We'd all love for our children to sleep until at least 7 AM. This isn't the case for all children; some just seem to be early risers. Hey, 6:30 AM is acceptable, even 6 AM at a push. But 5:30 AM or 5 AM? That's unacceptable in my household.If your child is over 18 months of age there is something you can do to show them when it is time to get up.
Get a nightlight and put it on a timer. Set the timer to your acceptable wake up time. The light needs to come on at that time. Be realistic, if your child is waking at 5 AM every morning, you can't expect them to stay in bed until 7 AM (well not straight away anyway!).
Let your child know that they need to stay in bed until the light comes on. They have a visual cue for when it is time to get up. You child should be able to see the light from their bed (don’t have it too near). With a quick glance they should be able to tell if it’s time to get up or not.
Make sure you give lots of praise when they manage to stay in bed until the light comes on. You can gradually push the time a little later as time goes on. Increasing 15 minutes at least every 3 days. This is also great for children who get up during the night asking if it's time to get up.
Once your child gets used to staying in bed until the light goes off you can set your timer to go on 30 minutes later on the weekends, who doesn't love an extra 30 minutes in bed at the weekend?
Sleep well.
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