Morning TV solutions

[KindnessIsKey123]

Back in the day when we woke up early, we would go downstairs sit on the sofa and choose one of four channels on the TV.

My son has decided to start waking up at 5 am. He is aged five. We usually get till six or 630. I think it is a stage, but we both have stressful jobs and are at the edge of burnout. I can get up, switch on an TV or iPad and hand it to him but then it’s really hard to get in bed and get back to sleep for another hour. I’m trying to think of solutions he could maybe operate himself. He plays in his room but ends up banging about and waking us all up.

Has anyone worked out a way a child could watch TV and operate it on their own? If we hand him the remote he once ended up nearly buying a lawnmower on Amazon!!

Does anyone have any solutions? I’m more than happy to buy a child specific product if they are out there. we have a Tonie and loads of toys.

Just need a few weeks relief from these crack of dawn mornings. Already going to bed at 9:30.

Thank you.

How about real books/ lego/ other toys that encourage creativity. Why default to tv?!

Otherwise get up earlier and spend time with him, and go to bed earlier.

How old is he? I’m thinking that if he isn’t old enough to switch on an iPad he might not be old enough to be knocking around unsupervised? I remember when I was pregnant with my second child my eldest started waking really early, she would come into bed with me and watch her iPad. That meant I could sleep a bit longer. I think there were many hours of Charlie and Lola and Hey Duggie in these months.

He can stay in his room and listen to his Tonie can’t he?

My daughter has been able to turn the ipad on and select what she wants from age 4, so it should be easy to teach him. And that's not from constant ipad use either, I think they're just designed to be very intuitive. She know which apps are for her.

Good grief.
Go back to bed, son. Is his room light? Can you get black out curtains?
Audio books are good. I don’t know what a Tonie is, can you set it to tell a story? But don’t underestimate the effect of a sharp, “it’s too early, I need to sleep, go away”

My youngest two were up sharp this morning. They're 10 and 8. We just get up with them as there's no other choice. Can't get peace if leaving them as they carry on so we end up intervening and getting upset we cannot rest. Easier to just accept that's it for the day. Early to bed at night is the only upside. We are usually exhausted all day. Been through similar with my older two DC. They're teens now and sleep all day now if left!!! Swings the other way.

Honestly an iPad at 5 am is hit encouraging it.
Just give him a clock or even a gro clock and tell him to go back to bed.
I don’t think several weeks of his own tv is going to teach him to eventually go back to bed.

Hope you find a solution OP🤞

We tried groclocks with mine, they just ignored them.

1- put him back to bed
2- he gets in your bed
3- get up with him and supervise him
you are enabling his early starts by giving him an iPad to keep him ‘quiet’

Last thing at night put your TV onto the cbeebies channel and then all he has to do is press the on button on the remote to watch it.

Perfect, thank you.
might sign off now before pile on starts about letting him watch TV.

Giving him an iPad when he's up earlier than you like has constituted a 'reward' for getting up early, so you've positively reinforced this particular behaviour and (no doubt unintentionally!) thus encouraged it.

I'd suggest setting a boundary now that there are no screens before 6.30am so he can either sleep later, listen to his Tonie, or play in his bedroom until then.

Aren't you rewarding him getting up too early by giving him TV access? Make early mornings boring, maybe there will be less incentive to be up and about!

5am wake ups are truly awful.

I highly recommend the tommee tippee black out blind that suctions to the window ( even if you already have normal black out blinds/curtains).

My DS had started waking up earlier than usual the last few weeks as it’s got lighter.. started using the black out blind again and he’s sleeping longer.

I'd be wary of rewarding the early wake ups. What's wrong with letting him play in his room exactly?

I would be more inclined to say if he can stay in bed or play quietly until 6.30, as a reward he gets to watch TV then.

My 5yo is told to play in her room. She has books she can read, colouring, Lego and toys to play with.

She doesn't have the password for any of the tablets but she can use her tablet completely unaided once it has been unlocked though. We bought her here own tablet as this allowed us to heavily lock it down. We have an app that has a separate password to leave and it shows a selection of apps we have preselected. It doesn't have any web browser, you tube etc.

She is able to turn the TV on herself and navigate to the different stations and find what she wants to watch. We have an old TV and use a fire stick type thing to turn it into a smart TV and it is fairly simple to use. The front page has bbciplayer, itvX, all4 and 5od. We only have streaming services occasionally so most of the time she's restricted to the standard channels which makes things easier to navigate. She knows that she's only allows to turn the TV on if she is given permission first but once given the go ahead she's able to do it independently.

I'd maybe simplify the TV setup and see if it can be made suitable

Are you not concerned he’s downstairs alone when you are asleep?
Yes at 5 he should be capable of being left unsupervised if you are up and about but I think to give him free rein when you are asleep is quite risky op.

Tablet with a screen lock on.

Gro clocks and black out blinds didn’t work for either of my children, total waste of money! They’re still early risers now at 10 and 8 (although the 10 year old gives us to about 6-6.30am most days now). They’ll either go for an iPad or listen to their audio boxes and just rest in bed.

If you’re set on letting him watch something, either tell him he can come and climb in with you and you’ll leave the iPad nearby so he can get it and not really disturb you, or leave it outside his bedroom door and he can get it when he wakes and then get back into his own bed. I think you’ll just have to teach him to use it to get to Netflix or whatever you’re happy for him to watch.

let him have a late night...

Tonight I'll let my son stay up late. he likes it as a Friday night treat... and the bonus is that he wakes up a bit later on Saturday.

(has to be late enough that it actually works... 30 minutes later will make no difference)

Or just alternate days with your partner.

E.g. Saturday you get a lay in.. Sunday husband gets a lay in..