If there is one thing our friends and family know about Ainsley’s sleep patterns, is’t that she is a morning person by nature. Like her parents, Ainsley is an early bird. Too early, if you ask me, but I can’t really blame her when Joe and I are both awake most weekdays by 5 or 5:30 and hardly ever sleep in past 6:30 even when we have the chance.
About two months ago I hit a point where the early morning wake times were becoming a real issue for our family. Ainsley was waking most mornings at 5 or 5:30, but instead of waking up happy she was waking up tired, grumpy and out of sorts. We tried all sorts of things – pushing her bed time back, moving it forward, changing nap times, etc. but nothing seemed to work. Although I like to wake up early, having a toddler that is up for the day at 5 am makes for some really long days.
A friend of mine who has three kids of her own said something to me that really resonated. She said that it was important for kids to understand how the house and family “ran” and your kids should, under most circumstances, be able to fall in line with that.
I realized that for months we had been held hostage by Ainsley’s early wakings. I usually get up bright and early to work a little bit before everyone wakes up. Joe gets up most mornings at 5:30 to workout, and I pack his lunches and get him sent off for the day, wrap up a bit more work, do a load or two of laundry and drink my cup of coffee in peace before the day really starts. But with Ainsley waking up so early it was throwing everything – including her own schedule – off.
So I went to Facebook to seek out advice from my fellow mom friends. A few people recommended trying the Ok to Wake Clock, which is a small little clock that you set your child’s “wake time” for the day and when it’s time to wake up the clock lights up green.
I wondered if at 22 months Ainsley was a little too young to understand the concept, but I decided to give it a go anyway. It turns out she took to the clock really well! It shouldn’t have been a surprise, given the fact that our child is a very logical and analytical thinker, but it surprised me none the less.
We set Ainsley’s wake time for 6:30. For the first couple mornings of using the clock she would still wake at 5 or 5:30. We let her fuss/play/cry in her bed until the light turned green. A couple times in the beginning I even went in and reminded her that she could get up when the light was green. It didn’t stop the fussing, but it did help give her context to when mommy or daddy was going to come get her for the day.
After about a week and a half it was if the clock had “re-set” her internal clock. Knowing that she wasn’t going to get up for the day until the light was green seemed to help her go back to sleep if she woke early, and now I’m finding more and more that she is waking close, or even after, 6:30. It’s been such a game changer for us in the sleep department!
So, if you are a mom who is struggling with early morning wakings like we were, I would highly recommend the OK to Wake Clock. It was a cheap but very worthwhile investment.
Madison