Sleeping In--how do you get them to do it???

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I hear from other moms all the time that their kids sleep until 7, 8 sometimes 10 in the morning. I'd settle for 6! My girls (3 and 4) have always been early risers, and I've always thought they'd start sleeping later on their own. However, there are times (like after a holiday) that I wish they'd sleep in. They go to bed (in seperate bedrooms) no later than 8 at night, is this the problem? If so, I guess I'll take the early wake-up...

What are your opinions on this? How late do your kids sleep in? If you have kids this age that sleep late, what is causing that?

-- Dawn (olsoncln@ecenet.com), December 29, 2001

Answers

On a school day I have a lot of trouble getting my 6 year old out of bed at 6:30. Any other day he is up at 5am!!! I have tried on the days I want him to sleep later, letting him stay up until I go to bed 11:30 or later, He is still up at 5 and wanting breakfast. I have found that when I let him stay up and he still gets up earlier he is a real crank all day. On Fridays I have now let him stay up until 10pm. He does sleep in until 6-6:30 but I would love to sleep until 7 on Saturday! Think we will ever get to sleep??

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), December 29, 2001.

Don't worry when they are teenagers they will sleep until 10 or 11 with no trouble!

Seriously though, we taught our kids that just becasue they are awake, doesn't mean they have to get up. So when they woke up, we taught them to stay in bed and play quietly or look at books. Usually they would fall back to sleep on their own. Even 2 year olds can be trained to stay in bed. Now if we want to sleep in a little, we tell the kids the first one up has to do the dishes!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), December 29, 2001.


I'll remember the dishes trick -- I'll be needing that in a few years, I'm sure! Mine are usually up between 6:45 and 7:30, and even that is early as far as I am concerned! I am a night person, and my husband is a morning person (bad combination). Obviously my kids are taking after Daddy, as they rarely sleep past 8:00 EVER! If they do, I find myself checking their temperature and to see if they are breathing (I thought this was beyond weird the first time I caught myself, but then my mother asked if I had checked to see if Mitchell was breathing when she called one day at 8:45 and he was still asleep! At least if I am weird I came by it naturally!)

I guess I'll just count my blessings the next time Nicholas (3) jumps in the middle of my stomach at 6:30 stating "Wake up, mamma, it's DAYTIME!"

-- Christine in OK (cljford@aol.com), December 29, 2001.


I think most mine at that age slept 12 hours, 8 to 8. I don't think 8 is too early a bedtime, but are they still taking afternoon naps? If so, you might want to cut that out.

Also, be sure they eat a good dinner so they aren't waking up because they're hungry.

-- mary (mlg@aol.com), December 29, 2001.


I cut the naps out, or at least in half. This helped a lot. We are often up till 9; even if the children go to bed at 8 they are usually awake until nearly 9. They all get up about 6:30.

I second Melissa's advice: keep books or quiet toys within reach and have your children play with them until you get them up.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), December 29, 2001.



My kids have allways been early risers-but as a family we all pretty much are, still, there are mornings when I want to sleep in. My kids are 7 and 10, if they wake up first, they read or play quietly until EVERYONE gets up-we often have house guests, and thats a BIG rule here-it was a glorious day when we got all the interior doors put up! Also, I leave a "Snack box" with muffins, or rolls or fruit either on the table or in a special place in the refrigerator so they can get something to eat. It was rough though, when they were younger......

-- Kelly (Ksaderholm@yahoo.com), December 29, 2001.

Here's a trick for being able to sleep a little later on Saturday: I put out plastic bowls and spoons on the table the night before. Saturday is the only day the kids could have sugar cereal (all other days are eggs, sausage, pancakes, etc...) and Saturday is the ONLY day they can watch cartoons. So if they get up, they go to the frig and take out the sippy cup filled with milk for each child and pour on their sugar cereal and watch a few cartoons while mom and dad get a couple more winks. I do think they were at least five or six before this worked ( or at least one kid was).

It works because it is a treat. If there was bad behavior, first sugar cereal and then TV was taken away. It was also a great discipline tool because it was something they looked forward to.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001.


My five year old wakes up at 7am every day....you could almost set your clock by him. Even when his brother, who is 16 gets up at 5:30 in the same room.....he still sleeps somehow. He goes to bed by 8:30 most of the time. 8:00 if I can swing it. In the summer it actually is usually a little later since it is still light out. He took naps up until Sept..when he started Kindergarten..and goes in the afternoon. He adjusted pretty well....sure is easier to get him to bed at night now. I wouldn't set a later bed time if you can help it! When mine gets up on a Saturday and I want to sleep longer he gets an apple and puts in a video movie that I have laid out the night before. He knows THAT will be okay. He always wakes me up first. I am a night person too, but get maybe a 1/2 hour longer that way. If I can go back to sleep. I have 3 older boys...16, 21, and 24...once they are about 11 or 12 the getting up early thing really looses its apeal for them.You will wish they got up on their own again...really! good luck!

-- Jenny (auntjenny6@aol.com), December 30, 2001.

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