Almost 8 Y/o Crying in the Mornings

It sounds as if his body clock just doesn't do well first thing in the morning. There really are "morning people" who wake quickly and are ready to go, while others take longer to fully wake and come up to speed for the day. It's too bad about what sounds like an extremely early start time for his school (why 7:10? Even high schoolers around here, who go earliest of all in our area, don't start that early!). He would do better with a later start time, but that is not in your control, of course.

First, I would check with his teacher and ask whether he seems alert, "with it" and ready to participate as soon as he gets into the classroom; if the answer is yes, then I would chalk this up to his being not a morning person. If the anwer is no, he's still cranky or not ready to participate, I would look at what he's eating and whether his bedtime routine needs adjustment -- but you cannot make another human fall asleep any faster than their body's willing to do so, unfortunately. Be sure he does not play video games on any device (even a small one ) or watch TV within a few hours of bedtime; the effects of moving images on kids' brains are shown to stimulate them for quite some time after the game or show is finished.

Also, be prepared to keep mornings as fast and smooth as you can, and ignore his tears as much as possible.

Be sure to have his clothes, right down to socks and shoes, ready to roll so there isn't a moment of "Wait, where are my socks"; have his breakfast ready when he gets up so there's no "Wait a minute, I have to do this before it's on the table"; and be sure that his school stuff is all packed and ready the night before. Getting out the door smoothly is very important when a kid is cranky in the mornings.

Also, it might help a little to have high-protein breakfasts (eggs, peanut butter on toast, high-protein Greek style yogurts) -- protein will fuel him better and longer through the morning than most cold cereals. And be sure he's not eating much sugar especially late in the day -- sugars can indeed keep us wakeful longer. Higher protein dinners and even a protein snack before bed can help him sleep solidly too. It could be that though he doesn't wake you, he is not sleeping soundly; he may say he didn't wake in the night but his body may be "wakeful." Extra protein close to bedtime can possibly help with that.

Is it possible that he gets some nap time/rest after school?
He might just need more sleep (total) than he's getting, even though his bedtime seems very reasonable. Just a thought....good luck!

Oh--you could try some melatonin to relax him at night, or sleepytime tea?

I have to say that even though you say he loves school and "has no issues" there I might suspect some bullying/something social going on. Is there recess time right after drop-off (before school)? Is it supervised? Has he had a falling out with a close friend?

The fact that he's been going this early for 18 months, as well as the trouble sleeping, make me think something might be going on. I would check with his teacher as well as the moms of his closest friends, if that's possible. Not sure what the non-teacher adult supervision is like at your son's school but I always got to know--and still do--the teacher's aide and the yard duty moms...even the custodial staff. They always always have the inside scoop on what our kids are doing.

Good luck...sorry your son is having such a tough time : (

I just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone. My son will be 8 in 2 weeks, and we're much like you. He goes to bed at 7:00 most nights, but stays up until 7:30 or 8:00 a couple of nights. We don't do much sugar either, and he loves school.

This morning C got up happily. It's pajama day at school if you bring a dollar to raise money for something, and he was excited about it. Then he fell to pieces because he decided he didn't want to wear pjs. I don't know what brought on the change, and I didn't care if he wore pjs or not, but I was irritated that the change of mind brought on tears.

I sent him to his room until he worked through his emotions because he usually does better if he has a moment alone. A few minutes later he brought me my dollar, was fully dressed in regular school clothes, and was happy once again.

His teacher says he is extremely happy at school, and he usually is at home, too, other than these short, tearful moments in the mornings. We have them sometimes in the evenings if he gets too tired, too. He just seems to need lots of sleep. At least he's happy most of the time, and your guy sounds happy, too. :)

I read an article about sleep cycles and if someone gets woken in the middle of a sleep cycle it is very hard to get going. Google and see if you can research it. I'm wondering if maybe it isn't something like that. My gut reaction to that sort of behavior ismostly a "I understand you are tired and grumpy, but I will not alter our morning routine and/or treat you any differently because of it." In other words, no special treatment for being grumpy - but go do it elsewhere. My oldest was extremely hard to wake up and get going. I tried everything under the sun. He's 29 and STILL has a difficult time.

Maybe he is going through a growing sprout?
Did this start since last year when he started school at 7:00?
Perhaps, even if he likes school is something that is bother him in there?
Or if his siblings are younger and get to stay at home or go to school later, he may just wish he could stay as they do?

Is there a school he can attend with a more normal starting time? I had a job once that started at 7 am and I was ALWAYS miserable in the morning. There are many schools that are looking at later start times because research shows kids do much better when they start later. This does apply more strongly to older kids but I would look around.

http://www.sleepinfairfax.org/research.htm