now a Senior in HS has never given me a hard time about getting up for school. He always got up on his own and off to school without ever an issue. My daughter now 12; totally different story. To this day we fight every morning during the school year to get her out of bed. She sleeps through alarm clocks and it is a battle to make it out the door on time. Count your blessings with your son. He isn't waking you up in the morning - he is letting you sleep. He isn't getting into trouble. That is just his nature. He is obviously waking up on his own naturally so his body is telling him he is getting enough sleep. I don't think you should try to force his body to do something it doesn't want to do if he isn't really hurting anything. Pick your battles - if this is the worst thing you are facing with him - you are extremely lucky to have such a terrific kid.

I think 9 hours of sleep for a 7 year old is good.

My children go through a transition time with daylight savings time and they are 12 and almost 15. So it is normal.

If he is being good until someone gets up and just occupies himself with watching T.V., I wouldnt be concerned. This may be his way of being independent and just wanting some "chill" time. My kids, unless we have something planned, usually want to just relax when they first wake up.

Sounds like he is on his own "clock". When you do you have those late nights, yes it would be good for him to sleep longer. He is old enough to understand and I recommend talking to him and letting him know that he needs his sleep as that is his growing time.

You sound like a great mom!

If he not tired anymore, don't force the issue. My two older children are 12 hour sleepers, always have been since they were infants. My two year old has never, even as an infant, slept more than 4-6 hours a night. He just doesn't require sleep like most people do. He isn't cranky or tired, but just the opposite. He sometimes takes an hour long nap. If your son is forced to stay in bed, he may start resenting his bed/room. I would just make rules for him if he is up before the rest of the house.Good Luck!

Black out the windows with darkening shades or trash bags. Also, he may be waking up early to watch his shows. My son also 7, does that sometimes, though not quite so early. I would get him a clock in his room and tell him he has to stay in his room in the morning til 7am or whatever time you choose, no tv, just maybe look at books if he wakes up. Maybe eventually his pattern will shift. I don't think that the bedtime is a problem for summer. I would say he needs 10 hrs of sleep on most nights. Maybe even try putting him to bed earlier when he starts to seem cranky. With the mild ADHD he might even be more tired and need more sleep.

Crankiness is to be expected. You cannot make a child sleep but you can make him have quiet time in the middle of the day; perhaps after lunch. He must sit in a chair or in bed and read or relax; no TV. It might lengthen his bedtime, but again you can make him go to bed at 9pm and permit him to read; again no TV once in bed.

Hi Sarah

I think you should put him in bed earlier at night probably around 8:30 even earlier. If he falls asleep so fast it does mean he needs to be in bed earlier. It sounds counterintuitive but he actually may wake up later too !

My 7 year old goes to bed around 8-8:30 (8:00 during school year but we tried not to change the schedule during summer) until 7am usually and when she goes to bed later she does wake up early !

About the tv issue, even he he wakes up early I think he should not be able to watch tv by himself unless 1/you know exactly what he's watching and it's appropriate and 2/ he does not watch tv at all later during the day. Let him pick some books in the evening so he can read if he wakes up early ! Go to the library if he wants to choose newer ones.

Have you tried blacking out his windows? Maybe because it is summer and light so early, he is waking due to that? Also, you could try a white noise machine to block out early morning sounds that might wake him- cars leaving for work, birds etc...Just a thought! GL!

We had the same problem with our 6-year-old. As soon as school was out, boom, she was up at 5/6am. We never had that problem before and I couldn't understand why it was suddently such an issue. Her room is generally a dark room but my husband claimed that at that time of the morning, it became really bright. We experimented by hanging up a blanket over the window and immediately she was sleeping in until 8/9 instead. The blanket is still hanging up there until we can get some curtains hung and it is 8:30am and she's still sleeping. No more crankiness for her.

5-6 is a bit early. If he's tired around 6 or 7, I'd put him to bed then. Sleep begets sleep so the more tired they are the harder time they have staying settled enough to sleep longer. Darkening the room would be good too.

My daughter, who is now 10, has always been an early riser. This summer seems to be the first time she will sleep in past 7 am, even when staying up to 10 or 10:30 am. We invested in a room darkening shade and a small fan for "white noise" so little noises don't wake her up. These seemed to help her over the past few years to not wake up at 5 or 6 am when I was husband gets up for work.

It's hard to make someone sleep longer, but you can put him in bed sooner. Try an 8pm bedtime. And as long as he is staying out of trouble and quiet, I wouldn't worry about it.

My son has always woke up with the sun too. GRRR. Have you tried putting something dark over the windows? It worked for us for a while. That and setting the rule that he couldn't come out of his room until a set time. (Helped him to tell time too!)

Hang in there!

PS: everyone has different sleep needs, but experts will probably say 10-12 hours is ok for his age.

S.