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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

365 replies

ichifanny · 01/06/2019 19:04

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 ?

OP posts:
Original poster
ichifanny · 02/06/2019 06:44

My baby’s sleeps in the afternoon hoursworried so it’s jot so much an issue for her as she naps throughout day .

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Original poster
ichifanny · 02/06/2019 06:46

That’s very interesting timeforakinderworld their is definitely something in it .

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Original poster
ichifanny · 02/06/2019 06:46

There

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Stuckforthefourthtime · 02/06/2019 06:46

Last night we went out with friends and the kids finally fell asleep at 11pm on their sofa. We've still been up since 6am this morning Sad

That's why we do 7pm bedtimes in our house.

MerryDeath · 02/06/2019 06:49

@popsy0152 same here Hmm

Birdie6 · 02/06/2019 06:51

My DD got up at 5am, every morning of her life, nothing to do with her bedtime. She is grown up now and still a crazy early riser.

BertieBotts · 02/06/2019 06:52

We started putting DS2 to bed at 6 because he got up at 6 and when we put him to bed at 7 over several days he became overtired.

He's under one so he hardly misses out on all the other children playing :o

BertieBotts · 02/06/2019 06:53

DS1 sleeps in if he has a late night, DS2 seems to be a lark though.

rainbowbash · 02/06/2019 06:55

my oldest (11) is always up by 5/5:30 despite going to bed/falling asleep late. she has severe autism.

just be glad it's not one of yours. no. need to be snotty about it. it really isn't fun (esp if you have to function and get out of to work every day).

FormerlyFrikadela01 · 02/06/2019 06:58

To those saying they're in different countries and children go to bed later... is school a later start? And does work start later or does everyone have a parent at home?

I ask because whilst our usual 5:30-6 wakeup are a tad early, we all need to be up by 6.30-7 on weekdays anyway for nursery and work. When we were trying to push him later it was when we did different shifts and didn't have anywhere to be on a morning so the early rising was a killer. Now it's just a killer on days off.

Sipperskipper · 02/06/2019 07:02

I think it takes a while of later nights to have any effect. When DD was falling asleep by 8, she would wake around 7am. The last couple of weeks she hasn’t been falling asleep until after 9pm (ready to give up her nap I think!) and after a few days of this, she started waking closer to 8am.

Original poster
ichifanny · 02/06/2019 07:13

We set the alarm during the week for 7am but at the weekend they sleep till 8.30am 9am if not woken .

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TwittleBee · 02/06/2019 07:23

How many nights do we need to do to see a difference though? We tried keeping is up for almost 2 weeks last month and gave up as it meant no evening for us to enjoy plus a very over tired DS to endure the whole day

Sockwomble · 02/06/2019 07:23

One day you may have a child that is awake every night from 12- 3am. Just be grateful you have got it easy, eh.

Original poster
ichifanny · 02/06/2019 07:39

I do at the moment Sockwomble she’s a baby which comes with the territory .

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Original poster
ichifanny · 02/06/2019 07:42

Not sure why people are keen to stick the boot in I know what no sleep is like thanks I’ve had 4 kids however the baby’s stage aside and discounting I don’t have kids with autism they all manage to sleep till a decent time . Not sure why people are wishing no sleep on me to teach me a lesson.

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MrsKoala · 02/06/2019 07:49

First time my children slept thru the night without a 2-4 hour wake up between 1-5 was when ds2 was 4 and dd was 2. I didn't sleep for longer than 2 hours for 2 years. It's crushing. But this is just what some children are like.

Bluethang - how do you make them sleep before 9pm if they are still wide awake? You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink! The only time DS1 has slept before 10pm (11pm before he was 3) was when he had melatonin. DD(2) went to bed at 11.20 last night and has just woken at 7.30. She will have a 1-2 hour nap and that is just her natural rhythm.

We are lucky enough to live 10 min walk from school so the kids can sleep till 8 (sometimes 8.15) as they just need to get up, put their clothes on, eat, clean their teeth and leave at 8.35.

Original poster
ichifanny · 02/06/2019 07:52

Ah living the dream mrskoala , we are also near the school so 7-7.30am alarm call . Unfortunately I’m a shift worker who has to leave for work at 6am so I only get the benefit of the kids sleeping longer on my days off .

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rainbowbash · 02/06/2019 07:54

I never wishes you no sleep. I just said this is something to be grateful for and that there is no need to sit on your high horse because your DC sleep well.

Welshwabbit · 02/06/2019 07:56

My 7 yo goes to sleep around 8.30 and my 4 yo around 8. 7 yo is always up before 7 (usually after 6). He sometimes goes to bed later - fairly often he reads til 9 - but wake up time is the same. Last night he stayed up to watch the Champion's League final and was still up by 6.30 Hmm . 4 yo goes to sleep earlier but usually sleeps til 7 or just before.

peachgreen · 02/06/2019 08:04

7 to 6 is a perfectly reasonable and sensible time for a baby to sleep.

MrsKoala · 02/06/2019 08:05

Something I have learned is it's better to go with the children's natural rhythms as much as you can. If you have to really really try desperately to alter something, all that happens is the moment there's a change like holiday, stay over at Grandparents, clock change, illness etc (so about every week here) it all goes back to square one. That's more exhausting than making adjustments to fit around what's going to happen anyway.

I like to channel Seneca and think if I am a dog tethered to a cart I may as well run with it than be dragged along. Grin

NoNoNoOohmaybe · 02/06/2019 08:11

Every holiday we try to get our kids to stay up later and then sleep later. They still wake same time and get increasingly cranky.

As I'm generally in bed by 10 I like mine in bed for 8 so I have a couple of ours to do chores/relax/prepare for work without the 40,000 questions an hour preschoolers do. So it's probably a bit of my encouraging their natural preference for early morning for my own gain.

Also they're 4 now, I don't need to get up with them from 6, I put cereal out and the telly on. They're golden for hours!

MrsKoala · 02/06/2019 08:21

I put cereal out and the telly on. They're golden for hours!

I keep hearing/seeing people say this. Mine (almost 7 and almost 5) would never sit and watch telly alone. They still need me present all the bloody time.

sparklefarts · 02/06/2019 08:27

BUT you will need to persevere with it, like anything in parenting, it doesn't happen overnight

Don't be so utterly utterly ridiculous. You really think non of us have tried this? You think we like having early risers?