DD5 not getting enough sleep

[Treeskater]

She's always been an early riser. Before she started school she never slept beyond 6 which we found hard but do-able,. especially as she was having a nap then. Everyone told me that once she started school she'd be so tired we'd be waking her up for school. Ha! She's half way through Year 1 (as a August baby she's the youngest in her year) and has woken between 5.30 and 6 since starting school. Even worse, she has to come to us to tell us she's awake!

From 5pm until bed at 7 (if we're lucky, she will argue that the moon is square if it will get her another 10 minutes of being 'up'. She's often not asleep until 7.30, half an hour after lights out), she is bad tempered, argumentative and generally a complete pita. She's just so tired! How can we get her to sleep more? If it wasn't for the nightly meltdown I'd assume she was getting enough sleep but she could clearly do with another hour at least. Putting her to bed later doesn't help, in fact she often wakes up even earlier! She says she 'hates sleep', 'hates her bed' and that 'sleep is boring'. DH and I work ft so this is all quite exhausting for everyone, especially ds(3) as she regularly wakes him up too.

[FATEdestiny]

Can she count up to 60?

If she can - start using a digital clock and give her an achievable get up time. Reward if she manages it every day for a week.

If she's currently waking at 5.30am-6.00 then I would suggest 5.59am as an initial aim. 59 is better than an o-clock time because a child can count up to 59. Whereas the concept of their being 60 minutes in an hour a harder concept and a child may have no idea how long until 6.00.

This gets her used to the idea of having a target wake-up time. So on the days she does wake up at 5.30, she gets used having to stay in bed until get up time.

Once this is established either (a) change the time on her clock so her 5.59 is actually 6.15/6.30 etc. Or (b) move her get up time slowly forward, say 6.00, 6.15, 6.30 etc.

[Treeskater]

Thank you FATE, brilliant idea! I have put her to bed with a note on her clock that says '5.59 is my wake up time' and we've counted to 60 loads. She'll get 15 minutes ipad time if she can stay in bed until then. Fingers crossed it works!

[Changedup]

How did it go tree?

[Treeskater]

Day 1 she slept till 6.05 and was delighted with herself and in a great mood all day. This she was shrieking for a drink (we stopped drinks by her bed in case needing the toilet was why she was waking so early) at 5.30 and got me out of bed. No reward today :( It's driving me nuts!

[BatteryOperatedBoyfriend]

Could you try a gro clock, she stays in her bed until the sun on the clock rises.

[Treeskater]

She has a gro clock but will use every excuse to get up earlier (bad dream, drink, wee, bored...) and then argue/shout if made to stay in bed. FATE's countdown idea appealed as she could see how long she had left, not just arbitrary 'grown up' minutes. I just long for her to wake at 6.30! 5.30 is just far too early for everyone, including her!

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

To be honest, 10 hours might be all the sleep she needs, not all kids need 12 hours.

DD1 is 9 now, and had never slept more than 9 or 10 hours a night, was 8 hours at 4-6 years! It's never negatively impacted her, she just doesn't need it.

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

I used a grow clock with her though so she wasn't up and about before 7 - she just read or played quiely until the clock turned yellow

[Treeskater]

I tried telling myself that, but she always SO overtired an hour before bed that I'm sure she needs more. I'd love to try a later bedtime but I'm not sure any of us can handle another 30 mins to a hour of strops!

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

Ahhhh ok, I have no experience of overtired sorry! Maybe try to eek out bedtime by half an hour,see if it makes any difference?

[FATEdestiny]

was shrieking for a drink... at 5.30

Do you think this was her just messing around and finding an excuse to wake you? Or is she genuinely so thirsty she cant wait 30 minutes?

A child who is well hydrated should not be waking up thirsty. I would look at her fluid intake through the daytime if she is genuinely waking thirsty. Giving her a drink at 5.30 is not the answer, likewise denying her a drink if she needs one also isn't the answer. Try making sure she has lots to drink throughout the whole daytime (including at school).

If it's just an excuse, frankly I'd just ignore and refuse to engage.