My friend's 3 yr old doesn't wake up until 9am!! Connor has been waking up at 5:30 or, today, at 5:15 wanting "mommy". I hold and comfort him in the hallway and then there's no getting him back to bed. He's awake until 1pm!

Any advice?

By Vicki on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 12:44 pm:

No advice at all, just sympathy! LOL I would be sooo tired!

Dd was always a great sleeper. By 3, she no longer napped and slept a solid 12 hours at night. Usually 8:30 pm until at least 8:30 am!

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 02:31 pm:

Vicki- That's how Natalie is since she's given up the nap. She was around 10-10 1/2 hrs. with her nap when she was still taking them and a full 12 since she's given those up. She went through a phase right before that though of up at 6am...I feel for you on the 5am stuff! She would wake at 6am ready to GOOOOOOOO and I was dragging. Phases, phases....

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 02:41 pm:

My kids never woke up that early! LOL! Or if they did, it was just to crawl in bed with DH and me, to fall back asleep again! I was so lucky. My best friend had a daughter who woke up with the sun, no matter what time she went to bed at night! Although, now she's 16 and I think she will sleep much longer than that now.

By Mrsheidi on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 02:44 pm:

We're in a cycle now where he needs a nap because he gets up so early! LOL
We've also tried not giving him a nap and he STILL wakes up at 5 or 6am. Ugh.

I'm such a zombie right now. How did we do it when they were newborns? Insane!

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 03:17 pm:

That's exactly how we were when Natalie went through the early phase a few months ago. She really needed the nap then because she was up so early. That's the only time she went back to the nap. It didn't matter for her either if I cut out the nap on those early days...still up at the crack of dawn the next day. I honestly don't know how in the world I managed with a newborn!! I love to sleep.

By Melanie on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 05:00 pm:

All our kids are early risers, especially our oldest (11 years). He is up by 5:30 every morning. It was hard when they were little like yours is, but it is wonderful now. Our mornings are so relaxed because everyone is up early with plenty of time to get everything done. It does work out for the best this way...if you can just get through these early years.

By Jelygu on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 06:58 pm:

Chris has ALWAYS been that way. He rarely sleeps in past 6:00. And the later we keep him up, the earlier he gets up. It is crazy. WE have tried everything, including putting a thick blanket on his window to hide the sunrise!
But somehow he knows and he's at my bed saying "Mommy, time to get up, its light out!"
If you figure something out, please let me know!

By Jelygu on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 07:05 pm:

oh and by the way, my friend has a 4 year old and a 2 year old, and she called me to tell me that her kids sleep in till 10:00 am sometimes.

I can't imagine sleeping until 8, let alone 10!!!

By Tink on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 - 07:34 pm:

Seth has been an early riser his whole life. Now that he can tell time, he's required to stay in bed until 6:30 so he isn't disturbing his sisters. Heidi, it may be a stage but it also may just be how he's wired. Invest in a coffee pot with a timer and enjoy the sunrise!

By Mrsheidi on Thursday, October 4, 2007 - 01:03 pm:

Tink, say it ain't so!!!!!!!!!! LOL Today, it was 6am but dad got up with him. I laid in bed until 6:30.
We've learned to go to bed now at 9:30.
And, Jen, the same thing happens to us if he goes to bed later, he gets up earlier. How in the world does THAT work? LOL!

Thanks you guys!

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, October 4, 2007 - 02:52 pm:

9:30pm? It would kill me to go to bed that early! I go to bed around midnight, and get up at 6:30am! LOL! Sometimes when I try to sleep longer, my body just wakes up after 6 or so hours of sleep.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Friday, October 5, 2007 - 09:03 am:

All four of my kids are early risers. I have no suggestion. However, I can say that like Melanie, it makes our mornings around here a lot easier. They are all up and ready well before they have to be off to school and it makes our mornings run much smoother then the mom's I know that have to fight their kids out of bed. When they were smaller, I hated it but now that they are older I realize that it is a blessing. I have managed to work my need to sleep around their need to get up early and it works for us. But it was really hard on me at first. I am a sleeper by nature, I love to sleep and I would try to sleep away most days if I could. LOL but I guess there were other plans in store for my life. LOL Like I said no suggestion but lots of understanding.. Best of luck... **HUGS**

By Mrsheidi on Saturday, October 6, 2007 - 11:02 am:

I went to bed at 8:30 last night, right after we put him down to bed.

He slept in until 6:45!!!!!!!! And, he got up and just played with his toys for 15 minutes! WAHOO! Watch, tomorrow, he'll get up at 5am again...

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, October 6, 2007 - 04:05 pm:

Hope he sleeps in tomorrow for you, too!

By Yjja123 on Saturday, October 13, 2007 - 12:49 pm:

Until recently, Jessica always woke up at 5:00 AM. You could set a clock by her. She just started sleeping until 8-9:00 AM. We think it is because she is a teen and seems to require more sleep.
The rest of us are NOT early risers. Early on, Jessica learned to play in her room until we woke up. I had snacks that she could grab (cereal in a baggie, breakfast bars, etc) if she woke up hungry.

By Mrsheidi on Sunday, October 14, 2007 - 11:10 pm:

Yvonne, I'm seriously thinking of getting his own (used) fridge so he can grab a sippy of milk and I can teach him how to open a Nutrigrain bar and turn on his portable DVD player that we normally use for travel! I'm NOT kidding either...parent of the year, I know, but my sleep is vital to my performance as a mommy!!!

By Imamommyx4 on Monday, October 15, 2007 - 09:01 am:

A tired mommy is a grumpy mommy!

No need for the fridge. Get a small easy open lunch box and put the sippy and a cold pack in it. If he can't open the Nutrigrain bar. Open it and put it in a ziploc bag or a bowl with a lid that he can open. When my youngest ds was about 5, he got up way earlier than everybody else. So I put cereal in a bowl with a lid and milk in a Tupperware cup with a lid so he could open both. He got up, ate his cereal and lay in the living room floor with his blanket until we got up. We had latches on the doors so I didn't have to worry about him going out.

If I hadn't done that, I would have been so grumpy with them all that they wouldn't have liked me very much. Lucky with dd, she sleeps later than I do most of the time. And when she wakes earlier, she just lays in her bed and watches tv. She's 6 1/2 now.

By Reds9298 on Monday, October 15, 2007 - 09:22 am:

Amen on the importance of sleep for mommy. On those really exhausted days (a late night or very early with Natalie for some reason) I beat myself up for being a grump all day. Then I get a good night's sleep and realize again how VITAL sleep is to being a good momma. Do what you have to do!!