Why do kids wake so bloody early?

[Itsnotmyfaultisit]

Mine were both up before 530 today. That is early admittedly but it’s generally around 6 for one and 7 for the other. Bedtimes make no difference to this. Obvious stuff like blackout curtains and so on tried. Whhhhy?

Everyone says bedtime makes no difference but it does! I live in Asia and kids don't wake up early here because they don't go to bed until 9pm or later.

That's not to say I think it's something you can easily change. I can't change my kids bed time (not that I'd want to), they just wouldn't go to bed so early. Maybe when they go to school and have to get up early then they'll start going to bed a bit earlier.

No idea! I remember being a small child and running into my parents bedroom in the morning and not understanding why they weren't excited to get up. Once you hit about 11/12, you start to understand.

How old are they op? By a certain age, they can generally go and sit in the living room and watch TV while you snooze a bit

Every child is different and some err more towards being night owls or larks, but on the whole the friends I have who complain their DC are up very early are the same people who put their children to bed very early.

Not all kids, mine slept in until 8 at least even as babies. It's to do with the British habit of really early tea and bedtime

It really doesn’t make a difference what time you put them to bed. On holiday we had a spate of very late nights and it often seemed to make wake up times earlier.

It can be a bit chicken and egg though @LolaSmiles . Mine do have to go to bed early because they get up early. But last night they weren’t asleep until 8 (3 year old) and half 7 (baby) so I don’t think that’s hugely excessive.

It depends on the child. I have one early riser and one who likes to lie in irrespective of bed times!

The later I put my kids to bed, the earlier they woke up! But they just ended up grumpy!

I think just some kids wake early. My now 15yo has bucked the teenager stereotype and still to this day gets up at 6am. She says she just wakes up.

Mine doesn't and has to be woken for school. Flip side is she's up in the evening til quite late...

When I asked 8 year old ds why he gets up at 6am every weekend he said it’s because he loves his life and he doesn’t want to miss any of it.
hard to argue with that kind of reasoning really!

He now has to love his life quietly, in his room, until at least 7am on weekends but when they are little unfortunately you just have to get up.

Dts are 13. They still wake up by 630. Obviously more bearable once they can fend for themselves but it makes not a tiny bit of difference what time they go to bed, never has. They can go to bed at 1am and are still awake at 630 and then miserable PITAs for the rest of the day.

I remember the days of 0430 when they were small, that was torture and nicely coincided with me going back to work.

I'm waiting for the teenage lie ins to kick in.

As a child my parents taught me that I wasn't supposed to get up until they got up. I could stay in bed reading if I wanted. As i got older then I was allowed to get up make my own breakfast if I wanted to, watch tv etc.

Going into my parents room and tugging them on the arm to get up would have been met with a pretty negative response I guess, but I never remember doing it, except maybe if I was ill or on Christmas day when we were allowed to get up at 6 to open presents !

I agree with the first post.

We live in the Algarve and kids bedtime here is 9/10pm usually. As a result they don't wake up until 8.30am.

Ds hasn't long turned 3yo, he goes to bed between 9-9.30pm and wakes up at 8am for nursery. In the holidays if we have plans in the evening he's often up til almost 11 and we adjust his nap the next day accordingly if he needs it.

Ours are early to bed early to rise. It fits in with our weekday routine for school, but at weekends they're not allowed out of their rooms til 7, and then they have to go downstairs and sort themselves out (age 7&9)

They’re going to sleep for a finite amount of time, it’s up to you whether you prioritise an adults only evening, or a lie in. You’re not going to get both!!

OP mine were 5am for years and I thought I'd never sleep again. 9 and 7 now and I have to wake them up most mornings these days. It does get easier I promise.

@InTheRainOnATrain I think it’s fairly clear that if we opt for a late bedtime, we get neither. And grumpy children.

I am good with 630-7. But 5-530 or even 6 on the dot is brutal!

I have two boys who are sleep battlers. A very sensible teen girl who goes to bed around 9 and gets up at 6am. Normally I wake her but was ill today and she got herself sorted no bother. Eldest boy would sleep all day, needs constant countdowns and reminders and younger one gets up early... to ask questions like mum,mum,mum is it morning, mum where is the TV remote, mum what's ten times ten??Arrrrgghhhhh!!!!!

When people are saying it doesn't make any difference what time they go to bed, I think they're talking about just a few nights on holiday or something. If children have always gone to bed later, as 2 pp mention, I think it has to time to become embedded, pardon the pun.

It's really difficult, even as an adult, to shift your sleep patterns quickly. Even when you make a big effort.

It will likely settle down, they will be able to safely entertain themselves as they get older.

It is brutal! Obviously they are not doing it on purpose and are too little to understand. But trying to exist on when you're constantly tired feels like torture.

If you did want to change it you'd have to be really consistent with a later bed time and they would eventually get there. It would be hellish for I have no idea how long...maybe not as long as you think. When we travel back home to the UK it takes us a few days to move from early bed time and early rising (standard UK baby sleep hours 7pm-5.30am) back to our usual 9:30pm-8am.

I'd rather they wake up at 6 than have them up late. I loved my child free evenings.
Kids need only so many hours sleep, some more than others. My son was always up about 5.30am and is still (at 20) a very early riser. My daughter the opposite. She needs 10 hours sleep and even then could sleep for more if she could. I don't see her til past noon on weekends.

We don't get much of an evening with their late bed times but have the advantage that we're not spending time cooking, eating or cleaning up while they're asleep. That all gets done with them around. Then they're asleep by 9:30 and we chill for a couple of hours before going to bed.

You have probably tried it but a Gro clock was great with my 3yr old and has helped him to sleep longer. If he wakes early he knows he has to play in his room until the 'sun comes up'

Of course bed time makes a difference. They need x amount of sleep so will wake after that time, it just takes a while for them to adjust. My 6 year old tends to sleep at around 9.30/10 and wakes around 730/8. My 2 year old sleeps about 8.30/9 and also wakes 7.30ish (and also has a 2 hour nap).
If you want them to sleep later put them to bed later consistently. You can’t have both early nights and late mornings.