Bad morning 3 year old

allybhoy

Hi All,

Basically the last month or so getting our 3 and 1/2 yr old out of the bed , dressed and fed is an absolute nightmare on the weekdays. We have to physically wake her up at 8am and getting her out of the bed is tough..really tough. She just wants to stay in it or else jump in to our bed and watch telly (we dont let her obviously) and refuses to wash \ dress eat breakfast. This results in a lot of arguments with her as when we refuse to let her watch TV or put breakfast in front of her she starts crying and to be honest its an awful stressful way to start the day for the three of us as it puts myself and my partner in bad form leaving the house.

I know this sounds like a lack of sleep but she is nearly always in bed at 7:15pm and always asleep for 8pm. She stopped taking an afternoon nap about 8 months ago as she didnt need it, and this behaviour started 2 months or so ago.

On the weekends, she will happily lie in her bed, or go into ours and lie asleep till 10am even if we are up and about...its like she is a teenager.

Could anyone recommend a routine or suggestion that might help our morning nightmares. Should we wake her earlier on the weekends, or during the week for example? We normally let her sleep on midweek while we get ready ourselves. If we go into her room and wake her at half 7, she will just lie in her bed till we go back in and we have to physically carry her out of her bed to dress her...usually kicking and screaming

Suucee

We used to have a similar problem with my daughter when she was 1. Was in bed by 7.30 having 2 hrs during the day and would roar when we were getting her up at 8. So what we done was woke her gradually.

Open her door at 7.30 letting in a lil light and noise. Open the curtains at 7.40 and nicely say time to get up. Back in at 7.50 to talk to her and maybe pull covers off her. Then up by 8.

She is grand now at 2 when i dont actually have to be up (on mat leave with no 2). Wakes at 7.30 herself now.

I know big age difference but might be worth a try. Its like hitting the snooze every 10 mins .

newtoboards

I don't know if it will be of any help as I have no experience with a toddler of my own but I know others have had success with girls for this. Get her to pick out her outfit at night and get her excited about it being a "big girl" thing to do. Get her to help lay out breakfast stuff and set up the bathroom for the morning and see if that helps.

2xj3hplqgsbkym

Some children just need more sleep, it sounds like she does. Could you put her in bed 6.30 for sllep at 7?
Why does it take her so long to get to sleep if she is in bed at 7.15 and asleep at 8?

If she has trouble getting to sleep maybe take away tv or iPad in the evening time.

Could she have breakfast at minders or creche so you dont have to argue with her over that, or maybe a banana in the car?

I know this sounds a bit manky but could you put her clean top on her going to bed so you just have to put clean underwear and jeans on her in the morning?

Also could you dress her as she watches tv?

Lastly do you think it could be a medical issue?

I have been considering lately getting my 3 and a half year old tested for iron, as he doesn't really eat meat and often gets very tired.

pwurple

Had a similar issue with mine, she used to hide under the bed when I was pregnant trying to get her out the door to playschool. Used to drive me nuts!

We have a couple of tricks up our sleeve now.

First is a Race. She is ferociously competitive, as soon as you are racing to do anything, she wants to win. So, it's a race between me and her to get dressed, or a race to get ready to go downstairs etc, or a race with teddy, or a race with the baby, race with daddy etc.

Second is picking out the clothes herself, but really this needs to be done when there is loads of time.

Third is play at Being A Statue.. She stands like a statue and I chuck the clothes on as fast as I can.

Fourth is giving in and letting her eat breakfast in her pj's... dressing her while she is distracted eating. That is total last resort, havn't had to do that in ages.

She started refusing breakfast at one point as well, so we just took it away and sent her to school with none for a day. Next day, wanted the porridge again. It was a power play I guess.

As for waking up, i go in and open her curtains about 20 minutes before she is to wake. We have our showers, pack her lunch, generally make a racket in the house and she is usually up a few minutes after the household noise starts.

Moonbeam

My 3 year old tells me that she is a turtle every morning and hides under the duvet!!
I open their curtains a few minutes before they need to get up and the 5 year old gets up pretty easy but it takes her forever and ever to get dressed,once the 3 year old is up she is usually ok.
They are not morning people but neither am I.

allybhoy

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions, I will try some of them out, I like the sound of the statue game and the race game. We used to try wake her up gently by going in pulling the curtains and saying morning etc etc but she would just hide under the duvet.

Francesca Steep Cone wrote: »

Some children just need more sleep, it sounds like she does. Could you put her in bed 6.30 for sllep at 7?
Why does it take her so long to get to sleep if she is in bed at 7.15 and asleep at 8?

If she has trouble getting to sleep maybe take away tv or iPad in the evening time.

Could she have breakfast at minders or creche so you dont have to argue with her over that, or maybe a banana in the car?

I know this sounds a bit manky but could you put her clean top on her going to bed so you just have to put clean underwear and jeans on her in the morning?

Also could you dress her as she watches tv?

Lastly do you think it could be a medical issue?

I have been considering lately getting my 3 and a half year old tested for iron, as he doesn't really eat meat and often gets very tired.

We only get in from work at 6\ 6:30 so by the time we get her bathed, playtime, supper etc its usually 7:15 or so, and then we usually read her a few stories putting her to bed etc and then usually takes 10-15 minutes when we leave the room before she falls asleep.

She only goes to creche 3 mornings a week, the other two she goes to her grannies and has breakfast there, when she has to go to her nana's she isnt as bad as we normally bring her over in her pyjamas, and she has breakfast there. It might also be the fact that she isnt in a 5 day routine..

Funny you should say that about iron, she isnt a great lover of meat either, especially red meat. We give her a daily multivitamin (chewy hard jelly ones) but she may have an iron deficiency alright.. or else she's just not a morning person!