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Parenting

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Original poster

Would you let your 4 year old watch tv downstairs alone in the morning while you slept?

77 replies

hattyyellow · 03/12/2009 15:28

One of our DC (she is 4.4) has started waking very early. We got fed up of her jumping into our bed and wriggling nonstop and told her she had to stay in bed.

DH then told her, without telling me, that if she really couldn't get back to sleep she could go downstairs and watch c-beebies.

Something in my head feels this is all wrong and I don't know why. The doors are locked so she can't get out of the house. There is a woodburning stove in the sitting room but it has a fireguard and it would be pretty hard for her to get that off and wrench open the door to the stove which is pretty stiff.

I think after years of my parents limiting tv and us limiting her tv, I don't feel she should be watching it in the morning. Especially by herself. This morning was the first time I heard her go downstairs and I felt dreadful as I dozed off again (had been up with baby in night) and woke up an hour later. I don't like to think of her downstairs unattended for an hour by herself. The last few days she has tiptoed down so quietly we haven't even heard her which also panics me a bit.

Does anyone else let their DC do this? Will some awful tragedy befall her that I haven't thought of? Any advice gratefully recieved.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

thatsnotmymonster · 03/12/2009 20:59

Yes mine do it (ages 19mths, 3.5 and nearly 5). Been doing it since they were about 2! Though we do live in a bungalow and our room is right next to sitting room, only it doesn't work that well as they come into our room every 3minutes asking us to get up.

Can't wait till they can get their own breakfasts. If they get hungry they will have a banana or eat dry weetabix but it does make a mess

IMO 4yo are usually quite sensible and will come to you if they need anything.

Our 4yo comes and tells us if the little ones are doing anything they shouldn't etc!

Lapsedrunner · 03/12/2009 21:05

I don't have a problem from a safety issue but I have never let DS (now 7) get up and watch TV. Only ever watches morning TV at the weekend after breakfast.

deofster · 03/12/2009 21:07

mine are too young to be downstairs alone (I think) but I sometimes put cbeebies on upstairs in my bedroom while I doze for a bit longer.

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nigglewiggle · 03/12/2009 21:11

I did that deofster when DD2 was tiny and waking 2-3 times a night and DD1 started the day at 5am! We now have no TV in our room, so it's not an option. I''d have to go for dozing on the sofa.

Caz10 · 03/12/2009 21:16

I do that too deofster, DD is 23mths so too young to be getting up on her own anyway, so I carry her through from her cot and put something on from Sky+ that I know will last a good half hour. Prop her up on pillows, snuggle into her (lovely!) and zonk back to sleep! Bliss! And that half hour really does make a difference.

Feelingforty · 03/12/2009 21:26

My Dd age 6 does it VERY rarely (if DH want's a cuddle ) but I don't think it's very good for them...something not quite right about watching tv first thing in the morning. So my DD's will play in their bedrooms. I know where you are coming from though with the sleep & feel a bit quilty having a snooze when she is playing.

I think the best thing is to get one of those clocks with the ears that go up/down & agree a reasonable time for her to get out of bed & then for her to play in her bedroom.

monkeyfacegrace · 03/12/2009 21:35

I live on one level too, so my bedroom is next to the living room. Im a bugger for putting my 11mnth old in his highchair infront of the tv then passing out again for a while. Then my 3 yr old wakes up and goes through, and they play peep-bo or she reads him stories! Its sooo cute and means that instead of me dragging myself up at 7, I get to sleep until 8.30ish, and I swear Im a better mummy all day for it. And just to make myself feel better, they are only allowed to watch disney classics, and then no tv for the rest of the day (except music channel while we have a danceathon after lunch!)

BaronessBarbaraKingstanding · 03/12/2009 21:46

Mine have been doing this from about 4/5yrs at the weekend. It's a treat for them and us!

i do think it depends on your child/children though. Mine are quite calm cautious boys who i know wil just watch Tv until they come up asking for breakfast, but i know children who would be much more adventurous and would be looking for other thinsg to do than watch ttv, so then it woul feel less safe and realxing.

roseability · 03/12/2009 22:19

LOL ChickensHaveNoTinsel 'my eldest is a total goody-two-shoes, and a grass, so I soon hear if anything untoward is going on'

Made my day

Oh and yes my 3.8 year old sometimes watches a bit of TV if he is up early and I have had a broken night (He is an early riser but my 6 month old lies in!)

Oblomov · 03/12/2009 22:51

Shocked at Ewe's comment about aren't you worried about them choking etc etc. Ummm. No. Not at all.
Do you never leave your child on their own then ?
Mind you , suppose as others have said it depends on the child. My son would watch tv for hours, doesn't touch wine glasses or plugs or anything. My nephew causes havoc within minutes.
Sad to see that Op even had to ask.
Of course its o.k. my lovely.
Isn't sad that we even question ourselves about such things today.

Ewe · 04/12/2009 00:01

I only have a 20month old Oblomov, I was very much asking from a position of total naivety, not being judgey or anything.

And no, she can be an absolute nightmare so is rarely left alone! Always getting up to mischief and everything goes in her mouth and she tends to be a bit of a heaver (which I hope she grows out of!) - a bog standard toddler.

I guess when you're talking four and five year olds it's a different kettle of fish though and assume you can mainly trust them to be a bit sensible by that age. Bloody hope so, I love my sleep.

knotswapper · 04/12/2009 00:20

I am clearly an idiot for continuing to get up with my DD, who is 7 next week.

In my defence, she's always been an early riser - any time from 4am as a toddler, so I made sure she wasn't getting up to watch the tv, so banned it until 7am.

Even now, she still can wake up any time from 5am and I have tried everything to keep her in her room/asleep but to no avail, she hates being on her own.

That's still in force, so no point in letting her get up without me. If I let her get up at any time and watch tv she'd be up halfway through the night.

ladylush · 04/12/2009 10:16

Ewe - IKWYM. My ds put everything in his mouth til he was 3 so I wouldn't have felt comfortable at all letting him go downstairs on his own then. A year later it was fine.

WillowFae · 04/12/2009 10:23

We have a TV in our room and on a weekend our two (5 and 2) just come into our bed in the mornings. They sit there and watch CBeebies and we doze!

But they aren't early wakers. 8.30 is normally the earliest that they wake up.

blinks · 05/12/2009 15:10

t'other morning my 4yo woke up early and creeped downstairs to make 'breakfast' (ie enormous bowls of milk with 2 cheerios per person) for everyone.

she laid a table too with knives and forks and little thimbles of juice.

tee hee

GetOrfMoiLand · 05/12/2009 15:31

I would do this and have done, from about the same age. DD has always been the type of person who has to get out of bed the minute she wakes, she was fine watching the telly/videos at this age. The only mishap was when she carefully covered the TV screen, speakers and stand in a tub of sudocrem.

She is nearly 14 now and thankfully teenage hormones have taken over and she lies in of a morning. But there was a halcyon period when she was 10-12 when she used to make me tea and toast and bring it up to me in bed.

tulip27 · 05/12/2009 15:40

Yes lock the kitchen door. My ds aged 5 tried to bring us a cup of tea in bed. Only caught him boiling the kettle when i got up to use the loo. Scared me to death.

thelunar66 · 05/12/2009 15:43

DD used to get up at stupid o'clock (5am), so by the time she was 4 she could go down, let the dog out for a week and back in again, put video of Little Mermaid on and pour herself a glass of milk.

thelunar66 · 05/12/2009 15:43

sorry... let the dog out for a wee.... NOT a week

tobago04 · 05/12/2009 15:53

Yes we do this,dd1 who is 4.9 usually gets up first at about 5.30-6am,i just take her down stairs get her a drink and breakfast and put the telly on,and shes quite happy tucked up under a blanket,then i do the same when dd2 who's just turned 3 gets up,dd1 even made us toast this morning

nippersnappers · 05/12/2009 16:01

My two boys do this all the time,

however, if I were you I would

a, remove any chocolate advent calendars from their reach

b, make sure you set parental controls on sky (if you have it)

A £115 phone bill from the kids playing sky games is a rude awakening

FrayedKnot · 05/12/2009 16:16

Sometimes I wish DS would do this!

He won't go downstairs on his own first thing (he's 5.9), nor will he read a book or get any toys out.

Instead he gets into my bed, wriggles, moans, and engages me in ludicrous conversations, until I give in and get up

FrayedKnot · 05/12/2009 16:18

That's if he actually spent the night in his own bed anyway

I haven;t needed an alarm clock for 5 years.

annoyingdevil · 05/12/2009 16:27

Yes, but by the time I've hoisted myself downstairs to put Cbeebies on, I reckon I may as well put the kettle on. So not so much as a lie in, more a cup of coffee in bed.

tokentotty · 06/12/2009 01:24

Having had 2 smallies 16 months apart, my idea of heaven is the eldest taking his baby sister down to watch tv so I can catch up on the previous 3 years sleep...

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