Early morning starts with children

[Sacmagique75]

When I was a child in the 90s I used to wake up super early. I’d quietly put the tv on and watch live and kicking for hours until my parents emerged, I did not dare open their closed bedroom door before they woke and came out. Which was never before 9am on a weekend. I certainly didn’t barge in, demanding breakfast at 5:30, crying and whinging until they relented. My two young children have always been early risers but now at the ages of 6 and 4 is it too much to ask that they quietly entertain themselves with tv for an hour rather than demand I get out of bed before 6:30?

😂😂😂

This ^ 🤣🤣🤣

We’ve managed to get ours into the habit of watching something on their tablets until 7ish on a weekend; it’s the only way we’ve survived two early risers

My DD (3.5) knows to stay in her room until her gro clock wakes up. This is set to 7am and she often wakes around 6:30 and just plays in her bedroom.

TV was easier to turn on then. Mine are too small to navigate channels/apps etc on their own. They don’t have tablets

What would happen if she didn’t?

Mine come into my bed and fall asleep again, so I don’t mind.

I get the laughing and I agree wholeheartedly! My youngest went through a phase of waking up and starting the day at 4am and I honestly did just suck it up and accept it’s part of parenthood. Children wake up early, I get that. I’m not expecting them to lie in. What I don’t understand is how my parents conditioned me (and my two siblings) not to barge straight into their room?! I just saw their closed door and did not dare open it! Why are we all so accepting of it? 😆

@WeWereInParis it took mine about a week to figure out how to override the child lock and set it back to the sun!
If it's any consolation, my eldest is 13 and stopped coming in to us when he wakes about 4 months ago...

This feels like what I’m looking
to achieve. How have done it? I do get
up and make them breakfast and turn the tv
on (eldest can do the tv herself) but then if I try
to slope off back to bed with a cup of tea they’re still in and out of my room with more (whingy) needs!

Our 4 year old isn't allowed out of her room until 7 which is when the gro clock lights up. I'm hoping as she gets older that will progress into coming downstairs and watching TV or getting some cereal etc

This would also be perfectly acceptable and quite lovely- but once in my bed it’s just demands for BREEEAAAAKKKFFFAAASSSTTTT! 🤣

I'm not accepting of it. Mine would never do that because she'd get frogmarched back to her room! 🤣

Mine got up at 5am today 🙈 and set the dogs off barking. Sigh. Tired.
They've been watching TV for ages. Breakfast soon.

Why do kids get up so early?!!

I have literally the same thoughts every day, at around 6am! Like you, from about age 5 I would get up, get myself some cereal and watch kids’ tv until my parents woke up. From age 6/7 I would then bring them in a cup of tea! Whereas my 6 year old wakes me up no matter what time it is, and while she will play on her iPad, she narrates everything she’s doing/watching so loudly it doesn’t help me get any more sleep! I’m not expecting a cup of tea anytime soon either.

@BiasedBinding she'd be put back to bed. If her groclock isn't awake we treat it like a nighttime wake up. So if she was upset we'd obviously comfort her, but ultimately she'd end up back in her bedroom whether it was 3am or 6:30am. She's had the gro clock for about a year now and we started off with it set quite early (6am) and gradually moved it back as she started waking later. If she wakes before it now, I often hear her happily playing in her room and then coming in to us sometime after 7 when she notices it's woken up (I'm often awake with DD2 who is only 8 months). She never really comes out earlier nowadays, unless something is wrong like she's ill etc.

This is consolation indeed- at Least there is an
end in sight. Even if it’s 7 years away…. I thought I’d have to wait until they leave home 😂

Luckily, none of mine are early risers but my sisters DC are and she swears by the groclock! They wait until the sunshine comes on to go downstairs or to her room.

Some children are just more compliant than others. You were probably just a more compliant child OP - there were others waking their parents

You need to be more boundaried. And get a gro clock!

Will they sit and watch a film if you let them choose, or do some colouring? Is it just that they're not interested is whatever's on the tv?

Yes it’s nice, I’m lucky they aren’t clamouring for me to do anything for them! It’s why the marching back to bed isn’t really necessary for us too, because we just all go back to sleep until a reasonable time. It wasn’t always like this, but since the toddler days have passed and naps were dropped mine don’t rise so early for the day

My dc (3) gets up, walks over to the grow clock, resets it and then demands we a get up. I'd love a compliant child!

My 7yo does get up and watch TV on her own because 1/ I blew up at her once for poking me awake at 4:30am when I had a long day of work ahead of me and 2/ she's realised she can get more screen time in and thinks I don't notice. Once I'm up she has to turn off screens and get on with other things.

At a weekend when ours where small we'd leave them a small breakfast picnic (brioche, those fruit chip things, their water bottles) and (this is how long ago!) a dvd film to watch on their dvd player. They could watch the film, read or quiet activities until their clock read anything with an 8 on it! But mostly they'd just watch the film.

This gave us until about 9am.

This would either be eaten by our dog or cause a fight "no thats my brioche!!!" "But you already had yours.....wwaaaahhhh"