Your kid does it too???

SLEEP... I need more of it!

 My son is the worst out of my two... He will wake up at the crack of dawn just to say he is either hungry, too active to sleep, tired of sleeping or just wants to snuggle.

If you find your kids waking up too early -- here is how to help your kids learn to stay in bed a little longer, to naturally train their bodies to get the rest that they need. It is not healthy for your children to wake up before getting an adequate number of hours of sleep.
This little trick has naturally set our children’s internal clocks to a time that is more suiting to their schedule (with preschool and grade school). It allows their bodies to sleep until it is time to wake up (when the sun is up and our family is ready to wake up, at 7:00 (they go to bed at 7:00, to get a full 12 hours of sleep)~ this is just the time that works for OUR family.)
As with anything, you need to remember that you have to TEACH your kids this new rule. You can not expect them to sleep until 7:00 tomorrow, just because you started this today. Give it a week or two and you will have them sleeping later.
MOST IMPORTANT: Be consistent! Consistency is the key to anything, but this will not work if you are ‘wishy-washy’ with this rule. You have to remain consistent.
HOW IT WORKS:
First, determine a bedtime. Our kids go to bed between 7:00 pm. and 8:00 pm. (Again, they aren’t napping, so they are VERY ready for bed by this time!)
Now determine a wake-up time. I like our kids to get 12 hours of sleep, so the wake-up time is 7:00 am.
Second: Practice that number with your kids. If you want them to get up at 7:00, show them the number 7. Show it to them on paper. Show it to them on their clock. Show it to them in books. Have them practice writing it.

HOW TO DO THIS:What you need:

• A digital clock
• A piece of paper (I use index cards. You can use anything!)
• Tape
• Marker or crayon

WRITE JUST THE HOUR of the time you want the kids to come out of bed on your piece of paper. Write it big (a little bigger than the number on the clock).
6:00? Write 6
7:00? Write 7. (This is our ‘allowed out of bed’ time)
8:00? Write 8.
Now tape that paper over the MINUTES on your digital clock so that all that you are left seeing is the hour and the paper.

Try it! It works!

My son snuck in with his sister instead -- when he knew he couln't get up before the time he was "supposed" too. Hehehe.

If you are wondering how much sleep your child needs, take a look at this chart: