[RasJane]

Ds is 6 now but has never, ever been a good sleeper. We did discover that putting him to bed earlier made him sleep later (go figure). He still always wakes by 5 or 5:30am. We did put a clock in his room and told him that when it is 6:00 he can leave his room. But I think he is still tired during the day and really tired a bedtime. I can't really put him to bed any earlier as he already goes down at 7:30 and the neighborhood is full of kids. We tried working up to a later bedtime and he just had meltdowns during the day. He absolutely will not take a nap unless we go for a long drive around 5ish in the evening. I can't afford the gas for that every day!!

Anyone have any advice or suggestions or BTDT? We are tired. Thanks

Sarah

 

[RasJane]

bump

help please?

 

[MilkbarMom]

we have an early riser daughter, and the trick seems to be a cmpletely dark room. Sometimes it only gets us an extra hour, but 6 am is much better than 5 am!

 

[ameliabedelia]

I am the same way. No matter what time I go to bed, I always wake up early. I have always been that way I really think it is impossible for me to sleep late. My dd1 is the same way. She always wakes up early, even if she goes to bed late. I have had to live with this my whole life, and basically just got used to going to bed early enough to get enough sleep. If from 7:30-5:30 isn't enough sleep for you ds, I would really try to get him to go to bed earlier. I realize with the neighborhood kids, that will hard, but some people really are unable to sleep late. My dd1 goes to bed at 6:00-6:30 and wakes up 5:00-5:30 every day (no naps).

 

[tayndrewsmama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MilkbarMom we have an early riser daughter, and the trick seems to be a cmpletely dark room. Sometimes it only gets us an extra hour, but 6 am is much better than 5 am!

That's the same thing with our dd. As soon as she sees the sun's up, she's up. While, I don't care much for winter lately, I do welcome the later sunrises!!

 

[USAmma]

I have a cup of milk in the fridge for her and I have the TV set up for her to watch a video. She knows how to turn it on and push Start. I told her she cannot wake me up before the clock says 7. If she does I will have her go back to her bed. She will wake up at around 5:30 AM. In the winters she will wake up as late as 7 AM, but never later than that.

This plan is great except the baby also wakes up at around 5:30-6:30 AM, so even if Abi is quiet and allows me to sleep, Nitara will get me up.

Nitara goes to bed at 7 PM and Abi at 8-8:30 PM. I have tried later bedtimes and it makes no difference at all. They just wake up early and grumpy instead of early and rested. Both of them nap at around noon-2 PM although I let Abi determine her need for a nap by herself.

Sleep is sacred in our home because Nitara wakes up frequently at night, or else her machines beep. Either way it's very rare for dh and I to get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time.

 

[Asher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by USAmma I have tried later bedtimes and it makes no difference at all. They just wake up early and grumpy instead of early and rested.

I totally agree. We've gone through this with our kids, too and it never made a difference how late we sent them to bed.

My kids are all like this, always have been. Earlier this year, they were getting up between 4-4:30!!! NOT good. Thankfully now we have the 6am rule, they cannot wake us up until 6am. Of course, I still hear them coming in my room to check the clock every 5 minutes to see if it's 6am. Argh! We have other clocks throughout the house, but of course they have to come see mine in my room, right? LOL

This baby generally sleeps until around 7. What a blessing! LOL Too bad I'm already awake w/ the others!

Wish I had some good advice for you, but all I can say is I DO understand!

 

[babywearingmama]

Our 7yr old ds still wakes between 5-6am. He's just moved into his own room and doesn't come out before 5:30 (he's got a digital clock). I would say in your case that either your son should be encouraged to do his own thing in the morning and not wake you up (tv, books, computer, etc), he's certainly old enough. OR the issue is that he's actually tired all the time and I would say that if he's getting 10 solid hours of sleep a night and is still very tired you should be looking at his diet and other physical causes. We've spent years battling with food intolerances in our son and still can't get it quite right, so even though he eats healthier than nearly all his friends he still gets hyper, sick, bed wets, etc. from certain foods.