In honor of MB's facebook post:
Do you set a time before which your kids cannot emerge from their bedrooms? How do you teach a toddler to sleep in?
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6 comments:
We have several early birds in our house, including my 2 yo (nearly 3) and my 11 mo (nearly 1?!). A friend suggested we get a clock that 2 yo can look at -- if the clock's eyes are open, then he can get out of bed; if eyes are shut, need to stay in bed. Great idea! Just haven't been able to locate the clock yet.
For the past few days, 2 yo has climbed into our bed around 5 AM, I cuddle him a few minutes, then carry him back to his bed. He usually stays in his room at least another hour. This morning at 6 AM, he called quite loudly from his bed, "Is it time yet??"
I'm a morning person, so it's not too much of a struggle to get up in the mornings. HOWEVER, I'd prefer to have my own time in the morning to do Bible study or just sit in silence or whatever.
Looking for tips and techniques. Help!
We tried the stay in bed until the "wake up 7" as Wm calls it. It doesn't work because he always seems to forget that the first number has to be a seven, not the last (as that comes around every 10min). But he doesn't get up much earlier than that most days.
I have a friend who used one of those automatic timers for lights...you plug them in, set the on and off times and plug in a lamp or other electronical equipment (know what I mean?). She would set it for whatever time she was allowing her daughter to get up and put a small night light on it. If the light wasn't on she couldn't get up yet, but if it turned on it wouldn't wake her but when she woke up she knew she could get up.
i'm honored that a question is out there because of me :) i'm going to try the nightlight on a timer; i actually heard about that before, just haven't gotten to the store. in a few years, i'll be annoyed that he doesn't get out of bed :)
lamp or nightlight on a timer! That is brilliant!!!!!
The night light on a timer IS a brillant idea! I have also heard a variation of what Jamie said with the "wake up 7" where you actually put a piece of paper or tape over the last numbers on the clock so all they can see and concentrate on is that first number.
As they get older it's a little easier. My middle daughter is an early bird but now that she shares a room with her older brother, she just waits until he says it's time to wake up. I have to admit that when she was younger and she was in her own room, we put a toddler knob on the inside of her door so she couldn't open it until we came to get her. It seemed safer than her roaming the house while we were still sleeping. :-)
Because some kids are just early risers by nature, I think it's a good idea to teach them to stay in their room until whatever the designated time. Some ways to keep him busy while he's in his room before wake-up time: books on CD, coloring pages, listening to music (with or without headphones), playing with toys. I also have friends who have family devotions in the morning. This is a "no talking" time and the kids can "read" their own devotion or watch a video series while mom and dad have their own quiet times.
I also really like the light on timer idea. Basically, I think it's just teaching the child that they cannot come out of their room until... you come to get him, or the lights turn on, or the alarm goes off, or whatever. It's a very difficult lesson in patience. :-)
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