Some little people wake up early no matter how hard we may try to convince them to sleep longer, hello early risers! It’s possible a child wakes up early but wakes up rested, they may just be a natural early morning riser. These tips are for those children who wake up rested but it may be problematic for the exhausted parents who also become early risers {and it’s not by choice}. My toddler is one of these little early risers. And luck would have it, my infant is an early riser on the off-chance my toddler sleeps past 6:00 a.m.
We have a bedtime routine established and have tried recommendations of adjusting the bedtime earlier or later, reducing/skipping nap time, and keeping the room as dark as possible but the end result is still an early riser. Honestly, I’m also an early riser but let’s face the facts, neither one of my kid sleeps through the night consistently, I often stay up later than I intend, and there are mornings I’m just not ready to hit the ground running.
Here are a few tips that I have learned to survive with children who are naturally early morning risers. I use these tips in order to get just a little more rest before we start the day.
#1 Leave the Lights Off. Would you believe it took me almost two years to figure this tip out?!? Naturally, we would come downstairs, turn the lights on – wait, what?! Tip #1 is to leave the lights off or if you need a light to function, turn on a small table lamp. This is a helpful reminder for children that it’s early and that the world is still sleeping.
#2 Have Bonding Time. I love using early mornings to grab a blanket or pillow and snuggle with my boys. They enjoy an early morning quick, mess-free snack, usually dry cereal and a cup of milk. We lounge on the couch and enjoy some bonding time before we start the day. It also provides the perfect quiet time for morning prayer or conversation. My toddler in particular loves using this time to talk about the day ahead and he’ll say “Momma, let’s talk. Want to talk about God?” How could I not savor the moment and find peace with being awake before the sun with this beautiful time for conversation?
#3 Have Quiet Time Activities. Establish a quiet time routine. We use books, puzzles, and screen time in the morning. There is some caution with using screen time first thing in the morning because it may encourage young ones to rush up to be rewarded with TV or an iPad but we haven’t found that a driving force with our early risers. My toddler enjoys quiet snuggle time on the couch with his favorite cartoons or playing some of his favorite iPad apps. Routines are a must with my toddler who is very active – morning or not, he wakes up ready to rumble. He wakes up ready to jump, climb, talk loudly, bang on his toy piano so having quiet activities is necessary for the momma bear, papa bear, and baby bear who may be attempting to wake up and soak in a few quiet moments in the early morning.
These three tips to survive with children who are naturally early morning risers of course do not actually get us more much-needed sleep but they do provide a few moments of wake-up time, a few more minutes to close our eyes if we need. I realized how stressful it was to always jump up when one of the kiddos woke up and to jump right in to getting ready, making breakfast, and shuffling around the house even though my mind {and body} are screaming NOT YET! Of course, there are plenty of days we still might have to jump right in to a routine but these tricks are helpful for that lazy Sunday morning when we need just a few more minutes to recover from a busy week!
Lindsay (@itssimplylinds) says
September 2, 2015 at 7:38 AMI absolutely love these tips – I was never an early riser, but once I had a baby, that quickly forced me to change! I now love my early morning snuggle sessions with my daughter and cherish that extra time in my day.
Love Peace Beauty says
September 2, 2015 at 9:03 PMThank you, Lindsay! I cherish those sweet snuggles – they are just the best!
katie kashner says
September 2, 2015 at 7:47 AMthese are three amazing tips that I’m definitely going to remember! I am pregnant with our first baby so these will be great! I used to nanny two little girls and they would get up at 5:10 AM just right after I got there. I would keep the lights off and put on a Dora dvd. That definitely helped quite a bit, haha. It was so hard! I’m naturally not an early riser but I know that babies kinda force you into it :)
Love Peace Beauty says
September 2, 2015 at 9:04 PMThank you, Katie! Thank goodness for Dora – she saved the day! My toddler likes Dora, too!
chefjoe11 says
September 2, 2015 at 8:12 AMI suggest you teach them very young how to use a clock! Then you tell them which number they can come get you. It really worked with my 5 kids!
Love Peace Beauty says
September 2, 2015 at 9:04 PMGreat suggestion!!
Chrissa Physical Kitchness says
September 2, 2015 at 10:25 AMDefinitely taking these suggestions! My son is a crazy early riser but he is only one. I am going to try and teach him ‘quiet’ activities as he gets older!
Love Peace Beauty says
September 2, 2015 at 9:12 PMI hope they are helpful in the future, Chrissa! My 10 month old really has no idea either, he just knows it’s morning and he’s awake but luckily he doesn’t usually wake up quite as early as my toddler. ;)
Alexandra @ My Urban Family says
September 2, 2015 at 12:26 PMCoffee + Cuddles + Cartoons sounds like a lovely way to start the day! I’m not a morning person, but something like that might make it a bit easier :)
Love Peace Beauty says
September 2, 2015 at 9:14 PMOh yes, cuddles seem to soften the “exhaustion” factor just a bit! ;)
Katie @thebrooksielife says
September 2, 2015 at 4:47 PMI love early morning cuddles! I have an early riser too! It amazes me when people tell me their kids sleep until 9 or 10am.
Love Peace Beauty says
September 2, 2015 at 9:20 PMYES! My toddler has always been up early – it just makes me giggle when I read posts suggesting to get up early to get things done as a mother – I have tried but my little ones are always up shortly after. :)
jollymoments says
September 2, 2015 at 10:26 PMGreat tips! I especially love #2. My little one is an early riser as well. Sometimes I get up and rush to start the day, but the cuddle time you spoke of in #2 is so important!
Love Peace Beauty says
September 3, 2015 at 8:47 PMSo true! I’ve really noticed a pattern (especially with my toddler) on the mornings we rush around, he has more difficulty and there is more stress for everyone.
Jessica Young says
September 3, 2015 at 9:41 AMOh my goodness, I love this! My biggest fear about parenthood is the early rising (I am the worst morning person I’ve ever met), but I love love love the couch cuddles/talking/bonding. Sounds absolutely lovely!
Love Peace Beauty says
September 3, 2015 at 8:51 PMThank you for the kind words, Jessica! It can be hard to imagine but their sweet faces make the sleepless nights and early mornings totally worth it!
Kaycie Vanden Top says
September 5, 2015 at 8:27 PMThese are some great tips! I’m getting married next year, but these are good things to know for when we start having little early risers as our own! thanks for sharing!
Love Peace Beauty says
September 6, 2015 at 7:04 PMThank you, Kaycie!
Forever Joyful says
September 7, 2015 at 6:45 AMWe have rules about when the children can get up and what they can do. I like to get up before them to pray and prepare for my day. They can get a jump start by working on their chores independently. Reading is always an option. They usually prefer starting their chores because they get rewarded with a little extra electronics time when they get their required chores finished early!
Mommy A to Z says
September 11, 2015 at 8:20 AMGood ideas! I hate waking early, but my daughter’s an early riser. Of course, now with school having started, none of us have a choice… we’re all up pretty early these days! Thanks for sharing these tips at the Manic Mondays blog hop!
Lauren English says
September 12, 2015 at 8:40 PMI love these tips! I’m sure I’ll wrestle with this a lot when our little one arrives next spring! I love my quiet mornings and will definitely miss that time (even though I’m sure it will be replaced with lots of sweet baby snuggles!).