Any Early Riser Mama's out there?

[walking burp cloth]

By early I mean 4 or 5 am. I am finding it more and more difficult to find time for myself. To do things like study, excersize, pray, shower, etc. On school mornings I am up with my kids by 6am ( and try to get up around 5:30am so that I can have a little time to wake up and maybe do something for me, because once you get going... you just keep going! ) Although it is difficult for me to get out of bed without 2 yr old ds waking and wanting to get up too. (Which then he is grouchy because he really needed some more sleep.

I am considering getting up even earlier and maybe ds wont be so sensitive to waking if he is in another phase of his sleep cycle?

I am wondering how you all do it, and if it takes encouragement from others, or if your dh is an early riser also? My dh is not, and would sleep through the whole day if I let him, but I don't becuase I need help in the mornings. I don't expect him to join me in this early rising deal, but by 6:30ish, I need him to be up and participating. Espessially when ds is out of sorts. (He works regular hours and has plenty of time for sleeping.)

Anyone else? How does it work for you? Do you go to bed early with the kids? Are you just someone who can live with just a few hours of sleep? I need 8 at the least to function WELL. I can function barely forever on 6 or 7hours of sleep a night. But really, I need a lot. It is hard for me to get up early, but when I do I am so glad I did. Except for when ds is not sleeping well at night, which is about 50% of the time. Much better than before!!

So how do you make it work? What do you do with your time? How long did it take to get used to early rising? and any other info you wouldl like to share

[walking burp cloth]

No one rises early? Am I just kidding myself?

[velochic]

I get up between 4am and 5am, including weekends. We go to bed when dd goes to bed, though, at 8:30pm. On weekends, dd will stay up later with my mom and sleep in until 9am or so. On weekdays she gets up at 6:45 to get ready for school.

I didn't have any problems adjusting because I've always been early-to-bed-early-to-rise person.

Dd still co-sleeps (she's 8). She seems to sleep much more soundly those last hours that we're not in bed with her.

[gingerbane]

I am an early riser but I think it's quite unfair to expect your husband to be an early riser because that is your preference.

I usually wake up early, get a few things done and wait for DD to wake up - she wakes up early too.

During the week, DH is usually up by 6:45 to get ready for work but on the weekend he sleeps in until 9am or 10am. I don't mind taking care of DD and letting him sleep in. He works hard and he deserves it. Besides, he always takes DD for an hour or two in the afternoon so I can have some time to myself.

[snoopy5386]

No, I am a night owl. I'd much rather do things at 11, 12 or 1 am than at 4 or 5 or heck 8 am. Getting up every day at 6:30 sounds like torture to me. If I had my way I'd get up around 9 everyday, on a day when we have nothing going on it generally takes me until 11 am or noon to get my act together - everyone dressed, showered, ready to go, etc. We are always late for any activity in the morning that starts before 10 am. My DD will be doing afternoon preschool for this reason. Luckily our elementary school doesn't start until 9:15, the bus comes at 8:50 so that is very do-able for me.
In addition to being a night owl I love to sleep as well. Pre-kids it wasn't uncommon for me to sleep 12+ hours on the weekends or in the summer when I was off (former teacher). I need at least 8 hours a night, but do better with 9 or 10.

[BetsyS]

I drag myself out of bed everyday at 5:30. I don't love it. But, it's worth it for the quiet it provides.

My kids get up at 6:30 or so. My dh is up at 5:00, and he leaves the house at 6 on weekdays. So, I have 30 minutes with dh, then 30 minutes alone. That's worth getting up early for. My dh is a huge morning person, and over the years, he's talked me into getting up early. I'm still not a morning person naturally, but I see the benefit.

We go to bed between 9 and 9:30. My kids are in bed by 7:30, so we still have some quiet time at night, too. On the weekends, we each "sleep in" one day (me-Sat, dh-Sun), but for us, that means until 7:30 or so.

[honey-lilac]

I'm an early riser by necessity, a night owl by nature. The kids are up every morning by 5 am so I have to be as well. At least I get a little time in when they go to bed at night (about 5 pm) but I have to be in bed by like 8 or 9 at the latest.

[confustication]

My 20 month old is up by 5. My 6 month old won't sleep before 11 pm- and is up every night from about 2-4:30 a.m.

I'm sleep deprived beyond words at this point.

The only thing that helps is that I have a great husband who will sometimes stay up with the baby so I can get a block of sleep early in the night. He can't do the middle of the night block- at all.

[pianojazzgirl]

Originally Posted by snoopy5386

No, I am a night owl. I'd much rather do things at 11, 12 or 1 am than at 4 or 5 or heck 8 am. Getting up every day at 6:30 sounds like torture to me. If I had my way I'd get up around 9 everyday, on a day when we have nothing going on it generally takes me until 11 am or noon to get my act together - everyone dressed, showered, ready to go, etc. We are always late for any activity in the morning that starts before 10 am. My DD will be doing afternoon preschool for this reason. Luckily our elementary school doesn't start until 9:15, the bus comes at 8:50 so that is very do-able for me.
In addition to being a night owl I love to sleep as well. Pre-kids it wasn't uncommon for me to sleep 12+ hours on the weekends or in the summer when I was off (former teacher). I need at least 8 hours a night, but do better with 9 or 10.

You sound just like me!

[lilyka]

I get up at 6 on mornings I work and 7 on mornings i don't (including most weekend days. it took me 2 years but I am finally adjusting to that schedule.) That however does not give me any time without kids and a need to do something. I do much better though if I can beat the kids by even 15 minutes. For alone time I stay up at night. from the time my kids were babies they would fall asleep without me, or fall asleep soundly enough so that i could get up and go about my evenbing for a few more hours. but getting out of bed without them waking up....never happened. I tried a couple of times and it just ticked me off. 'cause now we were both cleepy and cranky and awake If I had stayed in bed we could have both gotten 3 more hours of sleep.

[just_lily]

I would like to be, but haven't quite made it yet. I usually get up at 7, and my daycare kids start arriving at 7:30 (I usually shower at night). DD usually wakes up between 7 and 730 as well. I'd like to have time to have a cup of coffee and do a few light chores like unload the dishwasher before I have kids all over the place, but it hasn't worked out yet. I have set the alarm for 5:30 a couple of times, but just end up hitting the snooze button a whole bunch of times. I need an early waking mentor or something. Maybe we should start a support group??

[BarnMomma]

Yay for early risers! OK, so some of you don't feel so YAY about it but still.

We get up daily between 4-5 or 5-6 depending on the time change/time of year.

I love the early mornings and DS has always been an early riser and DH too.

That being said now we all go to bed at 8. Bu tI don't mind. We're outdoorsy so I'd rather have the extra hours of daylight than stay up late.

[confustication]

I find that if I willingly get up early, and see it as a positive thing, I'm far less resentful than I am if I feel like I should have slept later. I'm about to step back into a job with a commute, and if I sleep in until just before I have to leave, I know I will feel frazzled. For me, waking early and willingly is about recognizing that as a choice.

[Areia]

I get up at 5am every day and take the dog for a nice long walk in the woods. She's an older doggie so there are lots of rest periods and it's just really serene and peaceful. DD sleeps later now, but when she was a tiny baby, I would often take her with me. My husband is NOT a morning person, he needs to be up by 7am on weekdays and that is often a struggle for him. Lately, I've been going bed between 1130am and midnight - sometimes a bit later, depending on what I want to finish up that day. However, on weekends, I take a nap on both days. I used to nap with DD, but now that she's starting to skip those, I usually doze by myself

This is odd, but on those rare days when I sleep in, I don't feel like I've accomplished anything. Like, on a Sunday, I can stick with my normal routine, come home and relax until 700am and get on with the day and still feel on target, but if I were to actually sleep until 700am, I'd feel off all day.

[EFmom]

I'm up at 5, but that doesn't give me time to myself. It gives me time to shower, dress and get my jr. high kid up and ready for school, take her to the bus stop, come back and get my elementary school kid up and ready and take her to the bus stop, and then get myself to work.

By the time I get to my desk I feel like I've put in a full day.

[russsk]

I'm up between 4:30 and 5, but it's because I need to work while DS is sleeping. When the new baby is born you can bet your buns I'll be sleeping in! (Ha! I won't be getting up to work, at least.) DS gets up at 6:30 or 7, and on Saturday I turn duties over to DH and sleep until 9 or so. DH gets up at around 4 for work on the weekdays, so he gets a day to sleep in on the weekends, too.

[MissLotus]

This thread caught my eye because my downstairs neighbor is a very early riser - not terribly noisy but I always hear her clattering around down there at 5-6am and wonder what she could possibly be doing that early! She doesn't even have kids.

I've never been one to sleep in late, but in my ideal world I'd get up around 8am, sometimes a little later. In fact, I do, mostly. I would rather be well-rested and face the day with energy, than dragged out and hollow-eyed at the crack of dawn. I like my quiet time to be at night.

This feeling has only been magnified by the early-rising neighbor as I cannot fathom why anyone would need to do laundry every day by 5am (especially when she's at home mostly all day!). Sleeeeeeeep!

[rainbowsprite]

Originally Posted by confustication

My 20 month old is up by 5. My 6 month old won't sleep before 11 pm- and is up every night from about 2-4:30 a.m.

I'm sleep deprived beyond words at this point.

The only thing that helps is that I have a great husband who will sometimes stay up with the baby so I can get a block of sleep early in the night. He can't do the middle of the night block- at all.

<hugs>

just wanted to say i have 2 dd's 15 mo apart that used to do this - it *does* get better and you will get more sleep soon hopefully... dd2 started sleeping earlier at around 8 mo and dd1 started sleeping later in the morning when she was around her second birthday

hang in there - you are in my thoughts - I know how tough it is

Linda

[micah_mae_]

We get up between 5:30 and 7:00. DH's alarm clock goes off at 6 for work and he quietly gets up and gets ready downstairs. Sometimes I can get Corbin back to sleep after the alarm..sometimes not. Really don't know what we'll do when #2 comes along though.

[Areia]

Originally Posted by micah_mae_

We get up between 5:30 and 7:00. DH's alarm clock goes off at 6 for work and he quietly gets up and gets ready downstairs. Sometimes I can get Corbin back to sleep after the alarm..sometimes not. Really don't know what we'll do when #2 comes along though.

I'm not sure how loud of an alarm your DH needs, but I use my cell phone on vibrate mode. I keep it on my bedside table. The vibration sound it makes against the table is enough to wake me up, but doesn't bother anyone else. On days, I'm super wiped and think I'll sleep through it, I actually wear a bra to bed and tuck in my phone so I'll feel the vibration and wake up