We are trying to get Leah to stay in her bed a little later. Since moving the start of our bedtime ritual from 8:30 to 7:00, or right after dinner (I said start time, mind you), she has been waking up before 7:00am. Just ask my Dad, I am not a morning person. (Of course, I am writing this at 11:00 pm). 8:00 is much more preferred than 7, and you'd think that with the shortening days, our potential sleep time would be increasing. This is not so.
At least she can stay in bed until the sun rises, right?
We've tried encouraging her to look out her window to see if the sun has "woken up" yet. We've tried setting her up with a bowl of cereal, a sippy cup in the fridge, and the Disney channel just a button away. We've tried encouraging her to go potty all by herself in the morning. But not only can we not train her to let us sleep just a little bit later, but she wakes up the baby with her loudness and then there is no going back to sleep for anyone.
Here are some of the things we've heard her shout--repeatedly--first thing in the morning when we're trying to get a few extra minutes of shut-eye:
IS THE SUN AWAKE YET?
IS IT MY BIRTHDAY? CAN I HAVE MY BIRTHDAY CUPCAKES? (no, her birthday is "not ready yet")
I GOTTA GO POTTY!
I'M HUNGRY SOME FOR LUNTZ.
MOM-SAY 'BLESS YOU'
And on the off-chance that she's downstairs, hopefully watching TV:
MOM! MOM! WHAT'S IN YOUR PUMPKIN? (the candy jar--it's candy corn)
WHAT'S NEXT? (Handy Manny)
WHAT HAPPENED TO WOODY? (his arm ripped)
Of course, there are those rare mornings that she trots into my room and climbs into bed with me and we snuggle and make faces at each other for a few minutes before going down to breakfast.
Ah, the joys of parenthood!
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4 comments:
Paul woke up at 5:30 for months. I understand early wakings! I hope you figure it out!
Why did you change the bedtime to an hour earlier if you want her to sleep later? Not getting the logic of that.
Hmmm. That's a legitimate point. We started putting her to bed earlier because she was just so grumpy after dinner time and there was no point in keeping her up later only to be so worn thin by the end of the night and not have any free time. And since Chris is studying at night these days, it was just me up with a grumpy toddler.
Maybe I need to make my bedtime earlier...but then that would defeat the purpose of having more free time in the evenings...
I'm guess I'm just doomed to either be exhausted or have no "me" time.
I understand! I hope you can work it out!
You could try the tactic of getting her ready for bed and then letting her stay up if she is so quiet you don't notice that she is up. Then she can play quietly, and you can start your personal time a little sooner. That is what I did with kids who were giving up naps. "If you are so cheerful and quiet that I forget you are up, then you can watch tv instead of napping." Mom
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