to refuse to have breakfast at 5am?

[Kveta]

DC have been up since before 5, as per usual. They are ratty, I am ratty, DH is getting his second lie in of the weekend because I couldn't get back to sleep.

Anyway, they are pestering me for breakfast, and I am refusing, on the basis that 7am is as early as I can cope with anything handling food at the weekend. They have had a mug of milk each already btw.

DS (4) thinks I am being deeply unreasonable, and DD (2) agrees with anything he says anyway.

Since they have been unreasonable and comprehensively ignored the gro clock, and woken us all up anyway, am I being unreasonable to not make porridge before 7 a.m.?

Bed at 8pm, up 6am with 2 hr nap in day, is 12 hr sleep...

Mine always woke at 5 no matter when they went to bed and what they ate the evening before too, until turning 5 or so, so I always got them to bed by 7.30 (we eat at 6pm generally as that's when DH can usually get home by). Mine never slept 12 hours at one stretch in their lives though - think that being a universal norm is a myth :o

I think milk and a banana on waking and proper breakfast at 6am is a good compromise, but adult can just have a cup of coffee, it is not compulsory to eat porridge with the kids.

I wouldn't have got up never mind breakfast. You need a better sleep routine, lots of good suggestions on this thread.

Send them back to bed.
My two are only 18mo but when we have the nephews to stay (5 and 7), then it is a very strict 7am getting up time and not 1 minute before.
They know they can get up and play nicely in their room but we do not want to see or hear them before 7. Any transgression of this results in 15 minutes earlier to bed that evening.
They don't tend to mess about as the love being able to stay up a bit in the evening.

You need to push bedtime back, 6pm is too early that is why they are waking up.

I'm with duchese on the meal thing, we eat at 7 as a family. Toddler soon got used to it, he goes to bed around 10 and wakes around 8.

It does depend what time you want them up of course - getting up at 8am would be a massive problem here in term time, as the school kids start at 7.45am and the toddler at 8am - 6am get up is perfect here...