Other than ripping the covers off and turning on the light, what are some other suggestions in waking up my?

Question

6 year old son? I am getting very frustrated with this routine of calling him every 5 minutes for 1/2 an hour before he finally gets up. What has worked for you in the past??

Answer 1

Corona, I read all of the answers before mine - and I've tried them all - and still have trouble getting my 11 year old out of bed. I've taken away every priviledge she has, drug her out of bed, tossed her in the shower, gentle back rubs, standing over her talking constantly to her - and still - nothing!  She is generally compliant in everything else - but will not get out of bed.

Here's what FINALLY worked for me... For every 5 minutes it takes me to get her out of bed, she goes to bed 10 minutes earlier the next night.  I gave her a 10 minute 'grace period' to get up slowly - but after the 10 minutes, she better get up! At first, it would take me a half hour to get her up = so she went to bed an hour early.  She got it down to where she was getting up on time!  Whew!

Good luck!

Answer 2

I do what my son does to me.  He's 7.  I jump in his bed and start kissing all over his face and begging for a hug and his company at the breakfast table.  I tickle him and talk non-stop.  He's up and smiling in less than 5 minutes and in a pretty good mood too.

Answer 3

Get him to bed earlier-he shouldn't have so much trouble waking up in the morning, my kids usually get up before me or get up very quickly.

Get him an alarm clock, specifically "clocky", you set it up on the nightstand and in the morning when it goes off it jumps off the nightstand and runs around the room with the alarm going-so he will have to get up and chase it around the room to catch it and turn it off.

CLOCKY:

http://www.wowcoolstuff.com/Nanda_Clocky...

Answer 4

Get him an alarm clock.  Don't turn it off when it goes off in the morning, let it keep ringing until he turns it off.

Answer 5

Try pouring water on him. I don`t mean lots, just enough to annoy him and make him get up !!

Answer 6

my son knows that if he misses his bus....he will not go to school and will come to work with me and he will sit at the conference table all day doing homework.....he knows I mean business because it hasn't happened yet....but also I have a strict routine in the mourning....I wake them up at 6:30 he has to get dressed,teeth,put his snow pants and boots on then he has breakfast....his sister has to get dressed and eat breakfast and they are finished no later then 6:55 then we finish getting dressed and have to be out the door for 7:15......

have a routine....and if he doesn't follow it have a consequence....if he walks to school ask the school what happens if he is late....and let him have that consequence....also tell him if he gets up and get dressed then after school he can have a privilege...and if he takes to long then no privilege....

I remember my mom would have to wake me sooo many times that in the end my dad would always drive me too school,lolllll....thank goodness I changed,lollllll

Answer 7

u guys have given me some ideas... i have an 8yr old and 6yr old who does the same thing. im gonna try taking time from them at night.

Answer 8

Umm...make him?

A child isn't going to listen to you unless they know you mean business. He does it because he knows he can get away with it.

Go in his room and tell him "Time to get up. I better see you in the kitchen for breakfast in the next 5 minutes or you will be grounded the rest of the day."

Telling him to "get up" isn't going to work until he knows that there will be consequences if he doesn't. You're momma..be momma!

Answer 9

Wow, I wouldn't want to start my day with someone ripping off my covers and blinding me with light.

My daughter (now 15) has never been easy to wake. I've learned to wake her gently by going to her room 5 minutes before I actually want her to wake up, sitting on the side of her bed and massaging her shoulders or back. Then periodically telling her that it's time to wake up. I'll talk to her about maybe what's happening later that day. She remains pretty non-responsive during this time but it gives her time to "defrost" as she wakes up.

The trick is not to take it personally. Your getting frustrated does not solve anything in fact it exacerbates it because your anger has no impact on him - he's still sleeping. So give yourself lots of lead time and allow him to wake up gently, sit on his bed until he actually gets up, give him a hug, make small talk and then let him start his day.

Answer 10

Toss a wet wash cloth on his face. Cold as possible.

Answer 11

I used to tickle my boys feet until they crawled out of the top and then I became a "bear" and chased them into the bathroom!

Answer 12

Sit with him until he gets up.Say he's missing breakfast,or he's missing his favorite cartoons..

Answer 13

I always started my son's day by getting myself up  and going to his room, and kissing his cheek, telling him good morning, with a smile, and soft voice.  I always gave him a back rub and allowed him to wake up gently, while I sat by him on the bed, and we talked about the day to come.  I always has his clothes laid out the night before, including shoes.  Sometimes he wore his "next day shirt" if it was a tee shirt, to bed the night before. Get up an extra 1/2 hour early, so neither of you are rushed.  Get him a chart  that he can put a gold star on each morning when he gets up on time and comes to the kitchen.  When he has a month with no stars missed, it gets him a night at the place of his choice for dinner, with just him and Mom.

He knew that when the back rub, 5-10 minutes was over, it was time to get up.  We had talked about this previously.  He got up, was in a good mood, and both our days was started happily.  He is now 33 years old, and starts his son's day the same way, with this happy childhood memory.

Answer 14

First off, make sure you are putting him to bed at a decent time.....

Then, perhaps letting him pick out his own alarm clock and setting it up in his room and explaining how it works will do the trick.  Then it's his 'job' to get up, turn off the alarm and get dressed in the morning.

Also, if he's anything like my kids, making them go to bed earlier is just the 'absolute worst' so you can tell him that if he has trouble getting out of bed in the mornings, that means he needs more rest, and the next night he will have to go to bed 30 minutes earlier (AND STICK TO THIS!!!!!)

These are the things that have worked for me.

Good Luck.

Answer 15

Yank the covers off and use the belt, OR dump some ice water on him. Bet he will move after the FIRST time you call tomorrow morning.

Answer 16

For my son, who just turned 7, I try waking him up and when I see he's coming around, I'll tickle him or something to know he's really awake even though he's trying to sleep.  Then I pick him up, carry him to the bathroom and plop him down facing the toilet so he can pee first thing.  Once he's too big to carry like that, I guess I'll have to try something else.  I think 6 years old is way to young to just call him from another room to wake him up.

Answer 17

Don't do it.  Tell him once, "you're missing breakfast!"

He'll think twice when he's starving at 10am.

He likes the game you're playing and he won't stop without any negative reinforcement.

Answer 18

I used to pull my boys out of bed by their feet and stand them up and give them a hug.  Worked real well.  I did it to my daughter also until she blossomed.  Then, I gently pushed her shoulder to awaken her.  That worked good also.

Answer 19

I go in twice. The first time to gently shake them awake. Then 5 minutes later I go in again to tell them they are going to bed 15 minutes earlier at night if they do not get up right then. After a week of going to bed early they ether figure out they need to get up when I say it the first time or I decide they really need the extra 15 minutes of sleep and it becomes a new bedtime.

I have also made them go to school in there pajamas or with out breakfast if they wasted too much time in the morning.

Answer 20

He is taking that long to get up because you let him. Calling out every 5min is not enough to motivate him. First try using positive reinforcement and encouragement. Sit him down and explain that your are serious about the need for him to get up when you ask him to and you realize it is hard for him. Be sure to validate the fact that he finds this a challenge, so he feels understood. Then tell him that if gets up on time, he can be in charge of...fill in the blank...If this does not work, you must create some consequences that accelerate the longer he takes to get up. "10mins of TV time taken away.........15mins taken away.....20min...ooh honey, you're gonna have NO TV time today, isn't fill in the blank on tonight..." And it may take a few days of missing that TV time before it will really motivate him to actually get up, as he needs to feel the consequences before it lights a fire under him.

Answer 21

My friend was having this problem and one moring she went in witha dress.  Told him if  he didn't get out she was dressing him and he couldn't change for an hour.  He didn't and she did, but he got to change before going to school and didn't like it very much.  The next day she did the same and he didn't think she would do it again.  As she walked to his bed she told him he had to wear it to school this time.....he got up and has ever since.  lol

Answer 22

I go in and turn on the light and start talking to my kids.  I don't yell up the stairs, they'd never get up.  I go in, pop the light on and go about picking out their clothes for the day.  They're up before I'm done, most mornings.

Answer 23

My kids all have their own alarm clocks, even my 4 year old.  When the alarms go off they get up.  The older two don't dawdle as long as the 4 year old because they have a bus to catch and they don't want to go to school in their pjs as they have done in the past.  In my house if the bus is out in front the kids are on it.  If they're not dressed too bad.  My two oldest have gone to school once each in the pjs, they tend to not like being teased so they make it a point to be up, have breakfast and be dressed and ready for the bus before it gets here.

Answer 24

tell him you're hungry and thinking of eating his waffles?

actually i sit with my kids as they wake up (including my 6 year old) and it's one of my favorite times of the day because they're all sleepy and cuddly.  i like to start the day with some snuggles and giggles.  i like to wake up slowly, too.  i wake them up about 15 minutes before it's really important that they get out of bed.  if they're still not moving much and it's really time to get going, i'll just carry them over to the bathroom and plop them down in front of the shower.  nothing like a good shower to get you going in the morning!

you might also consider if it would help to put him to bed a little earlier if it's so hard to wake up.

Answer 25

stay there until he gets up. even if you have to get up a couple minutes early. be nice to him--- rub his back and say wake up buddy its time to get up. maybe bring him some oj.  if you do this for a lil while h**l get in the habbit off just getting up and you wont have to deal with it when hes much older.

Answer 26

tell him if he hurries up and gets ready there will be time for him to watch his cartoon on tv before the bus gets there or before yal run out the door for school.

that works on my 4 y/o but not sure when it'll get old...

as of right now as soon as I say that she's UP and rushing!

Answer 27

I have done it all! To the point of water ( warm) in a squirt bottle to make them get up! I have found the following to be the best methods for my kids... Hope this helps. I go in, turn on the light,  fold the covers back all the way to the foot of the bed, and say (she's an 8 yr old girl, so adapt as needed) "Good morning Princess!" Then I pick her up out of bed and  stand her on the floor.  She's a VERY not happy morning person ,so I keep it pleasant and physically guide her away from her bed to her closet to get clothes, or else she'll just climb back in.

The other kids wake up pretty quick when I say, " okay! I'm gonna yank you out of bed by yer toes!" They wake up laughing and jump out so they can hide.

My 13 year old though...... I just tell her that if she doesn't put a fire under it she won't have time to shower. That;s a fate worse than death for her. *gasp* no shower before school?!?!? LOL