Hello all,
Mum of three, 6 year old, 3 year old, and 1 year old. We are homeschooling in Ontario, Canada.
What to do for a boy who WILL NOT sleep in past 5 am? And when he does get up, he wakes the entire household? This has been going on for six years now and we are all fried *sigh* Any tips?
thanks

Welcome canuckgirl! We had the same situation with our first-born also - he woke up at 5 just as perky and ready to be active as can be, unlike my dh and myself at that time of day! He also didn't go to sleep until around 11 pm, never napped, and was a light sleeper so he often woke up in the middle of the night if there was a noise anywhere within 20 miles of our house

He is still, today at 15, an early riser who doesn't require much sleep, and it's a good thing now, because his high school schedule starts really early in the morning.

Back then, what we did, by the time he was 5, was to have a small something out that he could grab and eat by himself (cereal, apple, granola bar etc), and let him watch cartoons on tv or play with his toys by himself. That worked for his personality, although he never ran off to do any of that independent play until he'd first jumped on our bed excitedly announcing the start of a new day

Hang in there - I can honestly say *now* that I miss those days

Best wishes,

polarbear

Hi and Welcome!
Well, I'm sure you've already looked at whether he is getting too much sleep during the day? And that he is getting plenty of exercise out doors in the afternoon? When our DD was younger we had firm rules about getting up that flexed with age. At 6 we were (if I remember correctly) letting her read quietly or silently play with her paper crafts. If she needed something that required an adult, she could call us from her bed. This was only allowed in the morning; at night she just had to hang out with the light out (no book, no stuffed animals, nothing at all). We all discussed it and talked about the rules and the reasons for the rules. She was free to come out as soon as one of us came and said "Good Morning". Since my DH is a crazy early riser, she did not usually have to wait.

If all else has failed, I would consider talking to his pediatrician about a consult with a sleep specialist. If he is going to bed early and waking early, they may have you use a light box to shift his circadian rhythm.

Hopefully, you'll get more suggestions from people who have BTDT

My question on the 6yo who wakes early is, what is his total sleeping pattern, and where are there opportunities to adjust it? Maybe he's waking too early because he's going to bed too early, or because he's taking a nap that he may not need.

Our DD10 no longer needs as much management in that area as she did when she was younger, but we still continue to monitor her sleep with a holistic view. So if we took a long car ride and DD knocked out, we knew we'd probably benefit by letting her stay up later that night, or else she'd be waking us up early.

Thanks- will try the granola bar idea. We just came back from shopping

No go on the tv, as we don't have one... but we have tried a toy box in the room and all hell broke loose. It actually sounded like a hurricane. Oh well.

thanks- will look into the light box idea

no, he doesn't go to bed early, never has *sigh* and he won't sleep in the car (even though the other two will). We keep him up as late as possible and he still gets up before sunrise, no matter what... we even kept a noise machine on in the room next to him, just in case he was hearing street noise. We also got the thickest, darkest curtains ever
Will keep at it though...

Welcome fellow Canuck! I just sent you a PM.

Have you considered a weighted blanket?

Weighted blanket can help more than just sleep problems
David Hochman
April 25, 2014
Forbes

Oh - I have to have one of those for DS! He insists on me laying beside him with my arm over him to go to sleep. Wonder where I can buy one in Canada?

I just did a quick internet search so can't tell you anything about the products. Places to buy weighted blankets are listed here. Looks to be US based but imagine online places ship to Canada.

http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2012/02/13/weighted-blankets-13-stores-to-choose-from/

http://www.myweightedblanket.com

Made to order and machine washable from Calgary
http://www.hippohug.ca/products/weighted-blankets/

OMG! DD has always had major sleep issues. Last year we did a sleep study because they suspected a significant sleep disorder. The night of the sleep study the heat wasn't working so they piled *a ton* of blankets on top of her. No talking, flailing, sitting up, sleep walking, laughing, shouting, etc. She woke up in *exactly* the same place she fell asleep - she didn't move an inch all night. Now I read about the magic of a weighted blanket???

I guess I need to discuss with our neurologist. This could be a good solution during cold weather months but not sure how comfortable it would be to sleep under something so heavy in warmer weather?

The only sleep problem my son has ever had was when he was 8 or 9 he started sleep sweating. He would wake up drenched in sweat, his pillow soaked half way through. It wasn't summer and he wasn't having nightmares. His doctor never had a good explanation and after a while it got better. But ever since then he has slept under just a very light fleece blanket. I can't imagine putting him under such a heavy blanket.

Call me a skeptic but I can't see how it would hurt to try. I hate anything very heavy on me while I sleep. But I'm sure different people have different preferences.

It's the 6 year old who won't sleep in?

We taught our early riser to read a clock, and then gave him activities he could do until a reasonable hour. He could get himself his breakfast and play legos. For a while we let him play on the computer, but it seemed to lead to even earlier rising, so we eliminated that.

At six it is more that his sleep patterns don't drive anyone else crazy. Decide how early you are prepared to get up then give him a clock and something to do in the morning.ds7 is allowed to come into my bed from 6 but not get up until 6.30 then I get breakfast while he washed s and dresses. The mail reason is ds5 takes forever to go to sleep at night and I don't want him woken too early. This assumes he is getting enough sleep.

Hmmm, happy? Happy when he is getting his own way! Hubby says he was the same way at that age :-)

Our DD now 10 was like this - learning to read and having a healthy stack of books to read upon awakening pretty well made the issue disappear.

Thanks for the links! I'm going to give it a try

Here's some remedies...

http://www.raisinglifelonglearners.com/gifted-children-need-less-sleep/

My DD10 did not take nap since she was 3 (unless we were driving) and we had to work with her pre-school so that she gets exemption not to take nap. Now, she bargained with us that if she is taking HS level classes, she should be able to stay as late as HSer. Well, she does not have HS level home work but we compromised.