How to Keep Children From Waking Up Too Early

Although most children wake early in the morning, sometimes waking times can become a little extreme. If the days in your household are starting too early, it might be time for some adjustments to your kids̵7; sleep schedules. It̵7;s probably not realistic to expect your little ones to sleep until mid-morning, but with a little gentle coaxing, you should be able to push back waking times a bit.

Things You'll Need

  • Child's alarm clock

Instructions

    • 1

      Learn the amount of sleep each child needs to remain healthy and happy, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Newborns need between 10 1/2 and 18 hours of sleep out of every 24 hours. Children between 3 and 11 months require between nine and 12 hours at night and they should take one to four naps, up to two hours each. Children between ages 1 and 3 need between 12 and 14 hours and kids between 3 and 5 years of age need 11 to 13 hours out of every 24. Children between 5 and 12 need 10 to 11 hours of sleep out of every 24.

    • 2

      Adjust naptimes during the day to ensure that daytime sleeping is not interfering with a child̵7;s sleep schedule. Reduce your child̵7;s napping schedule so your little one is taking one nap that is not more than 90 minutes long, suggests Children̵7;s Hospital Colorado.

    • 3

      Calculate the time your child should go to bed at night to provide her with enough sleep, and including any daytime sleep in that calculation. For example, if your 2-year-old needs 12 to 14 hours of sleep and takes an hour-long nap during the afternoon, ensure that she sleeps about 12 hours at night. If you want her to get up at 7 a.m., put her to bed by 7 p.m. Don't forget to coordinate nap time and bedtime -- strive to create a space of about four hours between the end of your child's nap and bedtime to ensure your little one falls asleep easily.

    • 4

      Make a rule about an acceptable rising time in the morning based on the sleep schedule that you calculated for your child. Using the same example, your rule might be that your child can wake and rise any time after 7 a.m. If your child wakes prior to this, he must wait quietly in his bed until it̵7;s time to get up.

    • 5

      Provide a clock in your child̵7;s room so she can determine whether it̵7;s time to get up. Some special children̵7;s clocks have settings you can activate that indicate when it̵7;s okay to get up and when it̵7;s still time to sleep. After you set the wake-up time, the clock might have a special light that comes on or a character might move out of bed to let your child know that it̵7;s time to get up.

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