If you have a preschooler that still wakes really early

[BiscuitLover3678]

how do you manage the mornings? I’m feeling really guilty atm as we’ve got into such bad habits. If he’s up 5ish he’ll sit in bed with me and look at my phone (either a kids show on iPlayer or YouTube kids app) whilst I doze. Then we go downstairs, sort breakfast and coffee whilst tv is on in the background. Yep already too much tv I know.

Im trying to limit this and will just delete YouTube I think but honestly how else do you get through the day? It’s easier when he goes to preschool for a bit but I’ve realised I exceed this magic ‘1 hour a day.’ :( I try and set different activities up and it’s better when we get out of the house, but the morning is hard. Crappy weather isn’t helping.

Any tips?

Get him a gro clock and teach him to use it. Start slowly, maybe 15 mins after he naturally wakes and then slowly move it round until it's at a more reasonable time.

Put some quiet toys in his room that he can play with independently.

Stop putting the TV on in the morning. Go cold turkey.

I like the idea of the groclock. He’s in our room by that point so box of toys doesn’t quite work.

I’ve always told mine that it’s too early to get up and to go back to sleep/lie quietly. 5am is the middle of the night for me-no way would they be getting up then or watching you tube in bed.
I’ve never let mine get up before 7am. It’s something I was always really strict about and consistent with.

I’d maybe start moving it back gradually though-if he gets up at 5am then maybe do 15 minutes a day where he is told to go back to sleep/lie quietly and move it gradually back. Do what you’d do if he woke at 2/3am, assuming you’d do whatever it took to get him back to sleep.

Don't beat yourself up - having an early riser is brutal. Have you tried a gro clock? 8/10 times it gets us to 6am now. A toniebox is the other thing that has been a game changer on morning screen time for us. When he does wake before 6 he knows he should set up a story on his box until his clock goes yellow. We have a 3 episode limit on TV in the morning which is 15-30 mins depending on what he's watching - after that it's time to play/read/get ready for pre-school.

My pre school age child watches his tablet if he’s up before 6am which is quite frequent; we have a gro clock and he knows that we won’t be going downstairs until the sun comes up on it but it’s never worked with him to get him to go back to sleep or lie quietly. I have accepted that it’s how we survive and even if I did get up with him we’d still be just watching tv downstairs as I’d be too sleepy to do much else

My 2 both early risers and there's no way I am entertaining them before 8am! They're in nursery 845-1530, a few hours of TV before that is not going to do them any harm.

Honestly don’t worry , my 3 year old has starting waking at 530 this week and shouting for the iPad I’ve said no and try and get him to go back to sleep in my bed since he’s crept in there in the night 😩once it’s 6 I just give into him, what else are we meant to do get up and start colouring and playing ? No thanks -if im not working that day we don’t go downstairs before 7 and he will be on the iPad in my bed. Then downstairs breakfast and tv on and he can play with toys , I’m not alive untill after 8 even then barely if I’ve been awake since 530😂

I have an early riser, he's 3 in December and has been an early riser since at least his 1st birthday! We get some luxurious periods of 7am wakes but mostly it's anything between 4.45 and 6.30 no matter what we try!

We tried a gro clock but although he understands it, he still seems to need one of us in with him once he's up and also, very often once he's up, he's up. A Tonie box has really helped, I lay in his bed and listen to a story for a bit if he wakes super early. I usually take him down about 6ish and yeah we watch telly for a bit while we have toast and chat about what's happening that day. Then it goes off and we read, play, get ready for nursery etc. We're usually out and about most of the days either at work/nursery or park, shops or wherever so if he watches cbeebies while the rest of the world wakes up I'm not gonna beat myself up.

Don't be hard on yourself op, early risers are hard work bless them! Try things like gro clocks (they do work wonders for some!) story boxes, quiet toys but also some telly in the early hours won't hurt them, especially if it's balanced out across the whole (long) day with stuff like books, fresh air, toys, activities and all that jazz.

Thing is that would take at least an hour 😂 assuming I could get him to sleep! I’ve tried before and such a waste of time and I’m awake and broke for the day.

Thanks this is really helpful

We do gro clock and Toniebox for the 3 year old - yoto player for the 6 year old - it really helps as they can control it themselves and I am happy for them to have it in their rooms.

I also like the Vooks app as being like YouTube but much gentler and less intense. They have some free content you could try

I went to bed early and got up early with DTs, nothing else helped. They still get up before six now and they're 11. We used to downstairs and I would mainline coffee before going to work and they watched that awful show on CBeebies granny Murray

We do a gro clock and managed to get a regular stay in bed until 6.45 (from 5.30-6). We don't sleep longer, as when he's awake he's loud! Still nice to bed without the danger of being clambered over though. The gro clock isn't a miracle worker, we can't convince him to stretch to after 7, but it does mean we know exactly when we'll need to get up.