Yo not know what to do when kids wake so early?

[FFfffffsake]

Argghh. Up since 530, so by 830 been up for three hours. What do others do? Just 18 months so not able to entertain themselves!

Coffee and sugar for breakfast.
Know which parks unlock the gates at 7am.
Hand over to DH about 9 30am for a very long morning nap for you.
It gets better when they can add milk to cereal and turn the TV on, leaving you to sleep til the heady time of 7am....

Lived with it! Now he's 3 1/2 he let's us sleep until 6am and he's just getting the hang of not getting up until his GroClock shows the sunshine.

Sorry, no advice, just solidarity!

Have you got a garden or outside space? I used to spend hours just toddling around outside with mine in the early mornings. And if the weather's bad, I started baking with him at 18 months in the early mornings - terribly messy but he loved it, mixing up the ingredients and pouring them out. Don't think our biscuits would have passed many food hygiene laws though lol.

At this age we got a groclock and pushed wake-up time to 7.30 within a week. She had v good understanding though.

I make a cup of a tea and get a snack for DC - and we stay in bed for an hour watching tv. I have 0 qualms about that.

Sounds like a great idea! A tip I'll be remembering for when my baby is a little older and wants to get up at crazy hours!

Yep TV and coffee until 8am here! Then the baby goes for his nap, me and 4yo get dressed and do some craft or game that the 11mo would wreck otherwise, usually have 2nd breakfast, I do some jobs then once baby wakes, we go out for some fresh air, beach, park, playdate or shopping, home for lunch or sometimes pack a picnic to have at the park then home for baby 2nd nap! It's hard work but TV is your friend here.

Put them to bed progressively later until they woke up when we wanted them to.

Tweak it 15 mins either way whenever the wake time starts shifting too early or late.

Changing bedtimes never worked for DS - he always woke at 5.30. We just brought him into bed with us and he watched kids TV whilst we dozed for an hour or so. Really didn't do him any harm.

There's always a reason for a child to wake up early. Our two have been very good at sleeping in and they will have periods when not so good but you have to instill ground rules and don't break them.

Have you tried blackout blinds/curtains?
White noise machines?
Gro-clock - don't come out your bedroom until its yellow.
Never allow them to sleep in your bed.

Remember, persistence and consistency is whats needed to change routtines.

There speaks someone who didn't have a early waking child through natural rhythms.
Do you honestly think I spent years getting up between 5 and 6 because I wanted to, or couldn't be bothered to put my child back into bed??

Honestly, we spent months getting hom to sleep later - and 5am was an improvement.

He's now 13 years. He was reading at 6.05 this morning. Yes, he now doesn't require my input at that sort of time in the morning, but he still wakes early (and goes to bed late - still awake when I went to sleep at 10.30).

Unfortunately, there's no bible on being parents. Everyone has different upbringings, values and beliefs which is why experiences are so broad and differing.

Many people lack c self awareness and common sense yet have children so it makes sense issues occur when raising children.

I found that TV or any sort of playing/ early breakfast basically encouraged it. So I would get up to supervise but I just would make it super boring and not worth getting up for. 7am was the "mum comes back to life" deadline.

Mine were early risers and now I have to physically drag them out to make the school bus at 7.30 so it did improve.

But yeah, I'm not sure there's a one size fits all strategy

There's always a reason for a child to wake up early. Our two have been very good at sleeping in and they will have periods when not so good but you have to instill ground rules and don't break them.

You can’t teach a child to sleep longer.
You can ‘instil ground rules’ to make them stay in bed and stare at the ceiling for an hour and a half until it’s convenient for you to wake up I guess. Bit of a depressing start to the day though.
I prefer my child to feel free to come and give me a nice morning snuggle. If it’s crazy early I’ll say ‘it’s not wakey time’ and they’ll just lie next to me and enjoy a quiet cuddle, at least they’ve got that comfort and company even if it is a bit boring. Sometimes they do actually go back to sleep.
If it’s past 6 o’clock we cuddle up and watch TV - I have a lovely morning cup of tea in bed. I love morning snuggles watching tv tbh, it’s actually a lovely, relaxing start to the day. On a work day we have to get up at 6.00 anyway so it’s not a big deal to wake up at that time. But as OP says it’s a long day of you haven’t got much planned so I’m in no rush to get out of bed.

Never allow them to sleep in your bed.

My DS comes into my bed sometimes in the mornings (used to be around 2am, now about 6am). We both love the snuggles and there's nothing wrong with that!!

I found that keeping everything dark, letting them cuddle up to you and point blank refusing to get out of bed before 6:30am eventually got the message across!

We needed them up at that time just to get ourselves and them dressed and fed so we could go to work!

My two are early risers and always have been. No amount of putting them to bed late or not letting them get out of bed till a certain time changed that so don't let those "perfect" parents out there make you think you're doing something wrong because you're not. Mine climb into bed with us, we have cuddles, if it's very early I tell them it's still night night time and usually they drift back off. Then we put the TV on watch cartoons have cuddles and get up when we need to. It's a pain waking up so early and I feel sleep deprived most of the time but the cuddles are lovely and I remind myself that when they're teenagers I'll miss the days they wanted to come into bed with me before starting the day.

I have an early riser as well. He is such a good little boy though. He is 6yo, he will wake up at around 6.30 and play for an hour to 1.5 hours and then come wake us up. It does get better op.

I had one child who woke early as a toddler: pre schooler and one that didn’t really. It’s luck of the draw.

The one that did is still an early riser at 13, but as pps have said, that doesn’t affect me now.

Im really not a morning person.

When she was little I think I’d get her something simple like milk and fruit to have in bed next to me, and maybe put TV on so I could dose. Sometimes would get up and just be really sleepy until the coffee kicked in(I don’t actually drink coffee any more but I did then).

5 children and 8 grandchildren later I never knew it was as easy as ^^^

We don't have breakfast until 7. My kids wake up between 5 and 6. We come down, I have a coffee then we snuggle on sofa to watch a film.
My youngest was never a sit down and watch a film type, so I used to give her colouring in to do. When she got bored of that I would get her to play hairdressers. Which meant I would be lying down and she would sit at end of sofa and play with my hair. She was always very gentle so was relaxing.
Now my younger ones are 8 and 6 they will play together and I just sit amd drink coffee feeling sorry for myself 🤣
There are days I feel motivated and will get all my housework done. But most of the time I just sit and relax.

My mum was always awake when I was and would do my breakfast so I feel a bit lazy allowing my kids to do their own so I can have extra time in bed. I just go to bed earlier. Gro clocks never worked, my kids would wake and want to start their day.
A treat for them is me throwing clothes on them and taking them across to the park before breakfast.

Try a gro clock. Might be a bit young. I would start with trying to gain an extra 15 mins in bed, even if awake just leave them there. Pop in and say 'the sun isn't up on your clock it's still sleepy time. Keep that up for a few days and then add a bit more time as often as you can. They will adjust to waiting later for breakfast and company and even if they aren't asleep will likely be content to wait till at least 6 am. Mine did 6 am until junior school.

Some kids naturally wake early

My df (single mum) used to put dry cereal in a bowl by her 2yo bed when she went to check on her before going to sleep herself. That used to get her an extra hour in bed.