Hi everyone, I have a 7 year old son who is going to go to school, but has a habit of waking up real late.?

Question

I can understand that he is a "night" person, meaning that his biosystem is more tuned to night time than to day time activities. even if he keeps awake all day, which he actually does, when night and darkness falls, he feels energized and loves to play at that time. He usually wakes up at 10 am. and it's going to cause problems when he has to go to school very soon (first grade). please advise. Thank you guys and gals

Answer 1

Hi, I read all the responses to your question and I don't really have an answer for you, but just a...hey, I'm in your shoes too!!! My daughter has been going to school for a year now and she to is a night person. We have a set bedtime, bath time, down time etc. and she still gets up in her room at night and plays. She is a bear in the morning!!! I too have tried everything, but I don't agree with the responses...I feel I am a good parent and I do set limits, but she just seems to do her own thing. So, my advice is, yes, have a bedtime, keep on your child, insist they go to bed and do your best, but they do have minds of their own. Hang in there and keep trying is my advice, but we kid that my daughter needs to grow up and get a night job!!!

Answer 2

I went through the same thing with my son last school year. He just loved to sleep in.. and he still does on the weekends.
I changed his routine: Bed early (7 -7:30pm). We would get ready about 6:30, take a bath (I still use the Lavendar baby soap - throw it in the tub), pick out clothes for the next day, crawl into bed and read a couple books, then listen to music
Do NOT put a TV in his room or if there is one, take it out. Instead play music: kid songs, oldies, classical, anything soothing to him.

He would put up a fuss, and there would be nights where he wouldn't fall asleep until after 8-9pm (he's still be in bed just not alseep yet), and then during the day at school during rest time he would somethimes fall asleep.

On the nights he listened, (bathed, pj's on, books picked out, clothes ready, and in bed) he got 'happy face' on the calendar.
Then on the nights that didn't go so well, but still in bed ontime he got a 'sad face'

It took us a good week or two to get the routine down and in the fall/winter is was much easier because it was darker.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

He is going to school for the first time at the age of 7? Is he a year behind? 7 year olds are usually in 2nd grade. You should have nipped this in the bud a long time ago. Start waking him up a little earlier each day for a few weeks before school starts until you reach the time he will need to get up. His bodyclock will change and he will start feeling sleepy earlier in the evening.

Answer 4

You are the adult here. You have to be responsible for him, put him to bed at a resonable hour and wake him up at a resonable hour. He is only 7. His bed time should be 8 o'clock during the school year and 9 during the summer. Kids that age require a lot of sleep. If you let him sleep til 10 then he goes to bed later, wake him up at 7, don't let him nap, then put him to bed on time. It is YOU that builds the routine. If you let him do it, you will be in so much trouble when he gets older, he will run all over you and have no respect for you.

Answer 5

Well, dang it, you are the parent! You are the one letting him sleep until 10 a.m. Get him up at 8 a.m. even if you have to wipe a cold, wet washcloth on his face while he is in bed. Pull him out of bed, have him wash up and get dressed quickly. This may be a problem the first few times but he will see you are the boss real soon.

After he is up and dressed, have him eat breakfast. NO TELEVISION at all until the afternoon. Sit with him and read books, do simple arithmetic, and read the newspaper together.

Establish a bedtime like 8:30 and make him stay in bed. Punishment will happen if he gets out of bed. He has to learn you are the boss.

Answer 6

Get him to bed as early as possible. Start waking him up as early as you need to in order to give him time to be awake for school. My 6 year old is in the same boat. We are starting no before school starts to get her up early and in bed early. We put her in bed at 8 and read to her until she falls asleep. Then, at about 6:30 we start the wake up routine by turning on her lights, making noise, getting the dog to give her kisses. Then we pull her out of bed and make her walk across the house to the living room where she can sit and watch TV while she wakes up. Then its off to summer camp! It might also help if you plan on going to the donut shop or something before school. Nothing gets my kiddo up faster than a reminder that I will get her a hot chocolate from Starbucks on our way to camp (as long as she stays in a good mood!)

Answer 7

Flip his schedule-

Get him up early, have him do chores, have activities planned, etc.

Then in the evening, get him calmed down-
have dinner a bit early, develope an evening routine (get clothes ready for next day, clean room, take bath, etc,) then have him get in bed an hour & a half before his actual bedtime.

Let him watch tv in bed- nothing action, maybe funny, cartoons, etc, but set the tv to go off @ the bedtime you have set.

Then LIGHTS OUT!

He'll get into the groove!

Answer 8

slowly try and push his bedtime earlier, and wake him earlier. do not let him do too many stimulating activities in the evening, and it should help him make the transition.
i totally understand this, because i am a night person myself(bed at 2AM, wake at 8-10AM). waking up a 5-6AM to catch the bus in high school was a horrible problem for me.
i would say if your son doesn't have to catch the bus until 8AM, then you shouldn't have much of a problem getting him to adjust.
good luck! :-)

Answer 9

Change his routine. Set a bedtime, like 9pm, and wake him at 6:30 or 7am. No sugar or caffeine after 6pm as those keep us all up and keep him physically active during the day to wear him down.

Answer 10

Hey there, this is where the role of parent comes in. You need to start getting him to bed earlier which may be part of his problem. Start getting him to go to sleep an hour earlier each month before school starts. Then wake him up whenever you need to, to get ready for school. Good luck! =)