Does waking up your little one every morning become mission impossible? Does it take you more than 15 minutes to get out of bed and you never manage to rush to school? Children are usually more active at bedtime and then in the mornings they do not want to come out from under the covers, it is normal! In addition, something very important to keep in mind is that the little ones have no sense of time, that is, they do not understand that “there are only 20 minutes left before classes start and you have to hurry”. It’s not that they don’t want to do things faster, it’s that they don’t see it as necessary, and if there’s something more interesting for them (watching TV, drawing or making figures with toast) they’ll do it right then and there.
But there are some tricks and steps to follow to make us all wake up in a better mood and make mornings easier, follow them and see how your mornings change!
- Always set your alarm clock half an hour earlier so that you can do all your homework before your child wakes up and thus be more relaxed later.
- If your child does not wear a uniform to school, prepare the clothes the night before.
- Before waking him up, check the movement of his eyes, if he is in the REM phase they will move fast and it means that he is dreaming so you will have to wait for this phase to pass (it usually lasts a few minutes).
- The best way to wake a child up is not to turn on the light, as this will only make him wake up with a start. Better go in quietly and open the blinds.
- Agree with the child how to wake him up: tickling his cheek, giving him a kiss or playing low music are usually three good options.
- If your child is not doing well getting up early and is late in getting out of bed, wake them up 15 minutes before their time to get up to give them time to squirm around in bed.
- Don’t leave the bathroom for the mornings. Although adults do not usually like to start the day with a good shower, the little ones do not usually like having to shower so early. The best bath for the afternoon!
- Luckily, children love to win at everything they play, so come up with a game: set an alarm (about 15-20 minutes) and propose to wash, get dressed and have breakfast before it rings. If he succeeds, reward him with something he likes as a final round to breakfast.
- It has been shown that between 8:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m . the child’s brain is more predisposed to relax, so this is the ideal time to put them to bed.
- It is normal for the child to have some sleep in the mornings but if you notice that he has too much, try to get him to go to bed earlier at night, perhaps he is not resting enough.
- The best thing to do is to start the day with music, soundtrack your mornings with songs that they like so that they start the day with energy and in a good mood.
It is also very normal for children that on weekends they want to get up earlier than necessary. If your child usually wakes you up on Saturdays and Sundays very early, try putting him to bed about 30-45 minutes later than he usually does during the week and while you put him to bed, explain to him that the next day he can play alone in his room for a while before waking you up.
We hope that these tips will help you and that you start every morning with a smile from ear to ear 🙂
