Am I suffocating them?

amother

Wed, Oct 31 2012, 2:41 pm

My kids wake up early. The minute they open their eyes they start talking loud, laughing, kicking each others,.....etc.

Their room is right near mine and I hate waking up every morning at 6:30 from their noise.
I yell at them all the time for this, give consequences and punishments.

Am I wrong to expect from a 5- and 7 yr old to be quiet until I come outside? Am I not fair for getting angry at this?

Do I have to let them talk. When they wake up, and is it too much to ask for quiet?

NYmommy

Wed, Oct 31 2012, 2:55 pm

My 6 & 8 year old also wake up early (not 6:30, but earlier than me) and they either talk quietly in their room or go to the front of the house to play not to wake the parents and younger siblings. I think they are big enough to understand to whisper or go to other side of the house.

StrongIma

Wed, Oct 31 2012, 2:57 pm

yes, I really think you're being unreasonable - they're not scampering around, they're not shouting - to be absolutely quiet when they've slept all night I think is asking too much. (and 6:30 AM really isn't such h an ung-dly hour.)

Liba

Wed, Oct 31 2012, 3:32 pm

How about getting a fan or some other form of white noise for your room so you can sleep through their chatting without hearing it?

chocolate moose

Wed, Oct 31 2012, 3:38 pm

that's why I separated my kids. I think it's unreasonable to expect that they will be quiet.

what about a later bedtime ?

SingALong

Wed, Oct 31 2012, 4:18 pm

I give my kids incentives to be quiet, or compliment them afterwards when they let me sleep. Like one am when my kids played nicely and quietly I gave them a little treat and told them because they played so nicely and let mommy rest I'm so proud of them, like that. I find it to be a more positive way to get them to be quiet.

TranquilityAndPeace

Wed, Oct 31 2012, 4:32 pm

It's hard for little kids to remember to whisper without a reminder every 90 seconds.

Can you give them quiet activities for the morning?

My 10 year old wakes up early, takes a cordless into bed, and listens to Wonder Words (google it, project of the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation, new stories every day) for at least half an hour each morning.

amother

Wed, Oct 31 2012, 10:42 pm

Op here.
I tried compliments, incentives and punishments. They have me dumped in their left cents.

White noise doesn't help. I'm a light sleeper and hear everything.
Separating them isn't a possibility, I live in a one bedroom apt.

My issue is that if they'd whisper, I wouldn't care so much. It's just that the minute one is up,they wake all the others. They make sure to turn loudly, cough loud, kick the one near them, until everyone is up and the laughing and fun fun begins. At wits end

My kids don't all wake up at once suddenly. There's always that first child to wake up, who wakes everyone else withing 30 seconds. Gets me MAD.

Later bedtime doesn't either help because they will anyway be woken up early by the early riser.

amother

Wed, Oct 31 2012, 11:04 pm

mummiedearest wrote:

two words, amother:

ear plugs.

btw, where does the word "suffocating" come in in this context?

Op here.
Sometimes, when I feel I might be expecting too much of my young kids, I feel like I'm suffocating their mental health.

amother

Wed, Oct 31 2012, 11:28 pm

de_goldy wrote:

You are definitely expecting too much. Go to bed earlier and get up with them.

I think I need to hear this.

newmom770

Thu, Nov 01 2012, 9:09 am

To hashemlovesme:
A child who wakes at 5 am is going to sleep too early. Unless you dont mind him waking at that time. My four year old doesnt sleep more than ten hours. He doesnt need it. So he goes to bed at nine and wakes up at seven. His friend needs more sleep and his bedtime is six oclock. Im not sure when he wakes up but if my child went to sleep at six he would be up at four am!

Hashemlovesme

Thu, Nov 01 2012, 10:37 am

newmom770 wrote:

It's kind of a viscous cycle. she wakes up early & then needs to go to bed early. Bu I usually don't see a correlation, like she can go to sleep late & wake up earlier or vice versa. But the fact that she starts w/ soooooo much energy is what really takes its toll on us. Plus, she's really not capable of quietly playing......we've tried it all. Plus it's not safe for her to be left unattended.

saw50st8

Thu, Nov 01 2012, 11:47 am

newmom770 wrote:

Some kids just naturally wake up early, no matter when they go to sleep.