how do you get your kids to sleep in?

[Watercolor Ponies]

My kids wake up at the crack of dawn every morning!! Their bedtime is 8pm and I am not waivering on that bcs after 8 is dh and I's only time alone together. Should I eliminate naps? They are 4, 2 and 8 mo, and once they are up, they are up until nap time, after lunch. I am so tired and quite frankly stinky sometimes bcs I would have to wake up at like 3:30-4 to jump in the shower before they wake up! Any suggestions? Thanks!

[bfoster2000]

I'll be watching for some advice too! DH and I are both nightowls but DJ is definitely a morning person. It doesn't matter what time he goes to bed, he's still up at the crack of dawn...sometimes it seems like the later he stays up, the earlier he wakes!

[FancifulFanny]

DS is the same way though it's better the last few months. His bedtime is 8 at the latest. I swear if he goes to bed later he gets up earlier.

[offlikeapromdress]

Well, we eliminated naps with the 3 yr old and she still gets up between 630-730. My only suggestion is to put black material on their windows to block out the sun. A mom did that in one of my playgroups and she got an addt'l 2 hrs of sleep from her kids. Good Luck!

[mama23boys]

i would love to know the secert to getting kids to sleep longer ESP the weekends!

i have the hardest time on the weekdays to get my older two up for school and come sat/sun they are up at the butt crack of dawn! dh thinks that by letting them stay up later will get them to sleep in, so not true!! in fact all it leads to is cranky overtired kids that usually i need to deal bc he's at work.

school nights bedtime is usually no later in 8:30pm and weekends 9:30/10ish...

and the baby well his bedtime is anywhere between 7-9pm and he's up at 7/8am (co-sleep, so sometimes i can push it 8am)

[Luv2bemommy]

Only way I have gotten my older two (5 and 7) to sleep in on weekends was to keep them up as long as I can the night before.. They think its a treat to stay up to midnight.. LOL Then they only slept in until like 9am, but didn't help me since Meghan is up at 6:30-7am everyday. LOL

[pnwmom]

I'd recommend reading 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child' by Marc Weissbluth. He has alot of information on the biology of sleep and an age-by-age guide for how much sleep they should be getting and how to get them to do it. You ladies are right-the later you put them to bed the earlier they wake up. He suggests an earlier bedtime to get them to sleep longer. It works for our ds but it's soooo hard to get everything done before 7:30!
HTH

[CMamma]

Calms Forte for Kids (I sell it... b/c it helps LOL). Anyway, I use that for my 2 yo & I swear it's totally healthy & ok for you to take but it helps to relax/sleep better. It's not a sleeping pill so don't be thinking that.

Also I have used Valerian Super Calm by Herbs for Kids. It seems like it gives DS a better overall quality of sleep & he starts to sleep longer. He went from sleeping (like we had to MAKE him go do bed at 8) from about 8-9 pm until wow yesterday he slept in until 9. Today I had to wake him up & drag him to preschool at 8.

[kingwooten]

The only child I have that will sleep in REFUSES to fall asleep until at least 11. My problem is that my oldest dc are little roosters, they can stay up until 11, but they will still wake up at the crack of dawn.

[EmnJJsMom]

Both of my daughters go to bed at 8 pm and are up at 5 am. I was exhausted constantly. For a while I thought the problem was with them needing to sleep longer in the morning. I figured out after a while though, that the reason I was so tired was because I needed to adjust my eating and excersize habits and be a healthier me. Now we eat 3 healthy meals a day, for a long time I worried about the girls and forgot to feed myself or just grabbed the quickest thing I could find. I live in WI and winter is long here so there wasnt much exersizing going on. Now that it's summer, we go on long walks, play in the park, play in the yard or garden. That has helped a lot because it tires out my dd and she sleeps better plus exersize actually gives you more energy (ironically)