to wonder why it's so hard for my children to get enough sleep?

[manateeandcake]

This has probably been one of the most unexpected aspects of parenting for me. Before I had DC, I think I imagined that babies and small children would just conk out when they were tired [hollow laugh].

DD (3) is in a pattern of waking around 5.30, today it was 5. We can tell she's still tired but there is no hope of her going back to sleep. We have tried everything we can think of: later bedtime, earlier bedtime, black out blind, Gro bloody Clock ... She did this all throughout the winter so I don't think the light is a major factor. She is very active and runs around all day so by 6pm she is exhausted and it's just a downward slide of hell till bedtime.

DS (8 months) is currently on a knife edge because he woke up at 5.30 (which is v early for him), has only had a half hour nap this morning and won't go back to sleep in his cot. We have swimming at 12. Argh! I seem to breed horrible nappers and early wakers. Why did no one warn me about this major design flaw?

What do you do when DD wakes up? What does she do? Does she come into your room?

I adopted a policy of basically ignoring them and being short with them when mine did that. I decided that 6.30am was my earliest and that was that.

Until that time, they had no interaction from me other than "Get out of my room and go back to bed!"

I'm horrible though. I am also very much attached to sleep and can't manage on less than 6 hours at least.

When is bedtime? It's my experience that the later they go to sleep, the earlier they get up. If your DD has had it at 6pm I'd put her to bed at 6:30.