When do the early wake ups stop?!

[Tigersteakpie]

My eldest DS (7) has always been an early riser. 5:30 was his regular wake up time until he was 3. Since then, despite trying everything (we think!) he is still up between 5:45 and 6:15 every sodding morning. He is now 7.

He's tired in the day, last night he was practically falling asleep at dinner. Normal bedtime of 8:00, was asleep by 8:10. Woke up at 6:00 on the button.

It just feels that no matter how tired he is, as soon as his eyes ping awake, that's it. He can't/won't go back to sleep.

His younger brother is more regulated. He has a regular 7:30 bedtime and will wake between 6:30-8am. But if he's tired he'll sleep in.

No matter how late my eldest's bedtime is, or how exhausted he is, he'll still ping awake ridiculously early.

A few months ago we had an exhausting day out in London. Out for hours, we walked miles. Came home, watched a movie and he didn't go to bed till 9:30 that night. 5:45 the next morning and he was awake.

We have a gro clock, he knows he should stay in his bed until 6:45 but he will try and sneak downstairs to watch TV or just get up for multiple toilet trips to pass the time. We used to say he could look at books but that would wake his brother up as they share a room and he'd be up and down picking different books every minute. We said over lockdown that he could play on his iPad when he woke but he started waking earlier and earlier so we stopped that too.

His teachers say he's tired at school and by Thurs/Fri he's a wreck. We've done earlier bedtimes but that doesn't work. If we put him to bed at 7:00 he just tosses and turns till 8:30 and gets frustrated so we have a firm bedtime routine with 30mins of quiet reading in bed from 7:30 and lights out at 8:00.

Is he just destined to be like this forever?

As an aside, he has some minor SEN and we suspect he possibly has very mild ASD/ADH. But his teachers have never raised any concerns.

My 3 are like this. There was a horrific 2 year period when they were getting up between 4.30am and 5am but were too young to be left to it.

Now they are 10, 8 and 6 and on weekends they are told the night before that they can get their own breakfast. We have screen time on their devices so they can’t log on till mid-morning so there is no incentive to wake up before light. They read and watch tv. If they disturb us before 7.30am for anything other than a decapitation, they lose their iPad for the day. Seems to work.

Seeing that last message, Tiger, what would happen if you switched the kids around- put the later sleeper in the top bunk, and the early riser on the bottom?
If their ages mean the sleeping arrangements need to stay as is, i'd make sure he had a shelf with a clock, an appropriate book and a lamp. Ladder only to be used for bathroom trips.

My DC1 was like this. He’s now 12 and will wake up at 7 on a weekday, and often 6:30 on a weekend

DC2 has to be dragged out of bed.

@Tigersteakpie

And yes, agree with the PP about screen time. I would love to use it in the morning, but for him it's such a reward it just makes him get up earlier and earlier. We have a very definite rule of no screen time until 7:00 and that will stay for the time being.

His brother isn't a light sleeper, but DS will crash around (they have a bunk) and climb up and down the ladder to get books/toys/have a wee and no matter how good a sleeper you are, it's impossible to sleep through.

Can DS not sleep in the bottom bunk so he can read, get a drink etc. without disturbing his sibling?

Ds2 is only 3 so a bit little for the top bunk, unfortunately.

Can you set the room up with the bunk bed as a room divider? I remember my friend's family had this set up with 2 boys (with a big age gap) and one girl in a small 3 bed house. Or put the younger one to sleep in your room some of the time? I understand about the screen time thing. DD's school has issued them all with laptops that do Teams and if I didn't lock it away at night, it's a potential irritation for other families too. DD does have access to an ipad and the TV though. And I have sometimes told school that she may not bring it home when there's been misuse.

Also to my surprise DD could use a top bunk bed safely at 3.5. She went on and on about top bunks and then took matters into her own hands (well, feet...) in a holiday place that had bunks.

"It" = laptop

Can you unplug the TV or something when you go to bed so your older DS can get up and read or play in the living room without being able to access screens?

I'm so sorry OP - people will give you all sorts of great advice but in my experience they just need to grow out of it.
Ds1 was the same as your ds and a switch flipped when he became a teenager. Now he can happily sleep until 11.
The only thing that saved us was when he was old enough to go downstairs by himself, make a bowl of cereal and put the TV on on a Saturday morning.

Is he just destined to be like this forever?

Yes possibly. Like someone else who has commented, I have been like this for my whole life too. I don’t really understand how some people can just decide to go back to sleep! Just seems lazy to me, unless you’re genuinely in need of another sleep cycle.

How about getting a gro clock, a non noisy alarm clock! . You can set it to changes when you want them to get up. Try setting it 5 mins later than he wakes and gradually increase the time, hopefully this will extend his sleep. He will also see by the screen a countdown to getting up time.
We did it with my daughter when she was younger.