I want to go back to bed.

[JoyNChrist]

It's a quarter 'til 6 in the morning.

I've been up for an hour.

Why? Because my "thank God he finally started sleeping through the night" baby decided to wake up at 4.30. Just for the heck of it.

So now he's playing happily on the living room floor, and I'm sitting here like a zombie.

Can somebody else be the mommy today, PLEEEEEEEASE?

[SheriRae]

Ohhhh, I feel your pain. My DD has always been a very early riser. It doesn't matter what time she goes to bed....it's a 5:30 a.m. wake up. Some days I get....."Mommy, it's morning WAKE UP!"

When your DS naps today, treat yourself to the same!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Oh, that is rough! That is the middle of the night! I have lectured ds2 that we are not morning people so he is not allowed to wake up early. He is 6 weeks old so I am sure the message really sank in. ;)

Ds1 knows better than to wake us up till 8am. We trained him from infant hood to play by himself in his crib mainly out of laziness. He would fuss but dh and I would pretend not to hear him (trying to get the other one to be the one to get him). We would lay there waiting till the absolute last second but then that didn't come. Soon enough ds would be turning on his mobile or playing with some of his crib toys (the kind that strap to the rails). We could get a solid hour out of him. Maybe something like that will eventually work for you.

Till then, I hope you get a nap later!!

Beth

[gatorsmom]

yeah, I was going to suggest teaching him to play in his crib. When he wakes up calmly explain (even if he's too little to understand- one day he'll get it) that it's still time to sleep so he can't get out of this crib. But, if he'd like to play in his crib, you'll give him any toys that he wants. then put a whole bunch of safe crib toys in there with him. When he gets bored with those and starts fussing, let him for awhile. They say kids these days aren't creative enough because they aren't bored enough. I've noticed that if you let them fuss a little bit, after awhile, they'll play with the same toys again and again. I think that's good for them (my own personal child-psychological study here). This will be a good habit for him to get into for when he moves to a toddler bed. Cha Cha will stay in his bed and play in the mornings until I tell him he can get out. Works great.

Hope you can get some sleep soon!

[LarsMal]

We should've had a party- I was up, too! DD has a touch of a cold on top of getting her molars, so she had a pretty rough night. I finally caved and got up with her around 4:45 to rock her for a little while. Luckily she did fall back to sleep for a little bit, but not long enough.

And STUPID me went ahead and took her for her 1 year photos today. I called my friend on the way home and asked where I could get an IV hook-up of vodka. STUPID STUPID MOMMY!!!!

[tylersmama]

Oh, that is rough! That is the middle of the night! I have lectured ds2 that we are not morning people so he is not allowed to wake up early. He is 6 weeks old so I am sure the message really sank in. ;)

Ds1 knows better than to wake us up till 8am. We trained him from infant hood to play by himself in his crib mainly out of laziness. He would fuss but dh and I would pretend not to hear him (trying to get the other one to be the one to get him). We would lay there waiting till the absolute last second but then that didn't come. Soon enough ds would be turning on his mobile or playing with some of his crib toys (the kind that strap to the rails). We could get a solid hour out of him. Maybe something like that will eventually work for you.

Till then, I hope you get a nap later!!

Beth
:yeahthat:

I'm not a morning person at all, so from pretty much the beginning, I have let DS fuss a little in his crib while I snooze (hm, maybe this belongs in the mommy confessions thread!). I usually let him go until I can't ignore him anymore or he's starting to sound unhappy. He'll play and talk in his crib for at least an hour in the mornings, which means I get to sleep, sometimes until 8:30 or later! He has a couple of toys in there, but mostly he plays with his stuffed bunny and talks to himself.

[niccig]

We started this with DS when he was 2 - not sure if you can do it younger, but DS caught on within a few days, so you could try. Or keep it in mind for when he's a little older.

Put a night lamp with a low wattage bulb on a timer set for the time you want him to get up. For us, it's 7am. We told him that when the light was on, it was time to get out of bed. If the light was off, it was still sleep time.

If DS woke before then, the parent that normally didn't get him in the morning, would go in and tell him "Shhh, it's not time to wake up, the light isn't on yet. Mummy/Daddy is still asleep. Go back to sleep and when the light is on, it's time to get up".

We would do this even if it was 6.50am. Then when the light came on, we would come in and make a big deal and say "the light is on, time to get up." It worked so well, that we would hear DS playing in his crib and as soon as it was 7.00am, he would yell at the top of his voice, "light on, light on."

He's now 3, and it still works. We just changed his crib into the toddler bed, and so far (crossing all finger and toes, so I don't jinx it), he still stays in bed until the light is on.

You could over time move the setting of the lamp so you gradually get him to what you want it to be.
HTH

[elektra]

I'm in the "let her fuss a bit" camp too. However, if she starts full out crying, I always come to the rescue.
However, I am staying with my parents right now (see Bitching Post) and I have been getting up 1-3 times a night w/ DD for the past week too since I think it's rude to let her make noise and wake up the whole house. I am spoiled too because she usually sleeps through the night so it's especially brutal for me. Maybe I'll try the toy thing tonight!
Thank God DH got up with her at 6 the other day. That was a huge deal since he RARELY does that kind of thing. I feel your pain!

[Wife_and_mommy]

Nicci,

Thanks so much for that suggestion!! I've just started wondering how I could work on DS. We're totally doing your suggestion! DD played in her crib like a champ; DS is horrible about it and I've been at a loss.

Stacy , Here's to long, long naps today!

[vludmilla]

Nicci,
I LOVE your idea too! I think DD is too young for it yet (16 months) but I hope I remember it in a couple of months when she can get it. What a great idea! Thanks.
-Victoria

[SnuggleBuggles]

We started this with DS when he was 2 - not sure if you can do it younger, but DS caught on within a few days, so you could try. Or keep it in mind for when he's a little older.

Put a night lamp with a low wattage bulb on a timer set for the time you want him to get up. For us, it's 7am. We told him that when the light was on, it was time to get out of bed. If the light was off, it was still sleep time.

If DS woke before then, the parent that normally didn't get him in the morning, would go in and tell him "Shhh, it's not time to wake up, the light isn't on yet. Mummy/Daddy is still asleep. Go back to sleep and when the light is on, it's time to get up".

We would do this even if it was 6.50am. Then when the light came on, we would come in and make a big deal and say "the light is on, time to get up." It worked so well, that we would hear DS playing in his crib and as soon as it was 7.00am, he would yell at the top of his voice, "light on, light on."

He's now 3, and it still works. We just changed his crib into the toddler bed, and so far (crossing all finger and toes, so I don't jinx it), he still stays in bed until the light is on.

You could over time move the setting of the lamp so you gradually get him to what you want it to be.
HTH

My friends did a similar thing with success. BUT, they ran into trouble the few times their ds because they were using an alarm clock. A few times he was actually tired and not ready to get up that early but the alarm woke him up. I think it was set to a music station, low volume. still enough to wake him up. Just something to keep in mind. :)

Beth

[elektra]

My DD is still too young for this too, but as soon as I saw this nightlight/clock for little kids, I bookmarked the page.
http://www.childrenslighting.co.uk/productdetail.php?id=172

It's basically the same thing niccig is doing, but it costs a lot more. ;)
Supposedly the kids really respond to it. If the rabbit is sleeping, DC is supposed to stay in bed. If the rabbit, is running down the road in his backpack, DC can get up. I thought it was pretty cool.

[niccig]

Nicci,
I LOVE your idea too! I think DD is too young for it yet (16 months) but I hope I remember it in a couple of months when she can get it. What a great idea! Thanks.
-Victoria

Thanks, but I can't take credit, as it's not my idea. I read about it here on the BBB. Some people use a strand of fairy lights, but we already had a lamp. DS understood light on/light off, he was too young to recognise the number 7 on a digital clock, which is another way of doing it. We use a low wattage bulb in the lamp, so if DS is still sleeping, it doesn't wake him up. I hope the idea works for you.

ETA. Use a digital timer. It costs a little more than the ones where you insert plastic pins at the turn on/turn off time, but setting that one was driving DH crazy.