Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Waking sleeping babies (or toddlers in my case)
Heres the deal--I always have to wake DD up in the morning to make it out the door on time and she is a MISERABLE screaming and kicking and rotten banshee as I struggle to get her diapered and dressed and plead with her to loosen her grip on her monkey long enough for me to slip her jacket on. I already hate that I miss so much of her day while Im at work but its particularly unnerving when my entire morning with her is a fight. She is so much easier and more pleasant on the weekend when she wakes up on her own and moves at a casual pace.
Any ideas on how to replicate the weekend during the week when I have much more limited time and a schedule to keep? Do toddlers respond to alarm clocks?! Im not really sure how to get her up and in a decent mood more quickly. Maybe Im looking for answers where there are none?
Re: Waking sleeping babies (or toddlers in my case)
What time is she going to bed? I don't have experience with toddlers, obvs, but if she's that hard to get up it seems like it's b/c she's still tired.
Can you move her bedtime earlier starting with 15 minute increments to see if that helps?
Also, letting her sleep in on the weekends is probably not helping b/c she's not getting consistency. It might help to move her bedtime earlier on weekends and wake her up at the normal 'go to work/school' time.
I could be completely 100% wrong on this, but those are my first thoughts.
also no toddler experience here but some ideas...
- can you just plunk her in the car seat and go straight to day care? maybe do some wake up and singing songs in the car and do the diaper change and clothes change when you get there. i have to do the first diaper change at daycare anyway so that is what made me think of it.
- dress her the night before and don't bother with the diaper change until daycare
- the going to bed earlier thing ld mentioned seems like it might make sense
- easing her into being awake with some low lights and music while you get ready and then get her dressed
Good point on the bedtime. She definitely is tired in the morning so Im in agreement that more sleep could help. She used to be in bed by 8pm or earlier but recently started to fight bedtime with various "one more book" and "show daddy" ploys and I usually let her get away with it so now her bedtime is more like 830pm. Getting her back to her 8pm bedtime might be a good start and we'll see what happens.
I cannot bring myself to be up at 630 on the weekends when I have been blessed with a child that sleeps/plays quietly until 730-830am and my work week is usually exhausting so I love my extra sleep on the weekends.....but I know, it might come to that. Im going to try out different things first, in hopes that I dont have to do it!!
Ive been doing this one for months now with minimal success. Really Ive just been trying to make her get up "on her own" by turning off her sound machine, opening her door, turning on low lights etc. so she hears us getting ready/talking/making coffee etc. and can rouse gradually before its time for HER to get ready. No music though, so maybe music is a good add to my manipulative ploy!
Oliver does sleep a little later on weekends b/c we keep him up until 7:30/8. If he does wake up early on a Saturday, I try to think of it as "quality" time with him since I'm working (and missing him) all week.
I would try adjusting bed time, also.
We had the opposite problem with our daughter, she was going to bed between 6 and 6:30 and getting up between 5:45 and 6:15. We gradually pushed her bedtime back til closer to 7 pm and for awhile she was still waking up between 5:45 and 6:15, but after a week or so, she adjusted and now sleeps til close to 7 am.
It's so tough when you work. At night it's a mad scramble to feed her dinner, get her in the bath and to bed. All the while I'm feeling like I had no quality time with her at all. That said, I've found we are all much happier when she is well rested. Tinker with the bedtime a bit until you figure out what works for you guys.
Good luck.
I feel like so many of my parenting qualms could be handled with a diet coke or a nice cup of toddler coffee. Apparently milk /juice /water is just not doin it for her!
This whole post is giving me childhood flashbacks. I never wanted to get out of bed for school and I remember my mom coming in and turning on all the lights and pulling off the covers.
Of course this was when I was 14, not 2.
My father had a similar style-- lights on yelling "time to get up" rather abruptly--and I kid you not, I second guess all my wake up strategies with my annoyance for his style in mind. ......I wonder if hearing Elmo ask her to wake up would work. She loves him to an unimaginable degree. I must find an elmo alarm clock.
This is great.
I also suggest the earlier bedtime.
Does DC also fight on the weekends? If not then maybe she's doesn't like daycare?
This. Just add my mom singing in the early AM, and you had me in my early teen years.