How to Get Almost 5 Year Old Child to Entertain Themselves in the Morning

Our son was like that at that age we use a clock with a radio that was easy to operate so he could turn on the radio softly when he first go up. At 6am he was able to leave his room and go watch tv and we would put cereal in a bag and a cup of milk with a lid on it in the fridge and he would eat dry cereal and drink milk until we got up. We parental blocked all the channels so he didn't watch anything he wasn't supposed to. Now he sleeps til 9 if we let him and is a bear in the morning :)

Here's what I do. I have an almost 6 yr old, almost 4 yr old and almost 2 yr old. The night before I have the 2 youngest cups of juice in fridge and I work night shift so I'm still sleeping when they get up. My oldest will turn the tv on, get the other 2 their juice and pour some dry cereal into a bowl for all 3 of them and she can pour her own milk. And the usually just watch tv and play games while I'm sleeping. The only time one races up to wake me is if one needs a new diaper. Too bad my almost 6 yr old won't change my 2 yr old. LOL. Tv, dry cereal, milk and a few favorite toys is all he should need.

Move his bedtime back....

My daughter is a night owl, and sleeps in but if she ever wakes up at the crack of dawn like that I have had to tell her firmly I'm sleeping go to your room, go watch tv but leave me alone. Sounds harsh but that's the way I do it. She's 7 and knows mommy doesn't wake up at the crack of dawn. She can go get herself some dry cereal, turn on the tv, and play by herself. I'm a grouch in the early early morning and my daughter just knows better and from a early age.

I'd talk to your son, give him some ideas of what to do and tell him he cannot wake you up unless it's a emergency or he's sick. Maybe set some cereal or something out for him the night before in a container that will keep it fresh but he can get to it.

i would talk about it with him: what he is allowed and not allowed to do: watch tv, color, play legos, read books etc. maybe he can learn to turn the tv on and you could leave a breakfast snack for him so he could get him self: breakfast bar, dry cereal, poptart etc. and not have to wake anyone.

or leave a sleeping bad out for him in your room...not sure if he is being quiet, but you could allow him to come into your room and snuugle on the floor without waking you.

you may also want to set up some reward chart...he gets a sticker when he doesnt wake you and entertains himself without making a mess...then after 7 days he gets a quarter, mcdonalds etc...

I'm not totally sure how he did it, but my husband worked a weird schedule when my step-son was little. Every night before he went to bed, he had breakfast setup for him. By the time he was 3, DS could get the box of cereal, bowl and spoon out of the bottom cupboard. They kept the milk on the bottom shelf of the fridge. Voila - breakfast. He could turn on Nickelodian and my husband got to sleep for another hour before getting up to clean spilled milk off the floor. :-) I hope you find something that works for you!

One thing we do with our 2 year old is that he takes a few toys that are typically downstairs into his room (right now it is legos) and when he gets up he will either play with them or look at books. I don't know if that will change as he gets older but that is what is working right now. I know when I was a kid, my parents used to get up and turn on the tv and go back to bed and if we got too loud or "bugged" them too much then we had to go back to our room. This typically stopped us from being too loud or waking everyone else up. Just some suggestions. Good luck!

My son will be 5 next month and we went through the same problem when the time changed. Here's what worked for us:

1. I hung a clock in his room and showed him the OK time for him to leave his room in the morning.

2. We purchased a rug with a city on it and moved some cars, books, his Lego table and other quiet toys upstairs for him to play with if he woke up before it was time to come downstairs.

3. If he ever came out of his room before it was time, we simply sent him back upstairs...no questions asked.

He now wakes up at the OK time to leave his room but still stayed in here lounging and talking to himself and his special lovie in his room for about 30 minutes and then sometimes comes down, but still usually plays along for a while. It's a nice quiet transition to begin the day.

I wish you the best of luck. I know it stressed me out having him wake up early...I hope it turns around quickly for you!

S.
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