early riser

Nicki

chelle230 wrote: »

he has it for less than an hour, he watches cbeebies and plays toystory, don't see a problem tbh.
I'm never asleep, just resting and can hear everything he's doing, he's in the room right next door.
the rest of the time he reads or plays cars

How do you know he hasn't (or won't in the future) woken in the late evening before you have gone to bed, and tuned into some of the more adult cartoons out there though? I won't let my 11 year old watch things like Family Guy or South Park, much less at 5.

Krystaltips

I feel your pain!

I have a nearly 7yo and she shares a room with her 21mo sister... We've caught her downstairs at 4:30/5am watching TV or playing her DSi... She gets sent back to bed if we catch her too early but it's a real nightmare... We can't force her to stay in her room because she'll wake her sister, she sneaks down so unless Hubby goes to the toilet or the baby wakes for a feed we can never be sure what time she's gotten up... She has a clock, she knows she shouldn't be leaving her room before 7... Short of tying her to the bed, I don't know what else we can do!

Incidentally, she also goes to bed around 7, she sometimes reads a bit before she goes to sleep but I believe she needs the quiet time... And goodness knows we do too!

chelle230

Nicki wrote: »

How do you know he hasn't (or won't in the future) woken in the late evening before you have gone to bed, and tuned into some of the more adult cartoons out there though? I won't let my 11 year old watch things like Family Guy or South Park, much less at 5.

because I do, he's a very advanced 5 year old and is a year up in school.
I trust him, yes he's only 5, but a very honest one.
I am a light sleeper, as is his dad, and the slightest movement in his room and we're both awake.
he shows no interest in any other programmes, and the freeview remote has never even been moved in his room, it's permanently on cbeebies.

I didn't post to be criticised for my parenting skills, but telling the op what works for us.

Gavin83

Can you really expect a young child to lay in bed bored for 2 hours waiting for the rest of the house to wake up?

I really don't buy that the child wakes up at that time whatever time you put them to bed. If it was me I'd increase his bed time by an hour every night until he sleeps to the time you want him to.

Mrs_Arcanum

Very hard to get a balance DS 11 needs less sleep than DD 14. DS has always been an early riser and so has learnt to get his own breakfast and sort himself in the mornings. What you do depends much on how much you can trust them and what you know they can safely do without supervision.

Positive reinforcement will usually work better than negative disincentives.

No matter how late DS goes to bed he is up early (have tried from 7pm to 1am). So we make sure he goes to bed soon enough to ensure he has enough sleep overall.

pigpen

As a child I used to be put to bed at 7 and woke at 2am EVERY night.. for years and years... I drove everyone to distraction.. there wasn't a reason, I just did.. If I went to bed at 10pm.. I woke at 2am.. it made no difference whatsoever. I just got into a habit of it and it stuck.. I was like this from being 3 until I was about 11ish.. I would trot into my gran or my dads bedroom and just stand there.. like a spectre.. I'd either be put back in my bed or they'd be so exhausted they would shove me in with them. I'd demand stories and drinks or just lay there wriggling.

Sometimes they do just wake and it isn't about what time they go to bed or need for more or less sleep is it habits and external influence.

Mine wake up about 7 no matter what.. whether they are in bed at 6:30, 7, 8:30, 10pm (like tonight thanks to their stupid father)... but if they don't have enough sleep.. they are grumpy to the point of evil!.. like tomorrow!

Rockporkchop

I just had a look at my sleep book and it says a 7 year old only needs about 10 hours sleep per night, so this would obviously mean a 9pm bedtime for a 7am wake up. Have you tried this?

Becles

Mine had an alarm clock in their rooms and were taught how to tell the time. The rule was they had to stay in bed until the clock said 7am.

If I was woken before 7am, I get up, put them back into bed and firmly told them they had to stay there until 7am.

It worked for us.

YORKSHIRELASS

My 10 year old has always been an early riser. It doesnt matter what time he goes to bed, he wakes at 6.30am. For quite a while now he has been allowed to go downstairs and watch telly and I really dont see a problem with this. He sticks his head around our bedroom door, tells me he is getting up and goes downstairs. I know he is sensible and can be trusted on his own and will be watching CBBC or something similar when I get up.

I could put him to bed at 10pm and he would still wake at 6.30 am.

Sublime_2

My daughter was always up at first light. Now she's started school I have trouble getting her out of bed. :rotfl: