What do you DO with your early risers?

[stainesmassif]

Ds2 has decided on 5am as optimal getting up time. What do you do when your kids get up at sick o'clock? By which - watch tv or do you start your normal day etc?
Have tried cc for the mornings to no avail - just wondering how you fill all the extra time.

DD1 was an early riser. During the week I used to bring her into bed with me with a few books and a couple of toys. I would lie there with one eye open and wait until about 7ish.

I was very lucky at the weekends as DH is a very early riser so he would get up with her and I would have a lie in.

Marry an early riser. That's my top marriage tip

Currently sporting a black eye after being clonked by DS (1) with the baby monitor. Proper shiner, but I generally lie in bed groaning and handing him anything until he starts to push me out of bed .

He's no longer allowed the monitor to play with.

Right, so I was about to post an almighty moan about my two bleeders, but now I feel strangely soothed. I have two and they are both waking up before 6am, which is downright inconsiderate.

DD (3) is still sleeping in the afternoon, Shall I cut it out? And DS (1.5) wakes up the minute she shifts and therefore can't keeop his eyes open by elleven am, when he takes a half hr nap in his stroller. Then he is a right misery until I feed him lunch and put him back in bed after for another 1.5 hrs...

Any tips on whether I should stop their day time naps and how on Earth??

Masala, we tried cutting out the daytime naps and it just made him wake up at the usual time, with the added bonus of him being grumpy all late afternoon and evening! I still don't understand that.... He is also 3, and still naps occasionally in the afternoons if we've had a particularly busy morning followed by a car journey (as we often do on a weekend).

Springforward [Confused] thanks for sharing. Spoke to my boss and she said to cut the nap out and switch the telly on so DD feels like she's getting a treat. In meantime, to bring forward DS's lunch so he can sleep for two earlier hours. This way they'll both be exhausted by bedtime and hopefully sleep. In theory.

at twins2004. Ha.

If you think for one nanosecond that any of us get up out of choice you're sorely mistaken. I'm sure I am not alone when I say that after months of trying to get DS to go back to sleep, I've realised that getting him up is the easiest option. The theory of what you're saying is of course right. But in theory it's another matter and when faced with a determined sod that simply does not want to go back to sleep.

I have found this one of the most demoralising thing as a mum and find it a little galling TBH that you make it seem like we're all fecking idiots for getting up.

LittleMilla - you beat me to it!

Twins think you need to meet my friend, who also thinks all sleep problems are caused by lax parenting :)

with our DS, we tried putting him to bed later - result, he still woke at 5, but was beyond tired by about 9am.
tried limiting screen time - result, he slept worse than ever.
tried leaving out desirable toys in his room for him to play with - result, we ended up with desirable toys in our bed at 5am.
gro clock has yet to work, but he is only 31 months.

currently, we tend to ignore him until 6am or so, whilst he bounds around the place cackling, then DH takes him downstairs for the tv. I roll out of bed a bit later and do breakfast (but am v pg right now). I am looking forward to his teenage years when we can get revenge and wake him at 6am after he's been out late :o

one will wake and cry and wake the other up around 6:30 i get up and watch tv for a bit and get coffee then breakfast.

early morning starts are the worst part of parenting

I have early risers which in past years have been 5am-ers. I have conceded to putting them to bed at 7.30 now, so I can manage to get them to wake around 6am now and the gro clock says it's "sun up time" at 6.30 which is a big step forward for us. DS2 often gets up at 5.30 though. Our mornings go something like: 5.30-6am DS2 (2) wakes and moans, I go in with a sippy cup of cold milk and say it's not sun up time. AT 6.30 we go downstairs and do drawing/lego/ lots of stories whilst I cradle a beloved cup of tea. 7.30ish we have breakfast and only when they are dressed does the TV go on. Previous to this regime we were watching hideous amounts of TV (like, a whole movie before breakfast) and I felt dreadfully guilty about the huge amount of screen time. This way we stay calm, cozy and seated together, and after breakfast when I need to do other things, like shower they have cbeebies. Otherwise you can realise that they have had twice their recommended screen time before preschool.... not good. Good luck!

For the first time ever my ds2 (17 months) woke up at half 4, in the morning, all alive and chirpy. Running from one end of his cot to his other and making a din doing it That sucked. We don't have a telly in our bedroom so i took our laptop through, popped in a cartoon dvd and put it on low. And then went back to bed. He must have went back to sleep as he was sleeping when i woke up at half 7. Hopes to god that was a one off!

Lay on the settee groaning and moaning, whilst DS2 plays with toys or watches tv.

I make them watch BBC News, or some other boring shit like a recording of Later With Jools Holland

10mo DD wakes for the day at 5am and always has. If one of us doesn't at least wake up with her, the options are: (a) let her crawl/wriggle her way off the bed and hurt herself; (b) listen to her 1000 decibel yelling.

DS (3) has also always been up by 6.30am at the latest. DD now wakes him up with her incessant chatter and he comes into our room requesting telly

If they must make me wake at an ungodly hour, I will take my revenge by boring the shit out of them with grown up tv.