Really early mornings with young dc, what do you do?

[Darkestseasonofall]

My dc (1 and 4) get up at 5.30 lately. I'm working on pushing it back with later bedtimes etc, but getting nowhere fast.
If you're dc get up equally early what do you do?!
We need to be out of the house by 8.30 and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that after breakfast and getting dressed there's an awful lot of TV going on and playing on the floor whilst I tidy up / shower etc.
It feels a bit endless, and a ti y bit neglectful to just leave them to their own devices, but I really don't want to get crafting etc when it's still dark.
What do you do about your very early rising young dc?

I Put the Tv on and sit and cuddle them until about 6.30 when it’s a decent enough time for our day to begin. Like you it feels crap to do this but it’s also survival. I need downtime too.

I hear you and with DS1 making bedtime later had no effect at all, he’s still a lark at nearly 8 (but at least now can read quietly). I used to take them to the playground at 8 o’clock at the weekend (it’s in a park nowhere near any houses!). I did consider moving baths to the morning too but they were too mucky most evenings (how do you get yoghurt in your hair at school?!). Nothing wrong with TV time being then rather than the evening.

Nothing wrong with tv when they’re up that early.

There is absolutely no need to even consider crafting

Christ don’t start crafting at 5:30, you’ll go bonkers by 7!

Dd wakes up at 5:30, I give her my phone to watch Ben and Holly in bed while I sleep to the more reasonable hour of 6:30. Appreciate that might not work with 2 of them.

Thanks all, I think MN skews my perspective sometimes when I read about dc who only have 8 minutes TV every other Sunday or whatever.
I'm sure the clocks changing soon will make things even worse... It usually does

Some tv, play, drawing. Mostly tv and breakfast tbh.

When one of mine went through a phase of getting up early I used to make them sit on the sofa in the dark in silence with no tv/lights etc ! Maybe cruel but the phase didn't last long! I've always had a rule of nobody gets out of bed before 6 at the very earliest!

We're up stupidly early and go out, though probably not a good idea if you're trying to discourage early mornings!
The play parks always empty so free to explore, the walks are full of dogs that she loves to watch, usually go have a cup of tea with grandparents as they're always up at the crack of dawn, and it means my neighbour doesn't have to hear us early in the morning

We used to have a TV in our room and DS1 had a child size comfy chair, he’d sit and watch TV until I wanted to get up. I could never do 5.30am starts!

Have you tried a gro clock? Works brilliantly with DS, we introduced it when he was about 19 months old and still use it now he's 3.

His day starts at 6.45am and not before! Now just waiting for newborn DC2 to get the memo

I agree with the Gro Clock. The rule in our house is in your room until ‘Yellow Sun’ on the clock, you don’t have to be in bed but you have to do something quiet in your room - look at books, Lego or brush the rocking horse’s tail are the most popular activities! We have been strict from the start as DC1 would be up at 5 if permitted. Plus the Gro Clocks have a weekend setting which is 7:30 instead of 6:15 for us

I had eldest dc in a lovely routine where she'd wake at 7, but since the baby has been able to stand in his cot / roar / sing at the top of his voice it's unfortunately become one up, all up!

I'm trying to push his bed time back but as he's trying to drop a nap anyway it's all to hell. I'm working on worse case scenario that I'm stuck with the 5.30 wakes ups for a while, and just wanted some validation for sticking them in front of the TV and ignoring them until a more sensible hour

Mine are older now but I remember the pain. TV biscuits or IPad in my bed as I dozed until a reasonable hour is totally valid.

If it helps mine are all bright and not fat from it and I’m semi sane now

I would bring them into bed with me and ignore them until 7.

I say ignore, but basically try not to interact with them so it wasn't fun.

It worked for both dd1 and dd2 and it meant I didn't have to get up at stupid o'clock.

Later bedtime probably won't mean later rising ! (Unless you're putting them to bed at 6pm)

Bunny clock is a good idea. Or quiet playing in their rooms with whatever they like to play with.

When my older 2 were sharing a room and waking up before 6, we started letting them chose a toy or puzzle each evening, I would put it in their room once they were asleep, then in the morning they had something fun to do without waking me up.
Now with DC3 who is 23 months, I pass him my phone for YouTube when he jumps on my head at 5 am, because once he's being loud he wakes the other 2 up.

When mine were up at 530 theyd go check livestock with dh. These days they're up at 630 and watch tv and draw while I get organised for the day

I'm well past it, but my youngest made larks look like doddlers. He was the earliest of birds. Still is (up anywhere between 6:30-7:30 most mornings which works because school's at 8:45).

But when he was a tot, my solution was two coffees for me and a shitload of telly. Boom. Problem solved. Also have some paper and Woody pencils on the ready. My kids would draw for ages and ages and ages with the Woody pencils (made by Stabilo! Best ever and a must have for every little child!). Unlike his older siblings, my youngest, the larkiest lark of all, is not interested in drawing, so in his toddlerhood, on went the TV or the LeapPad (he had a phonics game and a numbers game, plus one called Mr. Pencil). All were brilliant.
He's a wonderful boy. Very good with his numbers! So I think he's alright! He survived those early years of being spoonfed telly while I gorilla glued my lids open and mainlined coffee.

I watch a shitload of telly, played loads of video games as a kid and teen but grew up to be a very outdoorsy, athletic person. So try not to worry. You've got to keep sane until they sleep in a little bit more. It's a very short period in the great scheme of things.

But choose wisely what they watch on tv, would be my takeaway advice. Believe or not, we didn't even do Blaze and the Monster whatevers or anything that was fast-paced or an assault on the ears. I'd put on things like The Clangers (the Eggbot was a favourite), In the Nightgarden (at 5am), anything mellow and easy on the eye and ear. I still do. Numberblocks is a bit more bells and whistles but it is very educational from about the age of 4 onwards.

Mine used to get up really early. He usually played with puzzles, lego, draw, colour, read, anything quiet and doesn't disturb others were fine. Didn't have tv in his room, so tv wasn't an option.
Only worked because he was happy to stay in his room until we are up, but if he wanted to go down stairs, it could have been a problem, I didn't want to get up early.

Oh those days! Get some singalong dancealong videos and put them on.

And this will become your mantra: No YouTube.

You don't have to go down the YouTube route yet. I think it's not great for their developing brains in the early years. I don't do phones or YT until the kids are 8. That doesn't mean I haven't caved before they've reached 8. Of course I have. Once in a blue moon. But the phone shouldn't be a regular thing in the early years.
And in case I sound smug, believe me, I've dealt with screen addiction and the rest. Lockdown was just a screen addiction nightmare. My eldest (18) is a serious gamer! But I think kids' brains absorb the onslaught of information (that things like YouTube delivers) better when they're more developed/older.
So just go a little easy on all that stuff in the early years. YouTube can be good but a bit frenetic.

I try’s me make mine stay in bed till 6 or 5.45 at the very earliest. Then I push two sofas together and close my eyes and cuddle them till 7 while they watch cocomelon and eat brioche. I make out to DH it’s a massive hardship but secretly I quite like it.

Oh God the the thought of crafting at 5.30 on a morning makes my blood run cold! Nothing wrong with some TV and being ignored for a bit: you really don't have to interact with them every single waking minute or they'll grow up not knowing how to be bored and entertain themselves.

When mine were that young, we didn't ever get up with them before 6.30 unless they were ill. We pushed it back half an hour every year or so and now they get up by themselves after 8 on a weekend and sort their own breakfasts out. It's great!

When mine were smaller and did this, it was tv, tv and more tv. And lots of coffee for me.