Good morning coffee

Good morning…coffee.

It’s Sunday at 6:45 am.  I wake up to a little munchkin standing beside my face.  It is so hard to be nurturing and kindly wake up this way, at this hour, to a little one that I know needs to be in bed, who’s little body needs more sleep, who will not want to wake up for school this week, and we went to bed too late (Though I like to allow the kiddos later on the weekends, it often backfires).

It is also so hard not to make bedtime like a consequence, but on these weeks of adjusting, and depending on how emotions are handled, it is like that.  I’m just trying to hide it from our little, but explain it to our big (and he needs examples of why he can’t stay up as late as he wants to or as late as his friends do).

Why does sleep always seems like a hot topic with kids and with parents?  I am going to invent a clock that has ages already programed.  It will turn blue or black and sound an alarm at their recommended bedtime, then turn green when it has past their recommended wake up time.  I’m sure there is something already out there, in fact, Amazon has something similar we may try,

since I don’t think I’ll be getting around to inventing anytime soon.  And I’ll just type the recommended hours below, so I can remember when to change their Ok To Wake clock.  It is so easy to stay up, and to let littles stay up when we are having fun.  We don’t really have a bedtime in our house, it is based on the way we can tell their bodies are feeling.  We try to take into account birth order, but *C$ seems as though he needs the same bedtime as *little man with all the growing and emotions.   When I say, we don’t really have a bedtime, it fluctuates, frequently.  I don’t mean stay up as late as you want.  🙂

Below are the “AASM’s recommended minimum and maximum hours each age group should regularly sleep during a 24-hour period for optimal health:

• Ages 4-12 months: 12-16 hours (including naps)
• Ages 1-2 years: 11-14 hours (including naps)
• Ages 3-5 years: 10-13 hours (including naps)
• Age 6-12 years: 9-12 hours
• Age 13-18 years: 8-10 hours

A panel of 13 sleep experts reviewed 864 scientific articles to formulate the recommendations. It noted that sleep also must be appropriately timed and without disturbances.”

This summer good sleep went through phases, we are currently not allowing shows or video games until 8am, no middle-of-the-night cuddles, diffuser with oils, and we are leaving their beds before they fall asleep.

Please post any great sleep training tips or standards you have in your home, below, for kids of all ages!  Or post it to Instagram.  Thanks everyone!  Good night.  =)