Stocking panic

[MaverickSnoopy]

DD age 5 is currently wide awake and has been since 2am. She says she's excited and is going to stay awake until morning. I wouldn't put it past her.

I'm twitchy that she won't sleep tomorrow night so that i can fill stocking on end of bed. We have very loud floorboards and a baby who wakes twice a night making considerable noise.

Last year we filled stockings at midnight but DD got up for the day at 330am! DH wants to do stocking filling at 4am+ but I think she'll be wide awake and we won't get in. To complicate matters, her stocking has a bell!

We're going to take her to the park tomorrow and have her playing in the garden to try and tire her out. However i need ideas as to what to say/do if she stays awake/spots me! When is the optimum stocking filling time?

Crickey she's just been in to tell us its 3am!

[Florene]

Father Christmas used to leave all our presents downstairs under the tree...

#helpful

[Mol1628]

Ours get them downstairs too. Much easier.

That way you can also bribe them back to bed if they wake too early 'no santa hasn't been yet, go back to bed'.

[SpaceDinosaur]

Stair gate across the top of the stairs/her room

Santa will not come unless she sleeps.

All presents/stockings downstairs.

As for getting up at 3.30? Absolutely not in any way!!! If she tries it then return to bed and repeat. No presents upstairs.

She's excited and that's gorgeous but that little sleep, she's going to be a bloody nightmare!

[MaverickSnoopy]

Tell me about it! She's still awake now! I've been in singing lullabies but in the end felt it was just making things worse so have left her to it. Explained she wouldn't have the energy for tomorrow and also explained several times that FC can't deliver presents unless children are asleep and so she needs to practice.

Considering the stockings downstairs idea. I feel sad at least prospect. One of my fondest memories is waking with the weight of presents on my feet! If my parents, and millions of others could do it, then surely I can! Perhaps not!!

330am was madness last year. We would have sent her back to sleep but she'd opened all of her presents and it felt mean. She's always been a very good sleeper; it's literally just the sheer excitement!

[Manumission]

Don't do that!

You just made think I'd skipped 24hours!

I just checked the calendar with my heart pounding.

[Heyheyheygoodbye]

No use for this year but my friend has two identical stockings for each child. One for them to hang and one for her to stuff in advance! Then just swap them over

[MoreThanUs]

Our stockings also were delivered downstairs - to just in front of the fireplace. We do the same with DC. They (4 and 6) are allowed to wake us at 7am so we can all go down together to open them.

Aleeo begets sleep -so I hope she doesn't stay awake for too long, or the day itself will be very very long!

[MoreThanUs]

*Sleep begets sleep

[thisagain]

Yes, ours also go down stairs. With our first child we started out putting it in her room and then bringing her in and opening it our bed, but with more children we then went for downstairs. We find it much easier.

[user1477282676]

Do you put all her gifts on her bed? you're making it too hard on yourselves.

Tell her that this year, Santa has released a message to all parents....stockings are to be hung in the sitting room and gifts will be left under the tree.

Of course she's going to open all her presents if they're in bed with her!

[addstudentdinners2]

Of course she's going to open all her presents if they're in bed with her!

All 4 of us always had stockings on our beds and never opened them before we were allowed to.

Just tell her if she doesn't go to sleep then Father Christmas can't bring her anything.

[icklekid]

Can you sneak stocking out (holding bell) then fill and return. I would do around midnight if your still up?

[Haudyerwheesht]

We do stockings downstairs too. My kids got up at 4 last year and ds (10) was up half the night last night over excited about his birthday too.

[1122christy]

We do stocking in bedrooms too and main presents downstairs. I would say to her that her stocking has to be left outside her bedroom door because Santa can't come in if she is still awake. And today do loads of things with her to tire her out and then bath and maybe hot milk to try and relax her before bed and hopefully she sleeps

[user1477282676]

AddStud yes but I think OP puts ALL the gifts on the bed....she says she would be sad if her DD didn't experience "the weight of gifts on her feet" when she wakes but then says by 3.30am she'd opened them all!

[MaverickSnoopy]

Just to be clear we put all stocking gifts on the bed. Presents from us are definitely under the tree. Sorry if that wasn't clear. We do need to get a new stocking because when we got it out this year it's been ruined so next year she will have two identical.

You have given me an idea. Maybe we will try the bedroom explaining again that FC won't visit if she's awake. I could tell her that if that happens then I'll remove her stocking and put it outside her door so he can still come. I will think about the downstairs option though.

DD hasn't been in since 330 so I'm hoping that she went back to sleep!

Manumission, sorry I didn't mean to panic you!

[MuggleWuggle]

After we were woken at 1.30am by both dds opening stockings a couple of years ago they now go downstairs with a not before 5am rule! It does help & if they do get up early they just get sent back to bed....

[pklme]

We put stockings out on the sofa, they get filled and reappear on the sofa.

[Silverdream]

If she's fallen asleep get her up at 9.00 at the latest and don't let her nap today. She'll be exhausted tonight. She'll also be so moody today. I remember those days ! I'd also put a bit of superglue in the bell to stop the ding !
You're going to be asleep on the turkey tomorrow. 🎄

[Scentofwater]

My stocking was always put just outside my door. As I was a big hiking sock of my mothers I suspect the identical pre-filled trick was also used. Then the caution that if you got up too early to look and it hadn't been done yet then it might not happen at all!

I think you've created a lot of stress for yourself by putting it on her bed, and a bell?! Haha!

Maybe in a year or so if she starts sleeping better you can go back to stocking on bed.

[MaverickSnoopy]

Weirdly having grown up with it I didn't think I was creating stress. It was just the norm. The bell, yes that was daft! It was supposed to be her "forever" stocking. Cost a fortune having it shipped from pottery barn but it was gorgeous and now needs replacing anyway. So I will be on the hunt for two bell-less stockings for next year.

Surely other people put stockings on the end of the bed. Not just us?

[Howmanysleepstilchristmas]

We do stockings on the end of the bed too. I use duplicates, but didn't know that trick til ds1 was 8- my mum chose then to tell me!

[HunterHearstHelmsley]

Can't she just amuse herself with the stocking until everyone I'd up?

[Notso]

We used to get everything in a pillowcase at the end of the bed. I saw my Dad when I was 5, wide awake and stupidly excited. Thirty one years later my parents still don't know! Christmas wasn't ruined for me even now I get too excited to sleep.

However I didn't do stockings for years and now we do I put them on door handles. I do think my children miss out on the feeling of stretching out their feet and feeling the weight of presents at the end of the bed though, it was thrilling.