Huh?
As for the five year old, I’d go in and wake him, then open the curtains/blinds in his room to let the light in. Then just stand him up if he keeps lying in bed. Talk to him about why missing the bus would be a bad thing. One of the next best things after sleeping is lying awake under the covers imo. I’d do it every day for thirty minutes too if I could.
Glad I wasn’t the only one who thought of that.
And it wasn’t some expensive blanket, either-just some random blanket they bought to put in the family room in case someone got cold.
We have a similar problem, but we do have some good days and here’s why they’re good:
we remind him of something cool and exciting that’s coming up that day. For example, “Hey, First Grade Caricci ! Today is the town meeting! We can’t wait to come watch you be the helping hands reporter!” or “First Grade Caricci, isn’t today the day you have Lunch and Learn with that ER doctor?” or “First Grade Caricci, don’t forget, you’re going over to your friend’s house after school instead of going to daycare.”
I only wish we had something cool like that every day.
Wow, you know I thought for sure that you were exaggerating. Thanks.
Yeah - that thread sure was fun.
Thanks for bringing it to this thread three years later, xgirl.
For an update, my eldest got pregnant and left home on the back of a motorcycle at age 17, my son hasn’t spoken, bathed, or left the house for two years, and my youngest flunked out of school, totalled the family car, and is heavily into recreational drugs and ritual scarification - or is it ritual drugs and recreational scarification.
So, how are your kids doing, xgirl?
Some of the problem may be Daddy’s fault. If he struggles with getting up and fights it, the kid may have learned this behavior.
Get daddy to start getting up with a smile too, maybe that will help?
Also, just out of curiosity, does you child like school? I know some kids that are struggling try to find ways not to have to go…
For my little one, because sometimes I have to suddenly change her sleep schedule for an appointment or something, I turn the TV on, make lots of noise, turn the stereo on and go in and cuddle her and talk to her untl she wakes up. It takes about ten minutes to get her awake from a dead sleep.
Oh, yeah, your husband HAS to start pretending he doesn’t hate to get up.
My daughter and I sleep like rocks. I’ve slept through fire alarms, heavy aircraft turbulance, and nearby explosions. My daughter is pretty much the same, and, needless to say, waking her up can be a challenge. For several months, I used to spend my first ten waking moments each day trying to figure out a new strategy for getting her out of bed. The most effective methods included:
The key to all of this is to be absolutely unrelenting. You do not stop provoking alertness and motion until the child is awake, vertical, and moving. Lapses into unconsciousness are rewarded with a jet from the squirt bottle (make it warm water if you must), a dabble of shaving cream in the ear, or some other provocation that is difficult or impossible to ignore without being painful or unnecessarily unpleasant. Once the child has gotten it through his/her incredibly thick skull that you are not going to quit until he/she cooperates, compliance becomes easier to achieve.
Just wanted to add a link to a really great article, Everything you always wanted to know about sleep (but were too afraid to ask).
I think in our society sleep patterns are too often seen as a behavioral/discipline problem, especially in kids when it’s really more an issue of biology and the way our bodies are built. Getting mad at a kid for not conforming to the sleep schedule society thinks they should have is a bit like yelling at them for not having brown eyes.
There are many things you can do to help adjust your sleep patterns, and behavior and discipline are a part of it, but realize that you’re also working against biology.
Is there any reason why you wouldn’t get an alarm clock? Isn’t that what the majority of the people in this country use to get up on time?
Get a fun alarm clock with a snooze feature.
No matter how “fun” the clock is - after a week your son and everyone else will be so sick of the wake up song that they’ll leap out of bed like they’ve just gotten hit with a loose socket wire in order to shut the damn thing up. I’ve survived Homer Simpson, Pochontus, and Sponge Bob alarm clocks - trust me on this one.
My mother used to let our dog *Stinky * in to wake up my brother. 
My Mom subscribed to the exuberant pet theory of child waking. We had outdoor cats by paternal decree. She smuggled a cat into our beds while Dad was in the shower and we had to get up and get the offending cat out of the house before Dad got out of the shower and noticed a cat in the house. She did lights on and screaming, too, but dogs or cats were pretty effective until they figured out they were pawns in a game and starting taking themselves out. I had a roommate who subscribed to the throwing things method of waking me up. If you try the alarm clock, place it at the foot of the bed so the kid actually has to move more than an arm to turn off/hit snooze. I have been know to turn off an alarm clock and not be awake enough to register that I had turned it off.
Maybe two or three alarm clocks, set to go off a few minutes apart, placed where they can’t be reached from the bed?
I’m another of those who will turn it off in my sleep if I can reach it.
My mother is one of those morning people who not only have no problems waking up on time, but who actually like getting up early. Not so, my brother and I. My brain just doesn’t turn on for a half-hour after I get up, and my brother can sit up and hold a conversation while he’s still asleep.
Mornings in the childhood through teenage years in our house was horrible. My mother was convinced we were deliberately doing this to her, and she constantly waged war on us with all the horrible suggestions already offered – loud music, sprayed with water, etc., etc. Wretched idea: it just made everything confrontational.
Setting consequences was also a no-starter. When I’m half-awake, I just can’t handle thinking about something as complicated as consequences – even now, when I’m 39. And my brother (35) still has no recollection of his sleepwalking awakeness – something that my 2-year old nephew is already puzzling over. Both of us now rely on routine, and alarm clocks, because just knowing we’ll be late for work still isn’t enough.
The “woken up by the dog” idea worked like a charm for us, finally – being nosed and licked awake by your pet is far preferable to some shrieking harridan howling at you from the door.
Go with something simple, and low-stress.