To be horrified I used to wake at this time every day?

[iusedto]

At 18 months my previously crap sleeper started sleeping through (mostly) but swapped multiple night wakings for waking very, very early - 5-530 generally.

This lasted for around a year. Then he dropped his nap and sort of shifted that sleep to the morning. Gradually he’s been waking later and later and now sometimes I have to wake him. (Not often.)

I have a ‘new’ 18 month old who thankfully doesn’t seem as inclined to start the day when it’s still the middle of the night but she did just wake me about half an hour ago and I am waiting for her to go back to sleep.

But - AIBU to be horrified this was a habitual start time if you like for me once upon a time? I’ve given myself such a hard time about not properly enjoying ds as a toddler but I kind of think no wonder; I must have been sick with exhaustion!

personally the idea of doing an online hiit class at 10pm is horrific! but i suppose you think doing it at 5.30am is also horrific!

No, I wouldn’t do one at either time 🤷🏻‍♀️. I workout in my lunch breaks. Just pointing out that something isn’t more virtuous because it’s early, rather than late!

I am up at 5am by the way, but not doing workouts. I’m just spending my time stopping my autistic child from injuring himself or burning the house down, generally. No smugness, I’d rather be asleep.

Oh, I’m not, not any more. My 5am days ended around summer / autumn 23, when DS dropped his nap. I’m just woken up by his sister now but like her mother she is a slovenly sort and stays in her cot until about 630/7. So sympathy I don’t care about. I just woke up this morning (courtesy of the toddler, but she did go to sleep again) and thought dear god … this was once my start time to the day.

I realise the rest of the world were duly arising then and my laziness is noted.

I take it your partner also hates early
morning OP? even more than you?

Indeed, although my normal wake up time is around 7, and my normal bed time around 10-11, which despite what MN claim is fairly normal!

I don’t hate the early morning. More the middle of the night I hate

Yes, this would be my natural pattern too if left to my own devices!

ok so presume your partner hates 5am even more than you?

It's not moral superiority.

Those of us saying about competitive sport are pointing out we have to do it because of that.

No - I wouldn't choose to be up at 4am - but I chose to allow ds to start swimming and it turns out he's good at it and so I decided he could join the performance squad when invited even though that meant early starts.

It's more pointing out it's possible to adjust your body clock for other reasons other than the drag of getting up with a toddler! (For which I sympathise because I've been there 😂)

It sounds horrific to me, but I’m one of natures’s owls. Perimenopause has not remotely changed this!

When I shared a car with my ex we would have to be up at 4:15. It was horrible, I usually wake up around 5:15 - 5:45 now that I'm WFH.

I agree, the early starts are horrendous unless you are naturally a morning person and go to bed early. The days would feel so long and you can't really go anywhere til 9 or 10. I was lucky mine woke at 7am onwards once they settled into a routine, but some of my friends were up with their kids at 5-6am for years. It does seem quite normal, and as pp say, not bad if you can work your sleep patterns around it, but for me as a night owl, early starts are the worst!

I used to feel nauseous if the day started far too early and yes I understand that people get up at 5am ever day for work but those people are obviously built differently. I’m a night owl, no problem doing a workout at 9pm, but I need a solid 9 hours sleep for optimal functioning. Always have done.

Difficult to sympathise...wake up at this time for work as do many commuters 🤔

And I wake up at that time due to my autistic child. Still hate it though, and sympathise with others who have to be up at that time when they don’t want to be.

I leave the house at 20 to 7 to catch the bus to work. I hate rushing around in the morning so get up at 5 or 5.30 (occasionally a bit earlier if I need to finish some marking that I'd brought home the night before).

I've been going to bed later and later since school broke up and have been getting up later and later each morning.

Not looking forward to going back to work next week. I'm going to miss my lie ins.

My body clock would naturally have me waking at 10 or 11 in the morning, I suppose at least the natural early risers don't get called lazy 😫

oooh, no, 5am was still night time to me. I was lucky in that I only had a part time job when my youngest was a baby, it was only one weekend day (when DH wasn't working) so the preschool years were lurrvely! I really appreciated those couple of years of having the choice of when to get up.

I'm hardcore stubborn though, I aimed for 7am get-ups and just refused to get them up before about 6.15am at all. Occasionally they'd sleep later than 7am if a bit under the weather or teething and had a bad night, and sometimes in the summer or on holiday somehwere different they'd be awake from 6.20am or something, just babbling in their cots for a bit. But I just didn't get them up if it was before 6am. They always went back to sleep if left.

I was strict with daytime naps though. Never let them sleep too long or too late into the afternoon. Had it pitch dark and quiet in their bedrooms. I was too much of a control freak about it though, because it meant that they rarely fell asleep in their prams on a day out. Too much going on.

Mind you, my kids aren't naturally morning people I don't think. They're both at uni normally and a couple of times while at home for the holidays have just been coming home at 5am!!

Yeah, it's wierd how early risers are thought of as productive because they're "seizing the day" and the opposite of lazy, yet can go to bed at 9.30pm, while someone who prefers to get up later and go to bed later mgiht get exactly the same amount of hours sleep but are somehow seen as more lazy.

Horses for courses.

A lot of jobs start at 9.00am though, that's not unusual. Getting up 4 hours before you need to start work would be more unusual.

Can you imagine the MN threads at the time? "Some nutter is out playing in the garden with the kids and cleaning her bloody rabbits out at 4.40am!! AIBU to ask her to keep it to a more civilised time next time? The sun is barely up. If this was winter it would still be dark for another 3 hours!!"

@leafybrew waking on your own at 4/5am is a lot different to waking to a toddler at 5am who wants entertaining and immediate attention. Completely different!

My 8yo DSs has just stopped a 10 month spell of getting up at 3am. Before that he would sleep until 5, but with 6171561871 wake ups (that may be slight an exaggeration). Sometimes he wakes up at 11pm and decides he’s done for the night.

I am tired to my very core and would probably dance out of bed for 7am get up if offered 😂

sounds like a teething thing? Right at the age where if something is niggling them a bit they can't get back to sleep easily.