Waking the kids

[rwjx2khsmj]

It's after 9am and totally quiet at my house. Usually at least one is up by now and we are into our day. Usually I wake the others up at 9am and we start our day with breakfast and a read-aloud.

 

Is there anyone else that hates to wake their children up in the morning? Deep down I believe that if they are still sleeping they must need the sleep.

[jelbe5]

My oldest dd sets her alarm and comes to wake up anyone else who is asleep so we can listen to Adventures in Odessey at 8am. This is how we wake up and start our day. This was my older DD's idea and it has worked so well for several years now.

[elise1mds]

I posted about this issue on the SN board yesterday, but DS thrives on a schedule and DD needs her sleep.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I let them sleep until they wake up naturally. They go to bed around 9:30 and are usually up between 7:00 - 8:00.

[JessReplanted]

I don't ever have to wake up my children - they are always up before me.

 

But, with my husband, after 9am it is all fair game. I think I'd wake up my kids if they were sleeping past 9.

[zookeeper]

I let my little ones wake on their own but will wake my big kids if they're not going around 8. I'm not a morning person myself.

[Ellie]

I didn't wake my dc unless we were going somewhere and had to be there fairly early, such as church. Of course, they usually woke up on their own around 8 a.m. I could live with that. :)

 

If they had regularly slept until way past 10, then I probably would have wakened them (and put them to bed earlier).

[tammyw]

Mine wake up between 7am and 7:30 automatically. If they went to bed late, they might sleep longer. No way would I ever wake them earlier!

[snickelfritz]

It depends. When I totally let them wake up on their own, their schedule migrates to them going to bed when dh and I do and sleeping late. Since dh and I like some alone time at night, that doesn't work for us.

 

So, in general, I have to wake them up at a consistent time and I find they go to bed easier. But, I usually adjust them gradually. I don't take them from a 10:00 bedtime one night and go for 8:00 the next. We do it gradually. If they aren't waking up easily (or on their own) I nudge bedtime back. Even 30 minutes can make a big difference.

 

But, if evenings have been running late or they are running tired, I'll let them sleep in a bit and work at getting them back on track.

 

It really comes down to dh and I being disciplined and consistent enough to get them to bed on time.

[*********]

Well, sleep is a very individual thing at our house.

 

Dh has sleep apnea, so if daddy's sleeping, we let him sleep. Period. He is also working INSANE hours right now (I'm *trying to be grateful for his job, I really am :tongue_smilie:), and the other night he got 3 hours of sleep. He had a meeting from midnight to 2:30 am because he was teleconferencing with coworkers and employees in the India office; then he had a 7am meeting here. That stunk. Anyway, so if daddy's sleeping, you don't wake him. :D

 

Zee gets up between 6 and 7, regardless of when he goes to bed. He's always been my early bird. The rule is he's supposed to try and go back to sleep if it's before 7; otherwise, he can be a bit cranky if he's tired later in the day.

 

Moose changes a lot. This morning he slept till 9; some mornings, he wakes at 7. His body just seems to be better than Zee and just getting however much sleep he needs.

 

The teenagers sleep until they want, but we stop being 'quiet' for them around 10 or 10:30 on the weekends; unless someone was up late the night before for a GOOD reason.

 

And me? Well, you know how it goes as a mommy. :tongue_smilie: I'm up when I have to be, regardless of time.

[elfgivas]

I let my little ones wake on their own but will wake my big kids if they're not going around 8. I'm not a morning person myself.

 

:iagree: then i tweak the night time until they're going to bed early enough to get up early enough on their own.

 

but if anyone is feeling under the weather, then i just let them sleep....

ann

[nukeswife]

I never wake my kids up unless we have an appointment we have to go to. I try to make sure those appointments aren't made for early in the morning. We usually aren't starting school until 11am at the earliest.

 

I chuckle when people say I get my kids up and going at 8, I'm so not a morning person. Um, to me if you're up at 8 you are definitely a morning person. :lol:

[higginszoo]

It depends on what has been going on. It's 8:40 now, and I have one who has been up and doing school, one who just stumbled downstairs, who I believe is on the computer, and two still in bed. Of the two in bed, one has been under a LOT of stress with a bad situation in Scouts (getting ready to leave the troop), and the other has been fighting off the beginning of a migraine cycle. So I'll let them sleep. If there's nothing discernible going on where they might need extra sleep and/or if we have a tight schedule for the day and we need to get moving, I don't hesitate to get them up. Today, though, migraine boy doesn't have anything until religion class at 3 and Cub Scouts at 7 if he's feeling better. Stress girl should probably sell cookies, but she's not really in to it. We have kind of a hybrid education model right now with both of them where they have a few basics that take an hour or two, and they're free to unschool the rest of the day, so there's no big rush. If it were yesterday when they have karate most of the afternoon (from 1 to 7, with 2 hour break from 2-4), there wouldn't be time to get schoolwork and other stuff done, so migraine boy might get a pass if he had an active headache or vomiting episode, but stress girl would be dragged out of bed by now.

 

(As I typed, migraine boy came down the stairs singing, so I'm glad that I let him sleep.)

[Cindy in FL.]

I let my boys sleep. History is the only thing we do together, so they all get started at different times depending on when they wake up. The youngest likes to get up early and get his work done. He'll be finished by lunch time whereas the olders won't be done until 5:00 or so.

 

Cindy

[MamaT]

Wow, I am only one of two so far who wakes their kids up at the same time every day. My dd has to be at gymnastics at 2:30 every day, so we start school at 8:00 sharp.

[swellmomma]

Unless we have a reason we have to be up (like an appt) I let them sleep until they wake on their own. Now that I have to be up with my daycare child I would like them uup sooner just to start our schoolday sooner, but with my kids that would be a disaster. Too little sleep makes them not just cranky but downright nasty, especially my oldest. If he doesn't get enough sleep he has way more meltdowns, is more violent etc. I would rather have them sleep until not tired anymore and start school later in the day than face that just for the sake of waking them earlier. We get less school done on the days I enforced an earlier wake up time than when they just sleep in. My 2 oldest sleep in the latest and we are not in the least bit quiet for them, tiny little bungalow and the 3 youngeer kids are playing, talking etc while the bigs are still asleep. My 12 yr old dd can easily sleep until noon, my 13 yr old is usually up around 10-1030. I generally enforce that they have to be up and cheerful by lunchtime and then we start school after lunch for them, where as in the morning I do preschool with the 2 youngest and work with ds8.

[Parrothead]

We all have sleep problems around here. We sleep until we wake up. Or we sleep until we wake up at 4a and go back to bed a 8a and sleep until we wake back up again.

 

We simply adjust our schedule as needed and keep morning appointments to a minimum.

[Mynyel]

I let them sleep for purely selfish reasons.

 

I need to work a minimum of 24 hours a week. I work a solid 2 hours in the morning while they sleep! :)

[RebeccaS]

My boys are early risers (6:15-6:30 is the norm for them to wake). My girls will naturally sleep later (8-9, or later in the case of younger dd). So, my girls use an alarm to wake up earlier to start our day earlier. However, we have church on Wednesday nights and it's not unusual for it to be well after 10 before the kids get to sleep. The boys typically go in at 7:30 and the girls at 8:30 on "normal" evenings. Thursday mornings the kids are allowed to sleep until they naturally wake. Today, that meant my boys slept until 8:15 (hooray!) and my girls came upstairs around 9. This day will run longer than usual (since we now have a later start), but that's ok. Everyone feels better in the long run. So, while we normally use an alarm and wake early, I relax that requirement on Thursdays.

 

I usually get up with dh before he goes to work, so I'm up at 6. Today, with letting the kids sleep late, I had almost 2 hours to indulge in reading my book.

[JFSinIL]

I would wake mine if they were not up by a certain time since I am a morning person, and hate waiting around to start my day.

[GailV]

Ha, I just sat down here at 9:30am after going upstairs and waking up 16yo dd. I've been up for about 3.5 to 4 hours at this point.

 

I voted "other" because it depends. If we've had a crazy night, like the tornado sirens the other night, I let them sleep. Or if I know someone's sick and needs extra rest, I let them sleep (I'm a big fan of getting over illness by resting and eating nourishing things rather than taking antipyretics).Or if I know something big is coming up, rest up now for the late night later. So it sorta depends on the night before, or after, or whatever.

 

Otherwise, though, 16yo is fully capable of sleeping until noon. But she has to get up early several morning a week for various classes and obligations, so I think it's better to not sleep in that long -- it helps set your internal clock to go to bed and get up at about the same time every day.

[ChristusG]

Unless we have somewhere to be in the mornings, I let them sleep. If they are still sleeping, I figure they must need it.

 

DD4 just woke up at 10:15. She went to bed kind of late, but still...I wasn't going to wake her this morning.

[AK_Mom4]

I voted Other. I seem to be doing that quite a bit lately!

 

DD10 gets woke up at 8am most days. But some days, she is extra tired (like today) and I just let her sleep. DD18 has a 6:30am class most days so I turn on the light in her room as I go downstairs so she gets up on time.

[Bambam]

My kids are up, or woken up, by 7:30 am. You are expected to be in the school room starting school by 8 am.

Exceptions, of course, are a late night (for a reasonable cause) or sickness.

My kids have always had done much better with a regular schedule.

I consider it training for life after school.

 

They also have to be up by 7:30 in order to make it to worship on time, so it is pretty consistent throughout the week.

[ereks mom]

It depends. When I totally let them wake up on their own, their schedule migrates to them going to bed when dh and I do and sleeping late. Since dh and I like some alone time at night, that doesn't work for us.

 

So, in general, I have to wake them up at a consistent time and I find they go to bed easier. But, I usually adjust them gradually. I don't take them from a 10:00 bedtime one night and go for 8:00 the next. We do it gradually. If they aren't waking up easily (or on their own) I nudge bedtime back. Even 30 minutes can make a big difference.

 

But, if evenings have been running late or they are running tired, I'll let them sleep in a bit and work at getting them back on track.

 

It really comes down to dh and I being disciplined and consistent enough to get them to bed on time.

 

Yes, this sounds like us.

 

I've found that my teenagers would sleep as much as I'd let them. I believe in keeping a schedule for school, so I insist that they go to bed at a decent time and sleep no more than 10 hours at a stretch except on weekends. It used to be so easy to manipulate their sleep schedule when they were younger. But It's HARD to get them to bed on time when they're teenagers! They tend to want to stay up late and sleep late to make up for it.

Edited January 21, 2012 by ereks mom

[Maus]

It would be such a rare event that I would totally bask in it and enjoy some long overdue mom time.

[edelweiss]

I wake my kids up at 8 am every morning. If I didn't, they would sleep until 9:00 or even 10:00. I just can't let them do that. We have too much to cover during the day. They have afternoon activities during the day. Every day but Wednesday, they have to be somewhere at 4:00. On Wednesdays, my older daughter needs to leave the house by 2:30. Getting up at 8:00 and starting lessons by 9:00 is a must for us. Besides, I really think that they need a schedule.

[Angela Beshears]

Teenagers naturally stay up later. But I think 7:30 is still very reasonable. Interesting article about schools adjusting start times by 30 minutes in high school and the dramatic difference.

[frugalmama]

We're pretty relaxed about sleep here really. I have to take medication every 6 hours for the rest of my life, so I don't get to bed until midnight or so, and wake between 6 and 8am. DD has ASD and is a night owl, and often goes to sleep 2-5am and sleeps until noon-1pm. If she's not up by 1pm I generally start trying to wake her so we can do school while the sun is still up, as our school area doesn't have good artificial light.

 

 

I really really wish she slept on a normal schedule sometimes - trying to get her up for field trips early is terrible!

[Sputterduck]

Other.

 

I think I've only woken my son up 3 times in his life. He gets up around 6am. If he's exhausted himself somehow the day before, he'll get up no later than 7:30. If he is asleep past that, it is guaranteed that he is sick and so I won't wake him up.

 

The handful of times I've woken him up it has been because we needed to get going somewhere extremely early in the morning. He's HILARIOUS when you wake him up. He stands straight up on his bed and starts talking a mile a minute. I wish I was such a morning person. *sigh*

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

We started setting alarm clocks for the kids so that they would stay in bed longer. The 5yo especially tends to wake up very early. He was not getting enough sleep. Now having a set wake time and set bedtime makes it easier for the kids to fall asleep at night and the alarm lets them know when it is an appropriate time to wake in the morning.

[razorbackmama]

I don't LIKE to wake my kids because I like a quiet house.

 

But I DO wake my kids for 2 reasons:

 

1. To stay on schedule. We MUST have a schedule in order to get what we need to get done done.

 

2. From a sleep health perspective, it is better for them to go to bed and wake up at consistent times. For example, on the weekends, the latest I'll let them sleep is 8:30 (normal wake time is roughly 7-8 am, depending on the kid).

[Heidi]

I wouldn't wake them if they were really sleeping. Mine will pretend to sleep so they don't have to start the day, though.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

Ds2 was still sleeping at 10am this morning, so I opened the door to check to make sure he was okay, and the stupid creaking/creaking/booming door :cursing: woke him up out of a light sleep. He doesn't do it very often, so when he does sleep in, I let him.

 

I WISH ds5 would sleep in, but nope, he's a early riser morning bird who acts like he's starving when he wakes up. But thankfully he's gotten better at not waking up his little brother (they sleep in a bunk bed.)

Edited January 19, 2012 by theYoungerMrsWarde

[Jenny in Florida]

I had to go with "other," because it does vary a bit around here.

 

Mostly, I try to stick to a schedule. For the last couple of months, we've been trying having my husband wake our son before leaving for work shortly after 7:00. That's what happens most days.

 

However, my son is a theatre nerd, which means his schedule gets crazy when he's doing a show. During tech weeks (which is the week before a show opens, when the cast and crew almost live at the theatre getting the details in place), he might be out rehearsing until 11:00 or later. By the time we get home and he has a snack and showers and winds down enough to sleep, it's easily after midnight. There's no way he's going to be awake and functional at 7:00 the next morning.

 

Even nowadays, when he's just rehearsing relatively normal hours a few evenings a week, he can get more worn out than unusual and need some extra sleep in the morning.

 

I do try really hard to keep us on a consistent schedule, though.

[Sputterduck]

Ds2 was still sleeping at 10am this morning, so I opened the door to check to make sure he was okay, and the stupid creaking/creaking/booming door :cursing: woke him up out of a light sleep. He doesn't do it very often, so when he does sleep in, I let him.

 

I WISH ds5 would sleep in, but nope, he's a early riser morning bird who acts like he's starving when he wakes up. But thankfully he's gotten better at not waking up his little brother (they sleep in a bunk bed.)

 

WD40! It'll fix that.

[freeindeed]

I wake my kids up each school day between 8:00 and 8:15. They are expected to be in the dining room by 8:30. A schedule is a must for us, or they'd never get out of bed....and some days neither would I!:)

[Karen in CO]

Every time I see the title of this thread I think it is "Walking the kids."

 

Other than that, on Monday, I awaken the older dd. On Tuesday, I awaken the younger dd. On Wednesday, I let them both sleep. On Thursday, I wake them both up if they aren't awake by 8. On Friday, I let them sleep until 8:30. I have a schedule that makes perfect sense if you knew what else goes on in my life on those days. :D

[Farrar]

I've only ever even had the opportunity a few times. They've always gotten up before me.

[Ibbygirl]

I HAVE to keep my kids on a schedule otherwise things get out of control quickly! Both of my kids are like the Energizer bunny and they seem to need less sleep than I do! Nope, I have to wake them up early or they stay up until 4am and I'm toast the next day!

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[sbgrace]

I'm not sure which poll option to select but I let my kids sleep until they wake naturally unless we have to go somewhere in the morning.

[KidsHappen]

I voted other because it seemed to me that choices 1 and 3 were the basically the same. I didn't wake them because sleep is valuable. I have suffered about five years of severe insomnia. I consider sleep to be very precious indeed. My policy is to never wake someone else the house is on fire or some other such emergency. Well, now they are in school so I do have to wake them and that is the worst part of the day. When they were at home our family schedule was to stay up pretty late and then sleep late and school in the afternoon.

[MissKNG]

If my girls slept until 9am, there is absolutely NO WAY I would even remotely think of waking them!! My girls get up between 5am and 5:30am so 9am would be an absolute treat!!

[TheApprentice]

I voted other because my 2 younger boys wake up early enough for our 9am start time. My oldest actually does better if he wakes up on his own, which is usually around 10am. Less grouchy, and less drama.;)