My kids wake up when the first rays of sunshine filter in the windows. Since we live in the tropics, that’s usually around 5a.m. This tired mama isn’t ready to start her day quite that early, so my husband and I created a genius solution to sleep in even if your kids are early birds!
My four and two year-olds bounce around their bedroom gleefully in song and dance routines as soon as their little mussed heads raise from their pillows. They play and play, entertaining themselves for up to two hours until they hear the signal to come out of their shared room while my husband and I snore next door.
How do we get extra zzz’s with early risers in the next room? It’s simple- an alarm clock!
Purchase a colorful kid-approved alarm clock.
Involve your children and ask them to pick out their favorite clock. My daughter loves her pink Hello Kitty clock.
Demonstrate to your children how clocks work.
This is the perfect time to add in a mini-lesson on telling time. Here are a few resources to check out:
- 10 (Hands-On) Tell Time Games from Kids Activities Blog
- Paper Plate Clock Craft from The Mad House
- Stylish Kids Watch Craft from toilet paper tubes at Nurture Store
- 5 Hands-On Ways to Teach Telling Time from We are Teachers
Explain and demonstrate how the alarm functions on your child’s clock.
Let your children know that you’ll set their alarm clock every night before bed so that it goes off in the morning. Only when they hear the bell are they allowed to leave their room and “get up” for the day. Of course, bathroom visits and trips for sips of water are always permitted, depending on your child’s age and abilities.
Practice.
Make it a game. Set the clock and send your children to their rooms to play for a few minutes during the day. Explain that they may come out when the alarm goes off.
Ready, set, sleep in!
Set the clock as part of your child’s nighttime routine and snag yourself some extra sleep tomorrow morning.
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This is awesome! I’m definitely going to have to try this. My kids are up and want to get out of bed as soon as they wake up, too!
Great! Let me know if it works for ya, Chelsea.
My daughter gets up at 5am and so that means I do too. I thought you were going to say, put a dark curtain up over the window to get them to sleep later, which we’ve already tried and it doesn’t work. 🙂 She’s only 2, so I could probably try this once she’s older and can understand more…
I used this with my kids when they were 3 and 2 and it still worked while they were that little. It’s all about explaining the concept well and getting them excited about the sound of the alarm. Having your daughter pick out a clock she really likes makes it even more effective. You’re right about dark curtains. They never worked for us either.