We went on a Joy School field trip to the fire station a few weeks back. While Emmie and I thought it was fun and interesting, Parker kept his head buried in my leg (as shown above) most of the time and didn't want to participate in anything or even be around the other kids. He was actually quite defiant and on the verge of a major meltdown for the entire tour. (Yes, I look prego in this picture. NO, I am not...)
So why was my little guy who is normally THRILLED just to be around other kids acting so ornery at a place he otherwise would have been intrigued by?
The answer lies in those bags under his red, puffy eyes. Maybe if he hadn't waken up at 4:45 a.m that morning he would have been a little more chipper. His super, way-to-early awakening isn't just a one time thing.... It's the norm these days! Chris and I have a special early morning visitor each day that loves to come and chill in our room anywhere between 3:30 and 5:45 a.m. What a treat! Yeah, it's pretty awesome. He's UP, wide awake, and rearing to go for the day. He'll come in, take Chris' Iphone off the nightstand, and play video games on it while we snooze away. Yeah! My three year old navigates the stupid Iphone better than I know how. Most of the time Chris and I are so dead asleep we don't realize that he's there until he's screaming from the master bathroom for us to go and wipe his bum. What a lovely wake up call at 4:30. So you say to just go put him back to bed. Well, that is where it's complicated. If he is to fall back asleep, that would require us to ROCK him, which will usually take up to 45 minutes, robbing us of our own valuable, much needed rest. (and he'll only sleep for possibly another 45 minutes anyways.) Yes, sacrifice is part of parenting. A BIG part of parenting. And maybe we are selfish. Maybe. But most days of late, little P gets away with his early morning shenanigans due to the fact that in order to take care of he and his sis the rest of the day, I need my SLEEP! At LEAST until 6-- PLEASE! If he were a baby, okay. He'd win. I'd be right there, rocking him. That's what you do for babies. NOT for three year olds!!
(Note: If it's earlier than 4:45ish, we usually DO go and rock the little stink..)
Does anyone else have this problem??? What do you do?! Any suggestions? Chris is ready to lock him in his room at night...Sounds a bit drastic to me but some mornings - trust me - it really makes sense. Before taking such measures, I think I am going to buy him a digital clock and tell him he can't leave his room until at least 6:00 a.m. I'll let you know how it goes. Oh, and putting him to bed later DOESN'T WORK. He still gets up at the same time and it just makes the problem WORSE!
Back to the field trip. After a little 'talk' on the drive home and promises of, "I'll remember next time, Mom" (to behave nicely at the firestation), Parker was back to his regular self once home and ready to pose for a picture with his badge and new fire hat the nice firemen gave him.
Back to the field trip. After a little 'talk' on the drive home and promises of, "I'll remember next time, Mom" (to behave nicely at the firestation), Parker was back to his regular self once home and ready to pose for a picture with his badge and new fire hat the nice firemen gave him.THE QUESTION:
Are we bad parents for not getting up and entertaining our child at 5 a.m.? Isn't there some sort of rule in fine print saying that if your 3+ year old child chooses to get up at really crazy, ridiculous times in the morning that he is on his own until 6:30 and that anytime there-before is not considered neglect?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I must have read that somewhere before...I must have.
Aghh! HELP! :)
7 comments:
Oh, Man! If you find out the answer to this please let me know! The later we put JJ to bed, the earlier he wakes up. We actually did put a lock on his door. He was waking up at 3:00 or 4:00 every morning. He would very quietly sneak downstairs, get into the pantry, and turn on the Cartoon Network. Once I came down to find him watching Adult Swim with an entire box of Cinnamon Life cereal dumped out onto the carpet in the middle of the night.
But the worst part about the lock is that now he can't use the potty when he wakes up. He will sometimes change his pull-up 2 or 3 times by himself in the night. What a waste! He knows that he will be in big trouble if he is noisy in his room before the sun comes up- but you better believe he is yelling for us at the crack of dawn! So it really isn't a good solution, but we don't know what to do either.
OH we have similar problems over here! First of all, make sure he is not napping. Try and put him to bed earlier (sounds counter intuitive, I know, but if they are over tired they don't sleep as well). If it's really early when he wakes, then just tell him to get in bed with you and cuddle - then you can all just go back to sleep - or send Chris to go lay with him in his bed to go back to sleep. Put him to bed at night with soft music playing and then if he wakes in the night turn it on again - it's sleep inducing and if they are used to it at bedtime it kind of reminds them to sleep. Then you're sleep is less disturbed while trying to get him back down because you are just laying with him instead of up and rocking. And if all else fails and he's up at five - put him in the living room in front of a movie or pbs cartoons, a bowl of dry cereal or a piece of toast, and go back to sleep for a while! Lol. Can you tell we've done this recently??? Good luck!
Oops forgot to mention - I have a friend who taught her daughter to read the digital clock and she is not allowed to come out of her room until it says 7am. It works for her (I haven't tried it yet). I talk to Eli a lot about "when the sun comes up" but so far that doesn't deter him.
okay, that's crazy talk - who in the world would get up at 5 am (or earlier??!!) to entertain their kid?? Yes, you should sleep. maybe just hide the iPhone? or... this may be mean... you could always turn his doorknob around and lock him in his room...
as I read I was glad to hear that I am not the only one up that early!! we tried locking Coco in and he just ended up scared to go in his room. (wouldn't recommend it) I mostly just roll over and let him join me. we also got him a queen bed so we would be more comfy when we had to join him. I am just grateful that Ruby sleeps good so far!! Good Luck! We should hang out soon.
Thanks girls, for your comments and advice!
Marianne - I was laughing at your whole comment (with empathy of course!)... adult swim and Life cereal all over the floor. Wow -- fun times!
Jeanine - Parker does know how to read a digital clock so that is definitely our next move as soon as we purchase one for his room! The problem with pulling Parker into bed with us is that he has an obsession with my hair and when he lays next to me he is constantly stroking/pulling my locks, not to mention his restless kicking so NO ONE, believe me no one gets any sleep once we go there. We usually end up doing your solution #C and just put on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and get him some breakfast -- it seems to be the only thing that gives us any peace! :) Oh, naptimes are a MUST -- even before he started this wake up early thing - they are crucial or he has major meltdowns! But maybe we should try for a few days and see if we can rework his schedule...?
Alicia -- I'm with you - hide the Iphone and we do - sometimes- but Chris forgets and puts it on the nightstand some nights. Thanks for reassuring me that getting up that early really is crazy talk. It helps me feel like not such a bad parent! :)
Shannon - good point on the locking him in his room might make him hate his room...and how lucky is Cohen to have a Queen bed?? Little Parker is still in a TODDLER bed! Yeah, which doesn't make laying with him in his bed an option... LOL One of these days we're going to get him bunkbeds so maybe I'll have to start sleeping on the upper bunk?
Good Luck on this one. Linc is still in his crib (and knock on wood has never even attempted to climb out of it). I tell ya-I'm leaving him in there until he is 4!!! I dont' want to have to deal with this stuff. I also laughed (with empathy) to your post when I read that he takes the IPhone :o) Good Luck!
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