How do I get my 7 year old to sleep later in the morning?

Question

My 7 year old daughter gets up at 5 in the morning and regularly wakes the whole household when she is up. This is causing us to be very tired and to resent her for it. It also makes us very grumpy parents. She has a clock which she can read and she does know not to get up before 7 but she does it anyway. We have tried putting her to bed later but it makes no difference. We have tried reward charts but they did not work. We do not allow her food until it is an acceptable time to rise but this doesn't work. We do not allow the tv in the morning but this has not worked. She has not had enough sleep as she has dark circles under her eyes and is tired and grumpy herself. We are really reaching crisis point and have no idea what to try next. I have spoken to the doctor, health visitor and school nurse but no one could help me. Hopefully one of you out there has a great solution! Thank you!

Answer 1

ask her if she has any bad dreams or if she is scared......that might be the cause. then you could also try making her hot chocolate

Answer 2

Don't put her to bed later. If she is the type to wake up early no matter what then all you are doing is making her more tired. Get her to bed at a good time and have a routine.

try setting the clock back an hour so when she wakes up at 5:00 the clock will say 4:00 and maybe she will go back to sleep for an hour.

Make sure the room is dark, buy dark blinds and curtains to go over them. I have blinds on my kids windows and dark (red) curtains and when they are all closed it's dark as night in their room even during the day. I find that the darker the room is the later they sleep in the morning.

Make sure you have a good routine as well and not too much to drink before bed. Maybe she has to get up early to go potty and then can't fall back to sleep.

If all that fails then try to be patient. My twins used to be early risers as well. They used to be up by 6:00am no matter what time they went to bed. Now that they are older they love to sleep in!

7 is old enough to be up for a short time by herself in the morning. Maybe you should allow a little TV in the morning. Also you can set up a bowl of cereal and a pre-measured cup of milk in the fridge so she can get herself something to eat. This will give you a little time to sleep in as long as you feel she can be trusted to be up alone for awhile.

Answer 3

I found this article that contain good solutions,beside there were opinions about childrens sleep drugs.

"-Follow a consistent bedtime routine. Set aside 10 to 30 minutes to get your child ready to go to sleep each night.

-Establish a relaxing setting at bedtime.

-Interact with your child at bedtime. Don't let the TV, computer or video games take your place.

-Keep your children from TV programs, movies, and video games that are not right for their age.

-Do not let your child fall asleep while being held, rocked, fed a bottle, or while nursing.

-At bedtime, do not allow your child to have foods or drinks that contain caffeine. This includes chocolate and sodas. Try not to give him or her any medicine that has a stimulant at bedtime. This includes cough medicines and decongestants. "

Answer 4

How about letting her. Put her to bed every night at 8, so she is getting enough sleep. Then set out an apple and a juice box or crackers. Tell her when she rises she may watch TV at the volume that you have set for her or set up a movie for her to enjoy. Or she can play with her dolls in her room. But that mommy and daddy will not be getting up until 7 and that is when you will make real breakfast. Don't blame her or punish her for her body's clock how can she control that? You are making her feel like she is doing something wrong when in fact she is just being herself, and you are punishing her with later bedtimes, no food so what is she supposed to do sit there and stare at the wall until mommy's clock says it is acceptable to be up?

Answer 5

Try Melatonin- it is a natural product that helps kids sleep and stay asleep until its time to get up.

Answer 6

Some children just don't sleep in.  Don't put her to bed later....but earlier.  She needs to get a full night sleep, so if she's getting up at 5am she needs to get to bed between 7-8pm.  If she doesn't like, tell her that until she can sleep later, this will be her bedtime.  Stick to it though even if you have to sacrifice going out later in the evening.

My daughter is an early riser and always has been.  Luckily it's more like 6AM, but it's still pretty darn early.  Instead of making it out to be a bad thing and taking things away from her, allow her to do things in the morning to entertain herself.  If she is watching TV and making herself breakfast, she won't be bothering the rest of the house to get up and entertain her.  Tell her she can read books and play with toys, but she has to do it quietly.  Reward her with something each morning she doesn't wake somebody up.  This can be something simple like her favorite pack of gum!!

Good Luck!!