5yr old REALLY earlier riser

[alfie jones]

We have a 5yr old boy, who is active, eats well goes to bed no later than 7.30 and yet gets up every morning without fail between 5.30-6a.m everyday.. Tried everything like afternoon naps, going to bed later etc..to no avail still the same wake up time. I dont want to go down the sedation line to re-establish a better sleeping pattern, but we all need something including him who is never fully re-charged the next day..any ideas..any herbal drops etc on his pillow?...thanks,,v v tired alfie jones..yawn...

[rosandjohn]

have you seen item titled 'children's clock, helps young kid's stay in bed' on most pop auction site. Its a fantastic visual prompt to show your child when he can get up,(im not the seller but this looks realy good) if possible leave him some quiet things to do until he is allowed uo.

[angiesue]

My son used to be just the same it did change when he started school which started to tire him out. You could send him to bed and let him play for a while thats what my little boy does  and has done for about the last 3 years and he is 8 now. It's his way of winding down. Set yourself a rule when he should turn the light off. My son now turns the light off himself when he has had enough. Theres nothing worse than going to bed when you are not tired. Mine wakes up about 7.30-8 o'clock. He also get himself up at weekends and turns the tv on and I get a chance of an extra hour. He soon comes up when he gets lonely. It does get easier honest. Not sure if this helps.

[mishmoneypen]

Has it just started recently?  If so could be due to the lighter mornings. Darken his room with heavy curtains or a blind and see if that makes a difference.  Hope this helps

[fieryredhead]

My mum always used to put two drops of lavender oil on our pillows when we were little- something I still do now for myself and I am sure that I always sleep better and more heavily when I do than when I forget. Worth a try anyway!

[Kat535]

My daughter was the same, as mishmoneypen suggested I used a black out blind and that helped but she was still an early riser.  In the end I decided that instead of insisting she should sleep later I would settle for simply not waking me.  I checked the house was safe and left her a packed breakfast (which she thought was great) and an alarm clock set for a reasonable time.  She got little rewards if she managed to let me have a lie in.  This was only at weekends but it did teach her to amuse herself for a while.