Does anyone want to guess what will happen in the morning? Please come and troubleshoot our new plan for ds getting up

[FrannyandZooey]

We have come up with some new ideas for ds (4.9), for various reasons. At the moment he shouts "Can I come in to your bedroom?" as soon as he wakes up, and then appears for cuddles.

he sometimes wakes at daft times thinking it is morning and gets quite cross when I come in to say no it isn't

am expecting a baby and think we could do without all the shouting on days when ds wakes up before dc2

the other day I was really knackered and asked him to read books and eat satsumas quietly in his room for 20 mins and he was fine about this. I got some more sleep and he was quite happy.

So, we have bought him a digital clock (he can't tell the time but can recognise some numbers) and said don't come in to our bedroom before it says 7 (and we have tweaked it so that clock will say 7 around 6.20 - dp has to get up then anyway and ds doesn't often sleep much longer than that). We also got a very dim nightlight and a timer, and have set the light to come on at 6 am, saying if he wakes up and the light is on, he can look at books quietly until the clock says 7. If he wakes up and light is off then it is nighttime and he should go back to sleep.

I think we will need to tweak these times a little but we can adjust them as and when. Can anyone see any major flaws with the plan, and, given that he is wildly excited about these new gadgets and the whole responsibility of it all (moaning from 5.30 pm "I wish I could go to bed now"), HOW early do you think he will wake up to see if the light is on / what time the clock says?

[anxious] [hopeful]

yes, you can do that with something like this
depends how much you really want to spend on it though I guess.

Perhaps a plug-in lamp in the hall with a brighter lightbulb in it would work as well as having the main hall light on?

hmm worth having that up our sleeves I think

there are no sockets in the hall, that is one problem

we are a bit socket deprived in this house actually

set clock to show 7 am at 6.50 and dp and I were able to sleep until shortly before then, as ds woke up and read books quietly - well, MOSTLY quietly - he read one of his favourites aloud to himself (he can't read but knows all the words) and we heard it over the monitor. It was so cute though

on the whole has been great success so far

he is proud of himself that he can do it and let us have a bit more sleep

Yes I would agree with the quieter click theory . I know the click does not wake my DS, but if he is awake and hears it he recognises it IYSWIM.

And franny if you still have a monitor on for a nearly 5yo then you are going to get woken up. Although it did sound sweet. We have not had one for our 3yo for ages.

oh, yes, I know! I was saying to dp, we should get rid of it really, but he still does wake up with reasonable frequency in the night and I like to go straight to him, as he is usually upset or scared when he calls. I expect when dc2 arrives we will use the monitor for him / her and ds will have to get used to shouting a bit louder

he did manage to wake up, turn on the light and read a few books quietly though before I heard him and turned up the monitor to have a listen. I find it unspeakably touching to watch / listen to him reading books to himself - his little serious expression! His still chubby arms holding the book

Had a very similar approach with DS1. DS2 surprisingly immune to shouting of his brother.

Sounds like a good plan.