Anyone successfully got their kids to sleep later!?! Help

[OnSilverStars]

My kids were up at 4:45 today. This is pretty common. If they're both asleep at 6am it's a miracle and I'll gladly take it.

They're only 8 months and nearly 3.

The napping the previous day seems to have little effect on their wake up time

Almost 3yo goes down between 7 and 7:45

8 month old a bit earlier.

I have read about like treating it as a night waking which I do. They occasionally fall back to sleep. Less that once a week. I've also tried no tv or bright lights before 6am. Seems to be more torturous for me that having much affect on them.

They're not even that tired when the get up this early. They just mess about if we put them in bed with us.

Any miracle solution!?

No miracle solution but just to say I feel your pain and my two are the same (both under 4). It doesn't matter how late I put them to them to bed, they still wake up between 4.45 and 5.15. It is crippling.

It really is!! Can't wait until they're teens and sleep until 11am 😂

I feel your pain! My 2.5yr old was going through a phase of waking up anytime between 4.30-5.30am and it was absolutely crippling. I have a 15 month old too but he's a dream sleeper thank goodness. Anyway, the past week or so we have used a Gro Clock - it stays blue until the time you set it for (6.45am in our case) and then it turns yellow. I was very sceptical but it's actually working - she stays quiet and plays with toys in her cot until it goes yellow and then she knows she's allowed to call for us. Might be worth giving it a go!! Good luck x

Do you have black out blinds? We doctored ours so they could be stuck to the window so there was no light coming through the edges.

The people I know who's kids wake up super early don't seem to have black out blinds - the kids are being woken up by the light.

Are they both waking up or in one waking the other? A Gro-clock may help with your almost 3yo. I would start achievable e.g. she has to stay quiet in her room til 5am and lengthen it once she gets the idea. It will be trickier though if she hears you up with the 8mo.

Have you tried putting your heating on overnight? We set ours to 18 overnight, as I wondered if DS was waking at about 5am and was cold, which made going back to sleep harder. I felt it helped but DSs wakings were inconsistent, so likely to be harder if persistent.

Your 8m old might be a lost cause for now but your 3yrold should be fixable at this point! If they're still napping, drop it, and get a groclock for morning wakes.

I know this is a long way off, but the clocks change on 28th March, so 4.45 will at least become 5.45

Yes - with time. They're only 8 months and 3. In time it'll come.

And i say that as a parent of a 4am-er. Gro clocks were shit (too bright, and he instantly sussed that he could just manipulate it himself to come.on), black out blinds helped by minutes, exercise meant nothing- it was just the way he was as a toddler. He's now 7.5 and sleeps in until 6.30am, sometimes later. It just comes with time.

We got a gro clock and it worked. We started with the time approx he was waking at and added about 15min every few days. Stayed just when he was turning 3 as was waking up very early. We easily got one second hand off Facebook to try it out for a fiver

If you have the funds I would seek help from a sleep consultant. I used one with my 5 month old and it was a life saver!

Sorry no advice but in our case DD gradually just grew out of it, although full time school helped knacker her out (which hopefully will be possible with your 4 year old!)

Some children are naturally earlier risers. My son was like this-any time from 4.45 was game. My daughter sleeps for Britain. Hes 10 now and rarely sleeps past 7 but can at least get up on his own.

I agree with the use of grow clocks. For us it never stopped him waking but it was a signal if you are awake now nothing fun will happen. No attention. No tv. No toys. So lie quietly. Eventually they learn to go back to sleep a little. You must not interact with them whilst it is blue. Totally ignore. Or silent return. It means you can at least rest a little or close your eyes.

Any difference if you wake for a wee when you go to bed? This helped us sometimes.

Baby is too young to fix this at the moment i would say.

Its brutal but fairly normal and it does get better x

I have no advice, sorry. But I have been where you are and it’s gruelling. Mine are now 8 and 5 and we’ve taught them to stay in their room until 6:30am (unless they need the loo, but they go back to bed). At 6:30 they’re allowed to get up. The only thing that fixed the very early mornings was waiting until they were older so they grew out of it. I know you probably don’t want to hear that, but it just took a lot of time and patience. It probably didn’t get really better until the youngest was nearly 4. The youngest still uses a grow clock to help with telling the time.

My almost 12 year old still wakes at 6am every day. So, no, no advice, but much sympathy.

No but had absolutely no problems getting them up for school when they were teenagers. I feel your pain.

My 13 year old still doesn't sleep past 6. Unfortunately some dc are just early risers. I know that isn't what you want to hear!

Both mine went through phases of waking for the day at 4.30am despite a bedtime of 8/8.30pm.

If I recall rightly it lasted about 3 months and then gradually they slept later. They only slept past 6am at the age of 5 though.

My 9 year old didn't sleep through the night until he was 7 (health issues) but will now sleep 11-12 hours every night so there is hope!

My son is almost 9 and has consistently woken between 4 and 5 his whole life. Doesn't matter what time he goes to sleep, how tired he is, how active he has been, what time of year it is, it's always the same....