Waking up Too Early!! - Albuquerque,NM

It sounds like this is something he will outgrow. What can you do to keep him up until 8:30 or can you seperate their rooms.

I know this may sound backwards, but have you tried putting him to bed earlier? Children who are overtired often wake up too early and it can become a vicious cycle. Try putting him to bed half an hour earlier. you'll be amazed. I have learned much from a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. It is awesome and it all works. I have 3 young children (5,3,8mos) and they have had all sorts of sleep issues. There hasn't been one that it couldn't solve. They all sleep really well for the most part. Also, it may help to give him some sleep/wake rules. Let him know it's bad manners to wake others when they are sleeping. We have a rule that they can't get up until the sun is up. It doesn't always work, but it keeps them in there longer. We have consequences for getting out of bed too. Sometimes it's no TV in the am or closing the door until it's time to wake (it's usually cracked). Both seem to be good deterrents. I rarely have to use them. If they know their numbers, you can get a digital clock and make the rule they must stay in bed quietly until the clock says 6:00 or whatever you choose. I hope some of this helps, I know sleep problems can make a person crazy! Best of luck!

A.

Strangely enough, keeping them up later doesn't make them sleep later. Pediatric sleep specialists would suggest actually putting them to bed earlier. So I would try to be bathed, read to by 6:30 and lights out by 7pm. It may take a while and it sounds backward but if you can get this schedule going, they're suppossed to start sleeping longer. A Kindergartner is suppossed to get at least 11 hours of sleep a night.

Take the lightbulb out of the overhead light and take the lamp out of their room at night. If they still continue to play in the dark, then there's not much you can do, however, it won't be as much fun. Good luck.

Try getting one of those lap top desks for kids- the ones that are padded on the bottom & hard surface on top, and keep some books or other activities close to him so that when he gets awake, he can keep himself occupied without having to wake up his little brother before it's time to get up. Tell him it's what the 'big' kids do, and that his little brother needs his sleep since he's not 'big' like he is.

If you can seperate them, even for a while. I had to as my three and a half year old son started waking my daughter every night. She knew sleeping in my bed was temporary and it worked as my son missed her being in there. Now they are both in the same room again and out of my bed.
Our rule was if you get up before the sun, you stay in bed if you have to pee be quiet, then go back to bed, even lay there and be very quiet. He got rewarded for doing it, however 80% of the time fell back to sleep. Try black out curtains in the room too. It may take some time to rest his clock just keep trying. My youngest is in bed at 7:00 then I stagger and let me older child who is 6 stay up until 7:45. Changing bedtimes isn't wise, just keep on trying to get him to realize he has to stay in bed in the mornings. Be firm about NOT TO turn on the light, NOT TO PLAY, if he cannot sleep he just needs to "rest" in his bed until the sun comes up, period. Try a reward chart for every morning he does this for two weeks, then it will be a habit for him again to stay in bed, good luck.

We put up light blocking shades in our kids' room. Also, to block out noise, we play a white noise sound machine by Homedics...you can get them at Walmart, Target, Walgreens.

We pull their overhead fan/light to an off position so they can't flick the switch on. If yours isn't that kind - I would just remove the lightbulb completely.

If they can't respect the 'no playing' rule, than I would tell them you'll put all their toys in time out until they can respect your wishes....and they can earn them back by staying in bed until your light/lamp turns on.

Good luck!!

A.~I have the same dilemma with my two youngest daughters. They are 5 months apart and are adopted as well!! Anyway, they are early risers and my kindergartener looks like she is going to fall asleep by the time dinner is ready. My younger one takes long naps and will sleep sometimes up to 3 hours so I don't worry about her waking up early. I like your idea of a timer on the light but maybe a stash of books and special 'quiet toys' that are only for that time may help? Books seem to work for us, for the moment anyway!!

Best of luck, H.

When my daughter was a toddler, we did behavior charts. For all the good behaviors she did, she got to put a happy face sticker on the chart. when she collected a certain number of happy faces, or even after a period of time, a week - (You have to figure out whats age appropriate) - she got some sort of treat. It doesn't always have to be a toy, but maybe a trip to the boys favorite park, a small book, or a promise to play a game they really like, etc. (you can get very creative with this) So if you want one of the behaviors to be that they stay in bed until the light comes on, then put that on the chart. It's still dark at 4:30/5 so it might just be a matter of re-training him, and as he sleeps in a little bit more, you could adjust his bedtime on the other end to try and balance so he gets his 10-12 required hours for his age (and his brother too!)

what is the difference in time of waking? are we talking an hour? two? 30 minutes? are you awake at that time? if you're awake (or an adult) obviously the solution is for him to leave the room quietly for him to continue to rest. if it's a matter of 20-30 minutes why not keep a bowl with something healthy on the nighttable that he may wake up and have quietly? perhaps entertain himself lying in bed with a book and a flashlight? (he might think that's cool) but i think it's hard for a child that age to be expected to lie there for a long time doing nothing. he's probably hungry and needs to use the restroom, bored...but enough sleep is super important for healthy and happy minds, so perhaps your son who goes to school should go to bed earlier than the early bird. :)

Hi Allsion,

Kids have a different clock and you'll appreciate it as they get older. Getting up early regularly is a positive step to developing organizattion in starting the day as opposed to kids who refuse to get out of bed which can lead to laziness.

Going to bed by 7-7:30 pm is fine!

I think all you need to do is develop their behavior to be quiet in the early morning and not necesarritly lying in bed. If they can learn to get up and be quiet, that is a score for they will learn another positive behavior. After all, what's the difference if they are lying in bed or out bed and have learned to be quiet? Isn't it the "quiet" that is the issue?

Be well,
ET

I would suggest reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" It has been helpful for my son (who is now 3) every step of the way... everytime he changes his routine I read up and have a plan! Good luck.

I totally agree that putting them to bed earlier works wonders. My almost 4 year old goes to bed by 6-6:30 because he doesn't nap and he sleeps in until about 6am....I'm also an early riser. If he goes to bed around 7-7:30, then he gets up at 5am...too early for me. Try putting him to bed about 15 minutes earlier each night and see what happens.