5yr old early riser

[Rowgtfc72]

DD is nearly five, Reception class started in September. She has slept through 7-7 from two weeks old. Five weeks ago she starts waking four five times a night. Now she wants to be up at six every day. We have bought her an alarm clock and she is very aware what is an acceptable time to get up. Makes no difference. She spends a lot of the time tired and grouchy,she is obviously not getting enough sleep. Have tried later nights,earlier nights. School says there are no problems they are aware of. Any ideas as we are not used to this sleep deprivation thing !

Two things spring to mind, is anything worrying her at school and is she getting enough to eat?

As for the early rising, both have mine have had a clock in their bedroom from 2, been taught to read 7am and are not allowed out until then. They can read books or play with toys, I don't really care as long as they don't bother me.

If she gets up, offer her some milk and a snack and a wee and tell her you'll see her again at 7am.

School say nothing is wrong, she is very happy and very popular. She eats like a horse. This morning she didnt wake till almost seven so I sent her back up for ten minutes and made a big fuss when she came back down. We seem to spend more time telling her off these days so might try some positive reiinforcement ! Thanks for the suggestions though !

Glad you had a better morning and that she is loving school .

It could be that she's hungry and not getting enough before bedtime to sustain her through the night. I should think their metabolism rises as they are more active at school. Try a bedtime snack or a later tea?

Also it could be the cold. As they get bigger they feel the cold more.

She has tea at five and no snack before bed. Tea is just sarnies or boiled eggs or beans on toast. Will try a snack before bedtime. Six o clock start again this morning but trotted back up to bed when asked with no complaints. Thanks for all the advice!

Glad she went back for you when asked. Tea sounds ok, does she have pudding too?

Yes. yoghurt or chocolate mousse or any cake thats knocking about. Im not a saint shes having a bar of Christmas chocolate most days as well ! Dp suggested we give a some toast when she gets in from school and then her tea later rather than do supper so we dont mess around with her bedtime routine(she goes to bed and sleep no problem) I think what helps is shes lost the attitude and does just seem generally cranky from lack of sleep. Toying with reinstating the afternoon nap on the weekend -we only dropped them in august. At least the two or three trips to the loo in the night have stopped. Maybe she is just adjusting to waking earlier for school and we should go with it.

Do you know am experiencing the same with my dd, since practically birth was 7-7 sleeper and dropped any daytime sleep from about 14 months. When she started in nursery half days in sept 2010 it all changed, tried everything, diet changes, melatonin, gro clock bunny clock ignoring her, reinforcing each other. Her worst night was bed at 7.45 and awake at 9.30 with no break and no word of a lie until 4am. We had this from last oct 2010 and this settled by aug 2011. It was a nightmare. Only problem now is a 5.15 am early riser. Am deffo gonna do digital clock and toast on arrival from school with tea later and milk and biscuit for the morning in her room. Please keep the ideas coming. Also my dd has cp.

Hi manc ! DD knows the time on the clock, getting her to comply is another thing ! Weve told her half seven on a weekend and shes sort of stuck to it. Judging by the state of her bedroom floor shes awake a lot earlier but shes not waking us. Dp pleased but Im still thinking shes not getting enough sleep if shes used to 12 hrs. Going to stick with snack when she comes in from school this week. Darent have drinks in her room as shes clumsy and will end in much screaming ! Dd did go down the five o clock route but we bartered it down to seven in half hr intervals(or two octonaut episodes as shes only 4 and has no concept of half an hour) Think Dd just having the extra hour sleep from five to six made lots of difference to her behaviour. Would still prefer a magic wand tuned to four year olds though !

I think a lot of this is to do with their metabolism increasing as they are more active. If you time it right you could all eat dinner together which will save time for everyone! If they have tea at 5, they will have burned that up by 8 or 9.

I totally agree horsetowater, have tried these techniques now for two nights, spouted cup with watered down squash and two milk biscuits in room and a couple of quiet toys in her room, digital clock that only lights up when you tap it and about 100 reminders about the number 7 on the clock. Also toast and decaf tea at 4 with evening meal at 6 and lo and behold she's still waking at 5-6 but plays in her room. I'm not saying it's the cure but I'm gonna take this as long as it lasts. I think with kids you get used to solving one problem and they're growing all the time and you have to be dynamic with your approach but often and I speak from real experience here it takes ages to figure out what's going on. I only wish they told you all this before you have a baby, but then I guess if they did the human race would grind to a halt. The good times far outway the bad times but sleep deprivation has got to be the worst form of torture.

That's great news that worked Manc1. If your dd has cp (mine has dev. delay) it is easy to get stuck in a rut. Mine sometimes doesn't know her own needs and so can't express them. I found myself doing the same thing for years and realising that she should have moved on from that stage long before, and could have. The progression is different and so I would slow things down for her and then suddenly she would shoot ahead in development.

And regarding food, I always give them as much as they want within reason, but they definitely need more before bed than we do as they sleep for much longer.