How to get little ones to sleep past 5/6

[Vics128]

Hi! Any tips on getting a nearly 4 yr old to sleep past 5 or 6. He is ment to go to bed at 7, but rarely makes it to that time. he is so tired, he has been known to flake out at 4.30 and sleep through till morning! mostly though its 6.30. If we do keep him up till bed time or beyond, he still gets up at the same time, but then the next night is painfully tired again.
He wont sleep in the day, and I dont think anything wakes him at that time. Iv evan started leaving the heating on all night so I no he isnt cold, and that hasnt helped either.
Please help, im tired!!

[aims1202]

If you can i would try to keep him awake at 4.30, i did this with my son by gently tickling him when he started to fall asleep. He would have dinner after and that always seemed to wake him up a bit. He still went to bed at 6.30 sometimes though and usually slept through til 7am but when he did start waking up early (he was 4 then) i bought him a digital clock to have next to his bed and told him he couldnt call or come in until it said 7 something on the clock, it worked and he would usually go back to sleep. now he rarely wakes up early, you could try that with your boy , good luck

[Vics128]

HI, thanks for that. I think I will give that a try!

[annie0000]

When you see the signs of tiredness, make sure that he has his dinner, then take him up for a bath - spin it out as long as you can, then do the bedtime routine and you will hopefully make it to a more realistic bedtime of 7ish. My kids always woke up at around 6 until they started school - They now sleep until 7.30 ish - rarely later than 8 even at weekends, but at least (at age 8 and 7) they can go down themselves, get a drink and a brioch and put the tv on, so we get to lie a little later!

Count yourself lucky, there are people who can't get their kids down at night, have them up during the night and never get an evening to themselves, I much prefer the other way around, you can always go to bed earlier yourself to catch up!

[tigwig]

Well I suppose annie has a point about having your evenings to yourself but I wouldn't let my daughter get up that early!
Like others have said, enagage him in an activity of some sort or go out for a walk at the time he usually falls asleep in the afternoon. It will wake him up and then he could have his tea. All you have to do then is keep him busy until at least 6 then it's bath and bed time. I wouldn't put him to bed before 7.
If he wakes up before 7 then tell him to go back to bed and don't give in no matter what. His body will soon adjust after a few days you just have to be strong! Remember you are the boss not him! If it helps you can buy those clocks now that only light up in the morning and help teach children when iis acceptable to get up. Good luck!

[mummyjeffo]

I feel for you as i know how hard it is. Im a first time mum and my daughter is only 7 months old so i cant communicate to get her to go back to sleep. But she is similar to your child as she struggles to make it through to 7pm to go to bed, if she had her way she'd be in bed at 5:30pm and the get up at 6am, not good at all. I have started giving her some tea when she gets tired, and then when she gets tired again offer her a pudding (i.e. fruit as dont want sugar rush kicking in before bedtime) and then bath her about 6pm and drag that out as long as possible, when she gets out of the bath i slowly get her dried and into her pyjama's, then we have "quiet time" and although i know she doesnt understand me at the moment im hoping this will stick with her when she can understand, i say to her "we're going to have some quiet time before bed now" that way she knows she is going to bed soon but not yet, then we sit together and play with soft toys or have a cuddle or even just watch the tv, i always dim the lights to wind her down and when she starts drifting off i take her to bed, by the time all this is done its usually between 6:50pm and 7:10pm. She does sometimes wake up around 6am, so i give her her dummy and a teddy and say "night night" so she knows we're NOT getting up, generally works. Hope this helps. Sticking to the same routine everynight and putting up with the crying and winging does pay off as after a few days they do learn they aren't in charge. Good luck to you.

[annie0000]

I guess i never really considered getting up at 6 too much of an issue. Although my natural body clock works on late nights and late mornings, I have gotten up at 6.30 or earlier for work for most of my adult life, so it never really bothered me too much when the kids got up early - at least I got to spend time with them before work. That said, I do like to stay in bed until around 8 at the weekends, so it is good that they can take of themselves now until then ;o). At the weekends we used to do one morning each, so that we got a longer lie for one day a week.

I always liked my evenings peaceful with the boys packed away at a reasonable time.

Is any of this helping Vics?

Just think to the future when you have a lazy teenager on your hands that you have to drag out of bed everyday, then you can get your own back.

[Ice.Maiden]

My sons are 9 and 10 now, but always get up early, whether it's a weekend, holiday, or not. I tried putting them to bed later when they were toddlers, but it made no difference, so in the end, I gave up! When children are tired, they should be allowed to go to sleep, and getting up early really does no one any harm. Could you have a rest yourself if your son nods off in the afternoon?

[Vics128]

Hi thanks for all your help guys. You have all really helped!

[Pottyone]

To mummyjeffo, my 7 month old always woke at 5am. I used to give hin a bottle and he would drink half then go back off til well after 8! Maybe she is hungry. I can't sleep when I am hungry.