To tell DC to stay in bed til a reasonable hour at the weekend?

[Bemyclementine]

Dc aged 6 and 7. Had to wake the 6 yr old up every day this week at 7.30, tired and grumpy. Then getting ready for school is an ordeal. 7 yr old gets up OK at 7.

Today, 6yr old wakes me up at 6.20. Talks at me, then goes downstairs. Back in seconds to complain 7 yr old has got to the TV first and is watching YouTube . YouTube is not allowed at bloody 6.20am.

So then they start playing, noisily.

Aibu to tell them to stay in bed and quiet til 7?? I'm shattered. I never get to just wake up naturally. Always the alarm on weekdays and a child on weekends. I don't want to sleep in til 9. Just not be woken up for no reason.

My 8 year old never sleeps later than 5am.
Sleep is overrated anyway 🤷‍♀️😂🤣

I have one who generally needs to be woken whatever the day but if on the odd occasion she’s up, everyone else has to be as she’s just loud but because it’s so rare we haven’t really tried to tackle it. If it was more we regular she’d be fine playing by herself/watching tv. My 4yo is up at 6.30 like clockwork but she comes quietly into our bed for a cuddle and we barely notice her.

And now the little toads are tucked up in my bed watching cartoons!

We had to be up ridiculously early for school/work when the kids were little. It re set their body clocks to an earlier start so we were often up, showered and ready for the day by 6 30am at a weekend 😯
Then the teenage years happened!! They now stay in bed until 10am and beyond.....woo hoo I hear you say?! My body clock never re set itself so if I'm still in bed at 7am at a weekend I feel like I have missed half of the day 😂
Just keep plodding on, make sure they get lots of fresh air and exercise (swimming 'late' on Friday night is a good one for tiring them out!) you will get there eventually.

And today, 5.41! I woke up to the sounds of them chatting and their yoto playing. Wtf is wrong with them?? Again, 6 yr old has been asleep til 7/7.30 most of the week. They've been to the park after school, dance , beavers, swimming..... argh.

I'm beginning to think youngest is catching up on sleep in the week and is fully rested by the weekend. I'm going to have to start waking him up earlier in the week I think, but he's so grumpy!

Ha ha I used to feel this when my 3 were little.
Now they're all asleep and I choose to wake up and have a coffee in peace.

It's all about it being your choice isn't it.

I would just let them lie in bed with their tablets and kids YouTube

Hope tomorrow goes ok with clocks going forward.
Is that an extra hour for parents?
I always get confused 🫤

My.mate used to tell her daughter she was not to come into her room till little hand on clock.was pointing to 8. I agree no YouTube. Put a DVD out the night before or better still crayons and a colouring book.

The colour change Gro clock worked for us. Turned by 4.30am riser into a 6.30am one. I even bought a travel one and took it on holidays ! I then gradually changed the time so it for to after 7am he says he used fo lay there waiting for it to change colour

hes 17 now and still wakes early but thankfully doesn’t wake us at all.

They had a gro clock when younger they can both tell the time perfectly well now though so haven't used it for a while

I'd just like to wake up naturally for once

I don't think this is uncommon regardless of age - lot of adults (myself included sometimes) struggle to get up for work but bounce out of bed at weekends full of energy.

DS hasn’t slept past 6 for months.

I don’t actually think he’s getting enough sleep but what can I do!?

I know they can't help waking up, but they can help waking me up. 5.41 is ridiculous though. Dc2 has never woken at that time.

Our DC, now 12 and 7, have always been told since they were out of cots that they are not to leave their room or disturb another person until 7am whatever day of the week. Even on Xmas Day (when they are allowed to open one stocking present by themselves whatever time they wake up). They follow this. Make the rule now and stick to it.

Funny like I have to drag mine out of bed on every school day yet on the weekend they spring out of bed at dawn 🤔

I should add, they may be awake of course but they must read or play by themselves. No screens until 7am.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Do they have books and toys they can play with quietly on their own if you don't want them on screens? If they're hungry, you could leave some food out for them plus cartons of drink too.

Personally I would set the TV up so they can access kids TV and let them go downstairs quietly with some breakfast.

We had years of this. In the end, we embraced it. First swimming lesson of the day, early trip to the supermarket etc. I grew up in a house where my dad got up at 4 so early mornings, while annoying, were kind of normal.

They are 15 and 12 now. We all get up at a reasonable hour (although they do have activities to get to) and of course the crucial difference is that they can sort themselves out.

Thing is @33goingon64 what do you do if they break this ‘rule’? It only really works if they, ah, listen to a word you say <glances at ds>

At bedtime last night I told them not to wake me up. Stay in their room until 7am. Read, listen quietly to a story. I dont know why this is suddenly an issue.

@madnessitellyou oh they would not want to be going out at that time. I might try it actually. Consequences, get up this early and we will go out and be busy. 🤣 except....I dont want to be woken up. I'm just so tired.

This, seriously. It’s not meant in a judgement way - from me, at least. There’s horrendous stuff on YouTube. Even YouTube Kids. It needs supervision. I’d rather risk giving kids unsupervised access to Netflix and risking the sex/horror/crime sections.

Ha our 4 Yr old always complains saying she's tired when we get her up at 7.15 for nursery. On other days when we'd happily all sleep in a bit she's up before 7. Why do they do this? Unfortunately she never agrees to go back to bed. Sometimes she'll play quietly in her room for a bit but not always

I hear you, OP. DS1 never sleeps past 6:00 (he’s 10 and goes to sleepovers armed with a book and I warn the parents that this is normal and they can ignore him if they realise he’s awake). DS2 is a pain to wake in the week but bounces out of bed at the weekend. The rule here is that they may not leave their rooms (apart from emergencies…these have been defined over the years!) before 7. Officially they are suppose to not wake us until 9, but it’s usually more like 8. They can watch TV (cricket and cartoons here, with a side order of MythBusters). And help themselves to breakfast (no slicing of bread though). I think you’re on the cusp of being able to insist on this kind of regime.

My 5 year old has a sleep clock in his room, it wakes up at 8:30. He's allowed to play quietly in his room until then if we are asleep (usually his dad is up super early anyway so takes DS down when he wakes up but on the odd occasion we're both still sleeping DS knows not to wake us up before the clock turns green.