How to Wake up Kids Who Don’t Want to Wake Up
Sometimes the biggest obstacle to a parent’s morning routine is getting the kids out of bed physically.
If your kids are the type of “ sleeping no matter what is happening around me,” we have some tips on how to wake them up and teach them to move in less stressful – and hopefully more efficient – ways.
Make sure they get enough sleep
Before you start marching through your children’s rooms, banging a drum to wake them up in the morning, consider how long they sleep. The National Sleep Foundation has provided a great list with a breakdown by age:
- Newborns (0-3 months): 14-17 hours daily.
- Infants (4-11 months): 12-15 hours every day.
- Toddlers (1-2 years old): 11-14 hours every day.
- Preschoolers (3-5): 10-13 hours every day.
- School-age children (6-13): 9-11 hours every day.
- Teenagers (14-17 years old): 8-10 hours every day.
If they don’t go to bed early enough, or if they don’t sleep well during these hours, the morning is likely to be harder.
To let in the light
Nothing will wake a person up like the rising sun. It can be as simple as opening window shades or curtains at certain times of the year. However, during the dark winter months, we don’t always have time to wait for this. During these months, many parents recommend a rising alarm clock that gradually gets brighter to simulate the rising sun.
Wirecutter has reviewed several sunrise alarm clocks and offers recommendations based on quality and price.
Give them a buffer
Do you wake up, instantly throw back the covers and jump out of bed? If so, then you are the kind of person who drives me crazy. I ride more, stretch a little, drink water from a glass on the bedside table, unplug my phone, maybe check if I have text messages, sigh a little because it’s morning , stretch a little more and then get up.
Try giving your children a (short) set amount of time to rest between “waking up” and “getting up.”
Add noise
Alarm clocks work (especially if you place them across the room and not next to the bed), but they are clearly annoying. Instead, try a morning playlist of your child’s favorite fun songs. Maybe the first song or two is their buffer time, and by the time song 3 starts, they’ll need to push the covers back.
There is, of course, another buzz you can resort to: the parents at our Offspring Facebook group suggested everything from disgusting loud singing to daily vacuuming, depending on how committed you are.
If all else fails
You can always count on good advice from our parent group , and this topic is no exception. Some of these suggestions made me laugh, some made me cringe, but I think we can agree that they are all effective:
- “I set her little sister on her,” Kylie says. “This child is wicked.” (In fact, bringing in a brother or sister to wake up was a popular proposition in the group. Brian says his 6-year-old daughter will get up just to snuggle up to her 10-month-old sister, although he admits it can be difficult for others. Another group member warns his 4-year-old son that his sister is finishing her waffle and is about to start it, so he’d better hurry.)
- Another popular suggestion is to wake them up and then bring a blanket with you when you leave the room.
- “I tickle the feet of my 4-year-old until he wakes up and tell him I’ll stop as soon as he’s on the floor,” says Stephanie. “My dad did this to me in high school. It works.”
- Robin takes the Frozen BB approach: “I keep the BB container in the freezer. If they won’t stand up, put them in bed with your baby. No matter which way they roll, they are chased by frozen balls of evil. I only had to do this once per child; then simply shake the container. 3 out of 3! My oldest is 23 years old.
- And last but not least, bribe them with screens.