3yr old wakes at 6.30am - what do you do with them?

[omri]

Just want to know what people do with their kids when they wake so early. I've a 4 month old baby and am tired so early in the morning. My 3yo ds has started waking at 6.30ish every morning and I've started letting him watch tv for an hour or more until baby wakes at 8ish for a feed.
I know it's bad but can't face getting up with him! Ds is never v hungry in the morn and can easily wait til 8.30 for his porridge.

Just wondering what others do in similar situations?
It's a bad habit now ...

My DD4 is 3 and wakes up at 5.30am. She's always been an early riser but in the summer she's terrible for it.
I just give her the iPad next to me in bed and fall asleep again.
Sometimes it works, more often she wakes dd3 aged 4 up and they start jumping all over me and I wearily get up.
I have been known to doze off on the sofa with them watching telly downstairs once they've calmed down.
They are in bed by 7pm generally though and don't have any naps.
Sympathies.
It doesn't last forever.
My DS is 18 and I now have to pour water on him to wake him up.
I'd really love to do that but I'm too nice

Both children went through a year long phase of waking at 4.15 every, single morning. With the first one we spent a lot of time in 24 hour supermarkets as they were the only things open.

TV or let DS play on my phone sitting next to me in bed.

Our 12 year old DS was always a 5 am riser and is still up well before 6 most days. DD was always impossible to get to sleep but would sleep in til 10 every day if I let her. Same routines for both, very different outcomes. So although there are some great tips on here alas I think there's sometimes not much you can do about it if you've already done blackout curtains, limiting daytime sleeps etc.

As they get older you can insist on them playing/reading in their rooms until a given time, but until then, sympathy. You just have to get through it and cling to the fact that it doesn't last forever. I used to cry with fatigue some days, and/or conk out on DS's bedroom floor while he ran amok with his toys around me. By the time I got to work I'd already done a four hour childcare shift plus a commute...then people would call me a 'part-timer', grr!

We get up and start the day, the baby is usually up by 6am anyway. Despite loving my sleep, I don't appear to have produced children who feel the same way!

Ooof, dd wakes up at about 8ish and comes to collect the iPad then shuffles off back to her room. The baby tends to eat at 5am and then sleep until 9:30 when we all get up. What is the point of being a SAHM if you get no lie in :p although dd stopped having her nap at 1.5 years and is now almost 4.

I think mums are far too harsh on themselves- it is crucial to keeping sanity for kids to enjoy the odd chocolate bar, playing on their own or god forbid watching television! But I am a particularly lazy lie in fiend so dd has adapted. This doesn't detract from the meals we eat (sometimes processed chicken nuggets and chips, sometimes homemade stir fry) television watched or time spent in the park!

I realise that I haven't answered the questions in the OP but I would not feel bad for doing whatever keeps you most sane and both happiest! They won't go cross eyed from watching TV in the mornings- or having a morning box of things to do? Crayons and paper/ picture books/ simple puzzles / sticker books etc. maybe they could get this out every morning and play quietly but not be allowed it throughout the day so it is special?

3yo DD wakes up at 6.30, sometimes she comes pattering through to our room, to check if we are up.
She knows she has to stay in her room until we get up.

I usually hear her playing with her teddies. We all get up at 7 anyway, so not long to wait.

6.30 is early if you're not used to it! I think it's far too early, and so does the OP!

Another vote for the Gro Clock. 'ITS YELLOW!!!' is our wakeup now, then it's into our bed for ipad and cuddles.

baking at 0630...

6.30?! You don't know you're born, OP!

My 3yo gets up at about 6 - 630am, and always wakes the baby up. I'm interested to read the post above from kippersmum about doing crafts instead of TV and how that impacted getting up time. Because we are always woken by marching footsteps and a voice saying "milk and TV please. Now." I'm going to try that, thank you, great suggestion.

6.30 is too early. Six years later every fibre in my body screams. I started baking with DS to cut down on almost constant TV watching the very cold, wet winter dd was born.

So are there actually many 3 year olds who wake up after 6.30 am then?! Lucky people who have one of those, both my boys would be awake early no matter what time they went to bed the night before

DS1 wakes up between 6.30 and 7.30 - but he knows I am not to be woken before 7am unless it's an emergency

Goodness, I missed the post about baking! I have enough trouble finding my slippers at 630am, let alone baking implements and recipes.

ITS YELLOW!!

That's how it goes in our house too now

"What colour is your clock?"
"Ohhhh... it's blue..."

All 'successful' wake-ups have now been changed from a bellowing "Muuuummmeeeeee" to a slightly less grating "MY CLOCK IS YELLOW!!!!"

Have read this thread with a wry smile. DS slept past 7 am for the first time in his life on his 13th birthday - but tbh the whole family except him has to be out of the house by 7.20 am in term time, so we've all just adjusted our body clocks...

He was a 5 am waker for years and years and years. He learned to tell the time on a digital clock VERY early [with encouragement!] so our mornings started with the glad yell 'The first number is now SEVEN!!' he was allow to look at books [an unexected side effect was that he taught himself to read] and play quietly with his cars and car mat in his room.

)))))))) Early morning tv ((((((((

thick curtains to keep the room dark till a sensible time
books / toys in the end of the bed at the end of the cot
zero tolerance for waking others up

)))))))) screen time ((((((((

think forwards ten years to the patterns you are building

my kids go to bed later than I do : but three are no screens in bedrooms. Never have been, never will be.