Early waking

How do I keep my child sleeping past dawn?

Aah! The million dollar question! At what point is it reasonable to expect your child will sleep until a more respectable hour in the morning? When can you kiss the sunrise goodbye?

First, (and sadly for some) every child is different and your child may just be a naturally early riser. For these children, try one the following strategies which may allow you to have an extra half hour’s sleep-in:

• Put a clock beside her bed and either teach her the basics of telling the time, or draw her a picture of what the clock face looks like when he’s allowed to get up.
• Provide him with some quiet entertainment that may encourage him to stay in bed – a few action figures, a book or two, a join-the-dots activity.
• If she does want to get out of bed, make sure she knows what the house rules are.
• If he’s starving when he wakes up, you may just have to get up to give him breakfast – although some children love to get their own bowl of cereal if you leave everything out that they need and put the milk in a small jug in the fridge.

TIP!

Don’t let her watch TV in the early hours of the morning as a way of allowing you to get some extra sleep – you may find that this activity actually encourages her to wake earlier and earlier.