Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this is the worst thing about parenting small children?

529 replies

Iheartherain · 05/05/2023 05:28

5 bloody am.

I thought the clocks going forward had reverted us to a more civilised wake-up time of around 6, but no.

Please don’t give advice as a year or more of trying to fix this hasn’t worked 😅 but honestly it is pretty miserable. I can’t have hobbies in an evening or watch ‘adult’ TV or nights out or date nights if we got a babysitter.

I am sick of being tired and yawning, fat because I seek sugar to boost my energy and always have a headache. It’s shit.

OP posts:
Loafbeginsat60 · 05/05/2023 05:33

It is shit definitely but they do sleep later as they get older. It will come...

I think the worst thing is d&v when they both have it at the same time and you only have one loo personally 😂

Original poster
Iheartherain · 05/05/2023 05:35

That doesn’t last for several years though … I hope!

OP posts:
Questionquestionqu · 05/05/2023 05:37

No the worst thing is when they wake at 5am AND go 'let's pretend I'm a horse and you're the horse's sister' 😑

CatMattress · 05/05/2023 05:40

See, I thought the 5am starts were the worst. DS was a bugger for it and didn't stop until he was well into his first year of school, but then DD started a delightful game where she'd go to sleep at a normal time but then wake up at 11pm/midnight ish and stay awake for 4 hours to party. That completely broke me. She was sharing a room with her brother at that point so I had to get up with her.

You have my sympathies. Sleep deprivation is brutal. It does end, though. These days I have to wake both of the little sods up in order to get ready for school.

takealettermsjones · 05/05/2023 05:43

The worst thing is the random screaming in the night. And then they go peacefully back to sleep and have no recollection of it in the morning, whereas you're awake from 4am with one eye twitching.

swedex · 05/05/2023 05:43

The best bit is when they get to an age where they stay up as late as you so you don't get an evening and so you decide getting up early is the only way to get any time to yourself!😬

BotherThat · 05/05/2023 05:43

The early starts DO end. But after 5 years of it, my body still wakes me up at 5am out of habit despite everyone else being asleep 🫣

Neurodiversitydoctor · 05/05/2023 05:46

Driving out to unfamiliar addresses at midnight to collect drunken teens for me was much worse than 5am cookie making and stickers.

Cactus2022 · 05/05/2023 05:47

5am starts where they haven't eaten since dinner at 5pm previously, so at 5:05 they kick off with a raging hangry tantrum and are so besides themselves they refuse to eat the food you're presenting them that will almost certainly make them feel better (and stop screaming at 5am)🙄

Original poster
Iheartherain · 05/05/2023 05:47

Someone always has to say teens are worse but I’m honestly failing to see it? I mean that IS shit, but was it every single night, without fail?

OP posts:
NellyDElephant · 05/05/2023 05:50

It does get better OP - I’m now at the point where my children are all going to bed later than me, I’m tucked up by 9pm most evenings! Bliss

MsChatterbox · 05/05/2023 05:53

I agree! I've had 5 years of early starts (at one point it was regularly 3am 😩. So now 5am I say well at least it's not 3... It's amazing what you will be grateful for 😂). But honestly just start doing things in the evening even though you're tired. For me going to bed earlier doesn't actually give me that extra energy I desire so I just started going to the gym etc.. It's really hard to convince myself to go to anything but once I'm there I don't usually feel the tiredness I get an extra buzz! And life feels a lot more fulfilling.

lottie2888 · 05/05/2023 05:57

Oh yes! I hated that. Especially in the winter when it was essentially still nighttime.
it does get better but like a previous poster said, it seems to be so ingrained that I continue to wake up ultra early. On an upside I can hear my teen who is awake and about to leave for college and I don’t have to go downstairs and watch milkshake with her!

Waitingroompurplecup · 05/05/2023 06:01

The worst thing is them waking in the night at regular intervals to then vomit all over you. And the bedding and themselves and your hair and carpet.
And then infect everyone else with d&v so the saga lasts for a week or more and everyone is sleeping on towels because there’s no bedding left.

But the lack of sleep in general is what is slowly killing all parents. Chip chip chip. Every night our youth is being chipped away at by lack of sleep.

They are so cute though.

casingchars · 05/05/2023 06:01

My 6yo tiptoes down the stairs so he doesn't wake me, bless him. Unfortunately his tiptoeing resembles the shuffling of a drunken elephant.

pbdr · 05/05/2023 06:03

It's 4am in this house Sad I used to love a lie-in, so the idea that my next one is probably many many years away is a little bit heartbreaking.

Wfhandbored · 05/05/2023 06:04

Yeah we're back here again! The clocks changing gave us 6am for a few weeks and we've slowly crept back to 5 and we're all shattered. DD wakes up singing and dancing so there's that which is nice but it also means there's not a chance in hell she's going back to sleep 🫠

MaverickSnoopy · 05/05/2023 06:09

My now 4yo woke at 5am daily from 4mo until 2.5yo. It shifted to 5.30am until she was nearly 4 and for the last 6 months or so it's been 6am. Today she woke at 5.40am, sometimes she'll sleep until 6.30am. Sometimes I think it just takes a "while" for them to grow out of it...I hope.

Tinybrother · 05/05/2023 06:11

They either grow out of it or they grow out of needing you to be awake with them.

SalmonEile · 05/05/2023 06:15

Questionquestionqu · 05/05/2023 05:37

No the worst thing is when they wake at 5am AND go 'let's pretend I'm a horse and you're the horse's sister' 😑

I feel this in my soul

whosaidtha · 05/05/2023 06:26

It sounds as though you're doing every morning? Do you have a partner who can do half? Then you can do stuff in the evenings 50% of the time.

NCgoingdry · 05/05/2023 06:29

swedex · 05/05/2023 05:43

The best bit is when they get to an age where they stay up as late as you so you don't get an evening and so you decide getting up early is the only way to get any time to yourself!😬

I'm dreading this. Those years are upon us so soon and I think the only reason I've survived parenthood so far is because once 8pm comes I can throw myself on the sofa and fully switch off from being mum for a couple of hours.

MrsHsGirl · 05/05/2023 06:30

Questionquestionqu · 05/05/2023 05:37

No the worst thing is when they wake at 5am AND go 'let's pretend I'm a horse and you're the horse's sister' 😑

I'm sorry but this is HILARIOUS 😂

Mamette · 05/05/2023 06:31

I had black out blinds that Velcro-ed all around the window reveals. I was militant about them.

evuscha · 05/05/2023 06:32

Mine is able to sleep til 8 which is glorious, but her bedtime is a bit insane, often around 10pm… There is no winning in this game.
Move their bedtime to later if you want them to wake up later.