Is there any one out there using a gro clock and how on earth do you get a child to obey it ? 5am is just unacceptable !!!

[rockyroadahead]

ds is 2.6 has never been a great sleeper but is in a good routine now except getting up at anything between 5 and 7 am

he goes to bed at 8 pm this has been pushed gradually to this time as the mornings began to get earlier .
we go upstairs at 7.30 bath, moisturise, story , milk , cuddle and bed !
most of the time he goes straight down but if anything interferes with the routine for example if someone is round or if anything is different or if he hears the other parent go upstairs he wont go straight down and will need to be directed back to bed a few times .

he sleeps straight through un til 5 at the earliest but his waking time is anything between 5 and 7 ish he will call for mummy and daddy and will then cry if we don't get there quick enough.

he will then have a nap at 10 am we have tried to get rid of the nap in hope he may sleep longer but he gets extremely tired and changes his personality massively when he hasn't had a nap he will misbehave ,wine constantly and become very clumsy.

when he has stayed at grans (in bed) or godmothers (in travel cot ) he sleeps until 8 - 8.30 and I cant figure out why he sleeps so much longer when out .

we bought a gro clock a while ago and sort of started using it but then ds was not very well so we gave up and havn't brought it back out yet as I just don't know where to begin with it and how to keep it consistent.

We have the same issue with our 2.5 year old and to be honest, I think they are still a little young for the clock. I have tried the clock and he understands he is not meant to come out of bed until the clock wakes up but he still gets up anyway. So I don't think there is the ability to reason and fully understand just yet.

TBH, I can handle the 5.30am wake ups if he stops waking up and coming into our room at night. A few mornings he will sleep until 6am which is a sleep in, but he inevitably wakes up once during the night to appear in our room so by the time I get back to sleep, it's time to get up again.

If it makes you feel any better, a friend's son went through the exact same thing for many many months at the same age and then just stopped doing it when he hit 3. So I suspect it's a developmental thing they will grow out of. That's what I am telling myself to stop me throwing myself under a car!

Is the sun maybe waking him?

Is he maybe cold? Or being woken by a noisy central heating system?

If he is napping as early as 10 then it suggests he is waking too early? Have you tried wake to sleep method?

ooh intrigue .. what is the wake to sleep method ??

Don't let him nap in the morning.

Agree with CoteD Azur

He may well still need a nap but at his age it is usually after lunch around 1pm.

I would suggest slowly shifting the nap later by 15-30mins per week until it starts at no earlier than 12.30 but probably nearer to 1. It will take a good few weeks so be prepared that it is not an overnight fix. If you do the later nap consistently, he will eventually wake later. Hth.x

In my experience set the clock to the current waking time so that they understand that thst is when they can get up then reset it 5 mins later each day until you get nearer the target time...also try to get them to stay in bed or room until clock says it is morning even if you have to keep them company.

Dd has a gro clock. She's 3.8 now and had it when she moved into her bed at almost 2. She's pretty good; comes in occasionally because she wants someone to watch it go yellow with her but generally we don't see her until 6:30.

Interestingly when we're away at the grandparents without the clock we don't see her until almost 7... but I think that is a result of grandparent excitement and lots of time at the park rather than having to work around domestic chores...

Yup, we have a groclock for all the blooming good it does. DD insists on setting it but then blithely ignores it. And she's 3.5.

emmyloo don't want to burst your bubble but DD's early morning waking started again at 3, having stopped at 14 months. I think 'developmental phase' is just one of those things we say to make ourselves feel better. I'm going through one with DS (10 months) at the moment. :)

Yes, have started using one for DD about a month ago. She was 3.6, with a bedtime of 7.30 and a wake time of 6am we bought one and told her she needed to stay in her room until it goes yellow. It is set for 7.15 week days and 7.30 weekends, if she comes into our room before then we march her back to her bedroom, yes she cries for all of 2 minutes then plays until the clock changes.
I think the secret is to keep to it and not give in, if you let them get away with it once you need to reset their mindset.
She comes in now shouting "it's yellow"

We have one. Worked on DD1 from age 3 onwards, brilliant. DS1 - switches it off, doesn't care at all. Frustration! So, I think it depends on the child.

Heels I think you're right - I never returned DD to her room as she would scream and shout. If we'd done that, we might be in a different position now!

We were mean :) when dd1 was about 2 she started waking ridiculously early, so we got a gro clock and bigger up what a grown up girl she was up have one. We explained it and for the next 3 days we went to her when she woke and showed her the clock and ecplainedit wasn't time to get up as the stars were still up. She cried for a few minutes then played with her toys. She got the idea very quickly, and that was that!

Blackout curtains made a massive difference for DS1, especially at this time of year. I just bought a piece of fabric off ebay, and attached it flush to the window using self adhesive Velcro. Could be taken down and folded in the morning and made sure there were no chinks of light.

He's 12 now and needs to be on the bus by 8am...