Poll Results Post: Morning Wake-up Time

The start time of your day can have more of an impact on the flow of your day than you might think. Let’s discuss this start to the day. You can find original answers on the blog here and on Facebook here.

 

 

1-What time does your child get up each day (whether you wake him up or he wakes on his own)?

6:00–4

6:30–4

7:00–5

7:30–2

8:00–1

 

2-How consistent are you with this wake up time each day? How many days a week would you say you usually have this be your start time?

Very consistent: 15

Try to be very consistent: 3
Don’t push it, but consistent on own: 1
NOTE: A few people commented that they are very consistent on weekdays, but more relaxed on weekends. I put them in the very consistent category.

 

3-What time is your child’s bedtime the night before?

6:00–1
6:30–1

7:00–8

7:15–1

7:30–1

8:00–9

 

4-Do you notice an impact on the day if wake up time is off? If so, what sort of impact?

 

Natalie said: ” Seems the only impact is that if she wakes too early and doesn’t take long enough naps, then there is too much wake time between her last nap and bedtime and bedtime ends up being too early.”

 

Erin said: “-No real impact. Usually, if he happens to wake early, there’s a reason (light getting into the room, still weaning off the pacifier dependency). But he’s a pretty happy boy no matter what.”

 

Leah said: “No. I mean, it’s never outside of the 7:30-8:00 AM range, though. But I notice no difference whether I get her up at 7:30 or 8:00.”

 

AllieK said: “Kids are more cranky, schedule is thrown off.”

 

Julie said: If wake time is too far off, we get off schedule, which probably bothers me more than him.  

 

Faith said: Generally, if he wakes too early, he’ll just take an earlier, longer first nap and get himself back on schedule or pretty close to it.

 

Nicole said: I can’t remember the last time wake up time was off. Everyone shares a room here, so the first kid up tends to wake up the second kid. No one ever sleeps in…

 

Jess said: Because we are so consistent with wake time, this isn’t often affected. However it does make him moodier if he wakes up an hour or more early and doesn’t fall back asleep. Again, this doesn’t happen very often.

 

Krista said:Not really for the older kids. It definitely throws baby’s schedule off and makes nap time more difficult to predict when wake time is off. 

 

5-Any comments on morning wake up time?

 

Melanie said: “Preface: Bedtime used to be 8 p.m. with a 6 a.m. wake up time, but after we had to have a consultation with a sleep specialiast for an breathing issue, one of his recommendations was for our 3yr old needed another hour of sleep at night. 

Our new schedule is as follows:
We wake her at 6:30 a.m. on weekdays. On Saturdays she sleeps until she wakes up and on Sundays we wake her at 7 a.m. if she hasn’t already gotten up (which is rare).
Bedtime is 7:30 p.m. (sometime closer to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays, but we try!).
Since adding the extra hour, our 3yr old has been easier to wake up and get going in the morning. Additionally, she doesn’t fight going to sleep at night. Doctors advice seems to have been on the money.”

 

Natalie said:”I have noticed that whether I put her to bed at 6:30 or 8pm, she still wakes up about between 6:30 and 7, so it is better to put her down earlier so she isn’t tired the next day.”

 

Erin said: “-Morning wake ups used to be a lot harder – especially when I wanted to sleep and the baby WAS sleeping. I just wanted to let us all have a late wake up. But it really was worth it to keep on the schedule. The routine is so much a part of our lives now that it really helps us avoid a lot of power struggles, grumpy wake ups, and frantic rushing around before work.”

 

Leah said: “Not really. I’ve been getting her up at 7:30 every morning since she was about 1.5 weeks old. I get up at 7:00 and eat breakfast before getting her up because that makes me a happier mommy. :)”

 

AllieK said: “Having a 100% consistent morning wake time was the key to sleep training success when my kids were babies! ”

 

Julie said: I think having a consistent wake time makes the day so much smoother, and also makes consistent bedtime so much easier! 

 

Brittany said: It’s super important to be consistent with the wake up time while sleep training and while nursing in order establish a routine.

 

Nicole said: I chose 7:30 because I felt like it was a time I could live with for 20 years. By the time my youngest is 10, I will have been getting up at 7:30 for almost that long. I doubt I’ll bother changing it back 😃

 

Jess said: If you are consistent with “not before x time” from the beginning it is much easier to enforce as they get older! I cringe when my friends and family talk about their child waking up at 4:30 or 5 some days and some days sleeping until 9. Consistency makes us all more pleasant!

 

Krista said:Prior to school age, I found it important to keep the kids on schedule, meaning the same wake up time each day as it made the day predictable as far as nap and eat times and I knew when baby would start to get fussy for food or nap and could easily predict what they wanted when they fussed. 

 

Anita said: Both these wake times have been selected to best suit my school-age child

 

6-How old is your child?

10 weeks: 1

4 months: 1

5 months: 1

7 months: 1

10 months: 1

16 months: 1

19 months: 1

20 months: 1

2.5 years: 1

29 months: 1

3 years: 1

4 years: 2

5 years: 1

6 years: 1

7 years:1

8 years: 1

9 years: 1

11 years: 1

 

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