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Original poster

What age were your kids when they got up alone in the morning?

67 replies

hidinginthenightgarden · 26/10/2018 06:56

DS just turned 6. I could have had an extra half hour in bed if I didn't need to get up with him. I am wondering how long until I get such luxuries? (DD is only 3 so will still have to get up with her but she only just woke).

OP posts:
DamnCommandments · 26/10/2018 06:59

Mine are three years apart and didn't start getting up alone until the eldest could make toast - aged 8. So, my five year old was getting up without me, but had an older sister for company and to wait on her!

Hideandgo · 26/10/2018 07:00

My 5, 3 and 2 yr old get up themselves and play. They’ve amazed me with their ability to work together to get the TV on, to play, get cereal and they’ve even sometimes all gotten dressed! I can hear them playing and pottering around the house and they are good at self policing (2 will come running if 1 is doing something they shouldn’t like helping themselves to biccies for breakfast). Honestly I think people seriously under estimate kids.

AjasLipstick · 26/10/2018 07:01

My youngest is 10 and I'm still waiting. Hmm Our house is a tad spooky...she's ok when she's with me or someone else or knows I am in the next room but she won't get up alone at all.

She does sleep in later nowadays though. When we moved here, she was 7 and she's always been a bit suspicious of the place. It's old...for Australia anyway. And there have been a few odd incidents which I know are due to the place being creaky and so on but tell that to an imaginative child.

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AjasLipstick · 26/10/2018 07:03

Hide no way! You allow a 5 year old to get up with toddler and 3 year old?? Don't you think that's a bit off? I do. If you're not there when one of the smaller ones decides to open a window or pulls heavy furniture, then how is a 5 year old meant to help?

LadyMary1918 · 26/10/2018 07:04

I found my two at aged 3 and 4 behind the sofa at 6.30 am on a Sunday morning with two spoons and an empty ice cream container - they would have got away with it if not for the giggling ... so to answer your question, older than 4 Halloween Grin

Realistically mine were 9 ish

Hideandgo · 26/10/2018 07:07

Meh, I can hear them perfectly. They are very good. I could just as easily be in the kitchen and have the same distance from them as they potter about in the sitting room and up and down stairs. The worst they’ve done is get the sugar pot and eat some with their hands. The windows are not openable, barely even by an adult. What are they going to do with the sofa or kitchen table? I love listening to them discussing what program to watch (they negotiate and compromise) and the 3 yr old telling off the 4 yr old for pouring out too much cereal. They’re great! And I’m happy with their safety.

superking · 26/10/2018 07:09

I let my eldest come down by himself at 3.5. He was very sensible and compliant, and used to just come downstairs and put the TV on until we got up.

Youngest DS is now 2.5, he is a different kettle of fish and much more likely to cause mischief, I can't see myself letting him downstairs by himself for a good couple of years yet.

CarlGrimesMissingEye · 26/10/2018 07:10

I'd let my almost 7 year old now but she doesn't want to!

Original poster
hidinginthenightgarden · 26/10/2018 07:12

I trust that DS would just sit and stare at the TV for ages so I may give it a go this weekend. I tried a while back, brought him down, got him settled and went back to bed but he said he was lonely within 10 minutes.

OP posts:
Hideandgo · 26/10/2018 07:13

Yeah Superking, I think personality might dictate things. My 2.5 yr old is a handful for being demanding but not for doing dangerous things. I think because of them being so close together in age they’ve had high expectations placed on them to get on with things and be independent. I try to teach them to do stuff rather than do stuff for them (within reason) and I’m starting to see them do wonderful things like clean up spillages unprompted and randomly tidy their room etc.

confusedandemployed · 26/10/2018 07:15

DD is 5 1/2 and I would be quite happy for her to get up alone, but our TV is dead complicated to turn on, so she just nicks my ipad and watches TV in bed instead...

Wallywobbles · 26/10/2018 07:18

3 ish. Breakfast stuff in cupboards they could reach and milk bread rolls. Bit of tv on a weekend morning and a bit of extra sleep for mummy.

TheKitchenWitch · 26/10/2018 07:22

ds1 is 11 and obviously could get up on his own but never, ever, ever does.

ds2 is 3 and will get up but come into my room.

I absolutely would not let a small child get up and go downstairs on their own, never mind getting stuff out the kitchen. But that could be dictated by the fact that my small child causes catastrophe when left alone for more than 5 mins...

Hideandgo · 26/10/2018 07:25

Thekitchen, does your 3 yr old not go up and down stairs on their own?

WoodBurnerBabe · 26/10/2018 07:26

My younger two are 8 and 5, and have been getting up by themselves for about a year now. Basically because they are both early birds and are up about 5am. They play beautifully together, so nice and lovely, make each other breakfast and negotiate over the television. As soon as they see me this all goes to pot and they spend the rest of the day fighting. So now I stay in bed as long as possible while they are being nice...

Hideandgo · 26/10/2018 07:27

Oh I misread! Do you never let the 3 yr old upstairs on their own without you? Mine freely play upstairs when I’m in the kitchen during the day. And downstairs while I’m upstairs doing jobs sometimes.

Borridge · 26/10/2018 07:31

That was the one parenting issue I managed well. Mine would wake up and sit down to draw or look at books from about three. May I feel smug?

TheKitchenWitch · 26/10/2018 07:33

Hideandgo - no, I wouldn't let him go downstairs on his own. We get up, get ready, and go downstairs together.

I can't see what he'd do down there on his own - he can't work the tv, can't reach the fridge (not that I would ever let him in there anyway), certainly couldn't pour himself a bowl of cereal (not that we eat cereal), wouldn't under any circumstances want him trying to make toast...

Original poster
hidinginthenightgarden · 26/10/2018 07:34

Hide, my 3 yr old goes up but not down, on her own. I always make sure she has done the top half and is sat on her bum before I let her do the rest herself. I consider myself pretty laid back too. I potter round the upstairs whilst the kids bath, cleaning etc and leave them eating whilst I pop to the garage (at the bottom of the garden.) But I wouldn't let my 3 yr old get up. She would eat shit and break stuff!

OP posts:
TheKitchenWitch · 26/10/2018 07:36

He does sometimes go upstairs to his room while I'm in the kitchen, but tbh he's usually wherever I am and I do think that's better - he is the sort of child who will ALWAYS do either the thing he's not allowed to or the thing you never even imagined anyone doing.
Yesterday I made chips for lunch. I left the room for max 3 mins. Came back to find him dipping a wooden Jenga block into his ketchup and licking it off. He is THAT child :D

TheKitchenWitch · 26/10/2018 07:39

Thinking about it, ds1 would have been fine to get up on his own even quite young but he never did - he always wanted us to go together.

EsmeeMerlin · 26/10/2018 07:39

I still get up with my 5 year old and if I am really tired, I will make him a drink, give him some fruit, put on YouTube/Netflix on the tv and doze on the sofa.

anniehm · 26/10/2018 07:40

School age, though wasn't really an issue as I have the laziest family in history, nobody can be described as morning people, not even the four legged hairy member of the family. As young kids they got up around 5am, went to the bathroom then climbed into our bed, then didn't budge until after we got up and showered!

anniehm · 26/10/2018 07:41

We lived in a flat until they were 3&5 so no stair issues

Hideandgo · 26/10/2018 07:42

Gosh my two little ones have been unsupervised on stairs since maybe 20months, can’t remember exactly but between 18mths and 2 for sure. I spent lots of time training them to be safe but #2 and #3 utterly refilused to go on their bum from age two. Wobbly at first with me ready to grab them but very soon perfectly steady. They have always gotten in big trouble for messing it fighting near or on the stairs. Also leaving any toy there they know is an absolute no no. But they genuinely are very steady and careful and move naturally on the stairs.