If you put kids to bed at 6pm ...

[ichifanny]

Just out of interest , I keep hearing parents talking about kids getting up at 4am - 5am I have 4 including a baby and apart from the newborn stage it’s never happened to any of mine unless they are ill or otherwise disrupted . Is it not just the case that if you put your kids to bed at 6-7pm then it makes sense they will be up with the larks ? Does it happen often that kids who go to bed about 8.30pm -9pm still get up early ?

Both mine wake up between 5-6 no matter what time I put them to bed. So I prefer an early bed time and getting up at 5 so I have some of my evening to mused to relax

We had one child who constantly got up at 5 am, didnt matter what time she went to bed. It wasnt until she was about 7 years old that it slowly got later in the morning

Besides which, trying to retrain your child's internal body clock is ridiculous when they need to be able to get up early for school.

Never had dawn wakers either out of my 4. Usually up about 8ish

If they go yo bed later they still get up at 6 all it means is they are more grumpy and tired.

My kids (4 and 1) go to bed at 6 and wake up between 5.30 and 6.30

Ds5 goes to bed at 6.30/7.00 and wakes at 5am. Ds7 goes to bed at 8pm and wakes at 5am.
I've tried later bed times and they still wake up at 5am. Both have some degree of SN and I can't cope any later than that. I'm used to the early mornings now. Tbh DS7 could easily fall asleep at 6.30, but since he's 7 now I try and keep him up til 8pm.
Baby DD1 goes to bed around 7pm and sleeps til 7 or 8am, plus about 3 hours of naps.

My eldest went through a phase of getting up at 5.30 every day. We tried everything to make him sleep longer, tried earlier bedtime, later bedtime, fewer naps, more naps.... everything. It was hell and we slept in shifts.

My other two were totally different and slept until a reasonable time. Kids are just wired differently. If you've got a 3 year old who's sleeping to 8.30 don't be patting yourself on the back and sneering at the poor, frazzled mother who's been up since 4am. Because it's pure luck.

The odd late night wont change it. It takes a few weeks to get them sleeping later then it works

Mine’s 18 months and goes to bed at 7, falls asleep between 7 and 8.30 and wakes up sometime between 7.30 and 8.30

Yes Skyrjuly interesting you say that I don’t see the odd late night helping anyway , surely consistency is what makes the difference ?

We're on holiday so kids (6 and 8) going to bed about 3 or 4 hours later than usual. They're still wide awake by 7am.

My daughter was such a bad sleeper. Battled often until 11pm then she was up at 5. Even had her to the doctors who just said some kids don't need much sleep.

Age 11 she sleeps about 11-7.

All 4 of mine have been different sleep pattern wise but over time with consistency they are all roughly the same now . I’m not saying it’s my great parenting or sleep patterns but I don’t think it’s complete luck there must be something in having a good routine and not going to bed super early ? Again no judgement .

I've always been the annoying one who has to wake them up. Be they asleep by 7 or by 10, I wake them up. It's been 10am before now! I know. I'm sorry. Now 7&8, in bed by 8 and I still have to wake them at 8 for school.

My 4.5yr old is a solid 7.30pm-7am sleeper. Rarely wakes unless she is unwell or having a bad dream.
We brought the gro clock when she was about 2 as we were having 5am starts and it was too early for us, the gro clock really helped and now it’s just her normal.

It makes absolutely no difference what time I put ds to bed. 10pm or 7pm - he gets up at 6.30. Always. So I put him to bed at 7, he sleeps 11.5 hours, I get the evenings to myself. If I put him to bed late and had no evening to myself, he’d still be awake at the same time!

My eldest is an early riser.

I tried weeks of putting him to bed later. Didn’t make a difference at all.

I am a natural early riser. Guessing he just takes after me.

There are ALWAYS people who think they can give me advice or know better. That’s more tiring than the constant early mornings

My 5, 3 and 1 yo go to sleep between 8 and 8.30pm.
All up between 6.30am and 7.30am.
Suits us.

Also, no judgement.. but clearly you are judging? How many people have to tell you that it doesn’t matter what time they go to bed or their routine it makes no difference!

Dd 5 is in bed by 7pm and up any time from 5.30am, if I put her to bed any later she is overtired struggles to go off quickly and wakes up just as early if not earlier...

My DD had a brief and wonderful period (between 6 months and 9 months) of sleeping through from something like 9-6. I forget the exact hours.

Other than that (she's 2 and a bit now), she can quite happily go from 6am to 11pm with no nap. And then again the next day, and the next.

At the moment I rejoice, because her normal is something like 8-10 until 7, and it is absolutely fucking wonderful, and she's even decided to throw in some naps.

But please ... if you have a child who sleeps, even if you think it's obvious why they do and you see that the rest of us are fools, be kind.

Yes, on those days when my DD sleeps in to 8am, I should probably wake her.

Yes, on those days when she comes back from nursery at 6 and falls asleep in the car, I should definitely wake her.

But bear in mind that means I went to sleep past midnight, because I had to finish working after she went to bed. And then she woke at 2, and then at 4, and then got up at 7. If she napped, I will have been awake working. So, when at 6pm she falls asleep for half an hour, I will usually have had something like 6 hours of interrupted sleep in the past 24 hours. And, because it's been going on for a while, and I don't have the option to switch off when she switches off or to doze while she watches TV, I will be shattered.

And I reckon if I am shattered, mums of twins or multiple children or children who really, really, really don't sleep, must be existing in zombie land.

If you really think it's all as simple as saying 'put them to bed earlier,' fine, say that, but also listen when the rest of us point out we're probably trying to stay awake and work, too.

If my ds goes to bed at 8 (which he usually does) he's up at 5:30 am. If he goes to be at 9,10, 11 (which is only on rare occasions) he is still up at 5:30 am. Fortunately we are all early risers so it's fine.

Mine are 4 and 6, they go upstairs at 6 then I tell them to go to bed at 7.30.

6 year old wakes around 8 and 4yo wakes between 9.30 and 10.30, it's horrible having to wake them early on school/nursery days.

You think people haven't tried being consistent with routine for weeks on end? 😂