My SD Moms Time to wake up, you say softly and lovingly to your child at 6:00 am. That didn’t work – so you try a little firmer voice and nudge them a bit. Oh good, they’re awake. Now you can go get their 
cereal ready, and dress them. So when you come back to their room…OMG they are sleeping again! Okay…now it’s time to say “Honey…get up please!” Which quickly turns into …OMG GET OUT OF BED, I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! WAKE UP…OMG WAKE UP!
So now they are awake, but even worse than sleeping, they are cranky, crying, won’t eat, won’t stand still to get their hair brushed…ugh!
Sound anything like a typical morning in your home? This is a great article on how to minimize exactly that.
For Example:
- Don’t waver on bedtime, no matter what it takes. My goal is always to have my daughter asleep by 8 p.m., which means she needs to be in the bath by 7:15 so she has plenty of time to stare at herself in the mirror, pretend to put her pajamas on while she’s actually just rolling around on the floor in a towel, and spend 10 minutes picking bedtime books. Find your kid’s bedtime sweet spot and stick with it.
- Think beyond bedtime. As every parent knows, bedtime is actually an hours-long process, so if your kid is exhausted every morning, also think about your whole afternoon/evening routine. Is too much screen time preventing them from transitioning to sleep? Are you feeding them or bathing them too late? Pick your ideal bedtime and work backwards, giving your child ample time for each step (homework, dinner, play time, chill time, bath and other nighttime grooming, and books), and you might find that your bedtime routine needs to start a whole lot earlier than you thought.
