Parenting Toddlers

I love sleep. It is in my top five of favorite things to do. Having a baby kind of ruins this though! The Little Guy is slowly getting better at sleeping. Many mornings, he’s out cold at around seven or seven-thirty. I can lie in bed and just sort of relax. Until Peanut comes tripping in, asking me to go downstairs and play. “Just another minute, please.” I’m lucky because usually Peanut will either lie down in bed with me or she’ll go play in her room for a little while. Those extra minutes mean a lot.

Sometimes, your toddler may get up way earlier than you are ready for or earlier than they need to be up. Remember, toddlers need at least twelve hours of sleep per day to function properly - and also to act like human beings instead of temper tantrum machines.

There are some different things you can try to get your toddler to sleep a little longer in the mornings - or get used to a night/day schedule. This is good because many children have to get up and go to daycare or the babysitter, and soon, it’ll be time for preschool when you need to be somewhere on time.

The first thing you can do is lock your child up and only let them out when you’re ready. No, just kidding! Please don’t do that. How about a cute alarm clock instead? There is one called the KidSleep Toddler Clock that will help your child know when it is time to get up even before he/she can tell time.

The Kidsleep has two images - one a daytime bunny and one a nighttime bunny. You program in the time you want your child to wake up at or stay in bed until. When the bunny is asleep, it’s sleepy time. When it’s awake, it’s time to get up. According to the KidSleep website:

Through gentle reinforcement, praise and encouragement the vast majority of children will be getting into a better sleep pattern within a week meaning more sleep for mum and dad and hopefully a vastly improved quality of life.

You may have noticed the word “mum.” This is an English product, and I don’t know if it’s available in the US. Of course, you can by anything online, and this is for sale for 35 pounds. I just found a similar one by KidSleep on Ebay. It has a rabbit face on the clock, and at night, the rabbit’s eyes are closed and his ears are down. During the day, his eyes and ears are up and ready for action This is cute too, and a bit over $18.

If you’re a cheapo - or frugal - you can do this with any kind of clock. If you have a digital alarm clock, you can tell your child to look at it. If it reads 7:00 (or whatever), then they can get up. If they don’t know what 7:00 looks like, you can write it on an index card and tape it to the wall by the clock. I’ve heard that this really works, and you don’t have to spend any money. Always good. You could also take a regular clock with hands (an analogue clock), and use a marker to draw an arrow or something to the time when you’re child can get up. On second thought, that might be a little hard for a toddler to read, but you could always give it a try.

Another good idea is to get a nightlight that is on a timer. You program in the time you want your child to be up. The nightlight shuts off at that time. Your child has an easy visual to help them stay in bed until the proper time. (Speaking of nightlights, here’s a post on the Tykelight. We just had to get a new nightlight for Peanut.)

Something else to try is to determine if your child is getting enough sleep. If she goes to bed at seven and wakes up at five or six, and also takes a nap during the day, she should be getting up at five! She’s slept enough. We usually put Peanut to bed at 8:30 - 9:00. She sleeps until about 7:00 or 7:30. Then she has a two hour nap during the day. That’s twelve total hours, and she gets plenty of sleep to function - and be nice. If you’re putting your toddler to bed at seven, but want her to sleep until seven, try putting her to bed a bit later, especially if she takes a nap during the day.

On the other hand, some kids stay up too late, and that causes them to be sleep-deprived. They will actually wake up too early instead of sleeping in. I’ve noticed that on special occasions, like when we’re visiting family, when Peanut goes to bed at 10:00 or 11:00, she’ll still get up at 7:00 or 8:00. It’s not like she’s a teenager who sleeps until noon. So going to bed late can cause early rising. Look at your toddlers patterns and determine if you need to adjust bedtimes. Sometimes you need a little more time in the morning to get ready or grab some Zs and it’s helpful if your child is sleeping. Also, they need to sleep! A lot.

Honestly, I would never have thought to get Peanut a special alarm clock or a time programmed nightlight. I think I’d have better luck with a preset coffee maker in her room. Anyway, something that works for us is to say “Go back to bed.” Old fashioned parenting; no programming required. Sometimes I’ll send Peanut up for a nap, and she’ll come down a half hour later. I know that she hasn’t slept, so I send her back up. Usually, she just goes. Even if she has a fit - that’s what toddlers do. Send them anyway. They’ll go. They need the sleep. It’s not like you’re being mean to them. It’s nice to have a few morning minutes to yourself, but it’s also essential that your toddler gets sleep. I do think the alarm clocks are a great idea for toddlers that get up and want to play at 4:00 or 5:00. Especially on your day off! And remember that you should do what is best for your whole family. If having a toddler up and starting her day at 5:00 is disruptive to your other children and to you and your partner, then it needs to be remedied. I am a huge fan of sleep for the whole family.

Does anyone have this problem? What has worked for you and your family?