AIBU What age is ok to do this and why don't kids understand lie ins? (lighthearted)

[waffilyversati1e]

Picture the scene. It's anywhen between 04:30 and 06:30 hrs. You are snoozing in your nice warm bed when you hear the sound of a door creaking open. It's your 4 year old. He is ready for the day and gives not a fuck that it is a saturday bloody morning or that you went to bed later than expected due to a surprisingly captivating Netflix series (I am looking at you Umbrella Academy).

Do you
a) sigh deeply, scowl at your still snoring husband and follow the 4 yr old downstairs with a far flung dream of stealing back some zzz's sometime?
or
b) do what your husband suggested last time and send the 4yr old off downstairs on his own for an hour to play with his tablet effectively hitting the snooze button on parenting.

(if you answer a, at what age would your answer change to b?)

Neither. I'd say "it's not getting up time yet, DS, back to bed" and send him back to his room.

GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal But he goes to bed at 7pm (because he is exhausted)
is a potentially 12hrs+ in bed not a bit much for him at this age?

B). In fact we leave a drink, biscuit and iPad outside his room in a weekend with strict instructions not to disturb us!! He’s 5.

I didn’t let my DD downstairs on her own whilst I slept at 4, but she is 5 now and she’ll sometimes go down in the mornings without me or DP. We are usually awake upstairs though and not asleep. She’s an August baby but in year 1 at school and quite sensible for her age.

In your situation I would probably have my DC sit in bed with me and play on the tablet (with headphones on or volume on mute!) for an hour while I continued to doze.

When I was 4-5 my mum would send me & my younger brother downstairs to watch Sunday morning cartoons so my parents could sleep in for a couple of hours. We loved it! I think she also left mini cereal packets out which we’d eat dry. I would do the same for my kids if/when I have them :)

By 4 they're old enough to understand that time before 630 is still night so I'd send them back to bed.
After 630 it depends. When my eldest was 4 I had a 2 yo and a baby so had to get up. When my youngest was 4 I had an 8 yo to oversee early mornings :)

Same as Greebols I'm afraid. And I put a scary voice on too...

"NO. It is NOT morning yet."

If they pushed me I'd allow them into my bed but on pain of complete SILENCE.

At 4/5 I’d get them breakfast, stick tv on and then doze for an hour. At 4 I’d say stay in their room til 6am though, unless like mine at that age they went to bed at 5pm some nights

I used too turn the tv on in my room and let her squeeze in the bed and I’d go back to sleep. Now I have two I can’t if I just had the one 4 year old I definitely wouldn’t be getting up that early with them though!

Parenting snooze button every time, from when they are old enough to understand the idea.

Yep, same here. Nothing happens before 7 so don't even bother getting out of bed.
After 7 they're allowed a tablet on a weekend (only for 30-40 mins on a Sat as we have to be ready and out for a class, might be a bit longer on a Sun if no plans).

I do the same as a pp and leave a biscuit and tablet and drink on the sofa with a snuggly blanket. Gives me an extra 2 hours

I think 6 is fair enough tbh. It's a ballache on a Saturday obviously.

Take him back to bed and discover after several weeks of endless coming and going that it doesn't work .

Then feel lucky that I live in a tiny house that is toddlerproofed and I can hear everything and let him go downstairs and watch cbeebies for a bit while I wake up.

They stay in thief room til 7.30 here lights can be on after 7. I am awake then but they can go down without me.

Rooms are childproof so I know they are safe in there. I think there are more options than you have come up with

My 4yo goes to bed at 730 and can get up any time from 630. Earlier than that and it is still nighttime and back to bed!

We've been sending our 5.5 year old downstairs to watch TV for almost a year now, think he started last year in spring when the mornings were lighter. So about 4.5

I don't see the issue and he likes it

But he's exhausted at 7pm because he is up at the crack of dawn. You need to gradually move bedtime back a bit, and encourage the going back to bed in the morning.

Can you set up some quiet activities in his room? Reading, Lego? Can he have his tablet in his room?

I don't think 12 hours is too much sleep at 4, no. My 4 year old is asleep by 7.30 most nights and wakes around 7 - he has a gro-clock that turns yellow at 6.45 and knows if he wakes up and it's still blue he's not allowed up yet (other than to use the loo of course).

Anything before 6.30 is really far too early and he should go back to bed, IMO.

Mine has just turned 4. If I was very tired, like yesterday, I go downstairs and sleep on the sofa while she plays on the tablet but I like to be there on hand. She also goes to bed at 7 and generally sleeps until 7-8am.

Having kids cured me of late nights - apart going out I rarely go to bed late anymore - even though the kids no longer get up super early

My two are 7 and 5. The 7 year old can work the TV so will put something on, or they can both have their tablets. I got up with my 5 year old at 630 because I was hungry, but have just woken from a nap on the sofa where I was wedged in with them whilst they watched Loud House.
Husband gets up on a Sunday with them and usually crawls back into bed after making sure they are set up with tablets.
Tablets are just the modern equivalent of Saturday morning cartoons. I might steal the idea of ready made drinks and packs of mini cereal though. Although both of mine can make their own cereal with milk.

Between 4.30 and 6.30 you send them back to bed! That's night time. Get him a clock.

After 6.30/7, I'd let him watch TV for an hour.

There is a specific alarm clock that has a big block of colour on it. When the hand is in the red the kid is not allowed out of the bedroom/bed.

They don’t need to know how to tell the time they just need to know that red is sleep time.

You can set it for what you like.

My son is ten now but they existed 7 odd years ago and worked for us so if you google you’ll probably fine one.,

Yep, back to bed before 7am. If my 2yo gets up early (between 6&7) at the weekend I'll bring him into my bed, give him a banana and the tablet on silent until 7am.

If you don't think your 4yo needs 12 hours sleep anymore then gradually move his bedtime back, even by 10 minutes a day. You need to move his whole routine back too though so dinner & bath 10 minutes later etc. He'll adjust and then sleep later.