Does your toddler play independently when they wake up in the morning?

[carrie1973]

@knowledgeisnotignorant “Complaining bitterly” lol! This is good perspective. Unfortunately, I think our guy is chronically sleep deprived. He’s just never been an eager sleeper, no matter how hard we’ve tried.

 

[knowledgeisnotignorant]

@carrie1973 Friggin toddlers. They really will do anything to avoid sleep.

 

[sbjk]

@carrie1973 My 4 year old also likes to sleep and cuddle, so he will sneak into our room at some point and cuddle with us. Theres times where he will be awake but just want to cuddle and he'll be happy being next to us.

The 1 year old? Complete opposite. If hes awake, everyone must be awake. If I try to lay back down, he gets angry and yells at the blanket. I miss the days of just cuddling and sleeping lol

 

[carrie1973]

@sbjk Haha I hear you! I would enthusiastically welcome cuddling, even if no sleep were involved. Alas, our guy wants to climb, jump, wrestle, shout, etc. Someday we’ll all sleep again. Right??

 

[alvaroc]

@carrie1973 When he was younger (say 12 months maybe) I would put a little bin of toys in his bed with him, turn on a dim lamp, and play music. He would play with the toys for about 20 min...so I could either get up and get dressed and stuff or sleep a little longer.

 

[carrie1973]

@alvaroc What a lovely way to wake up! Thanks for sharing!

 

[hardcorelutheran]

@carrie1973 My 2 year old has done this since about 6-7 months old. I’m not sure how we managed to make this happen other than finding a routine and sticking to it.

He’s still in a crib and we have blackout curtains on one large window, just blinds on a small window closer to the ceiling so there’s some natural light in the mornings. We also would leave a couple extra pacifiers in the crib and that was always helpful in avoiding crying or a panic to reach one that fell out of the crib (helpful at night too). No night light. We have his hatch sound machine with no light but the sound turns off after at the same time every morning. Once that happens, he will stand or sit up in the crib in anticipation of us and that’s my signal to go get him.

 

[carrie1973]

@hardcorelutheran Thanks for sharing! Sounds like a great setup!

 

[clintos]

@carrie1973 Honestly I think its just a phase. She randomly started doing it when she was 3. I cant remember how long it lasted but she is 4 now and once she wakes up, tortures us until we get out of bed.

A friend of mine recently mentioned her 3yo playing on her own upon waking… and a few weeks later it was over.

 

[carrie1973]

@clintos Oh wow, this is great insight, and also so disheartening lol! It’s all phases with kids, isn’t it? Thanks for sharing!

 

[chinesechristiansg]

@carrie1973 My kid is almost 2 and just does whatever in her crib until I get her. She babbles, flops around, kicks the crib, whatever, but doesn't cry or anything. So I just sleep in til 8. I think she kinda knows when I'm about to get her bc of light threw her curtains. Of course, my real test here is going to be when I switch her to a toddler bed next month. I'm hoping with a play area in her room, she will just get up and play until I get her.

 

[carrie1973]

@chinesechristiansg Oh wow that sounds amazing. Best of luck with the switch next month! I hope it goes smoothly!

 

[katrina2017]

@carrie1973 Yes mine does, but he’ll stay in the room while I’ll sleep. Honestly, I think it’s just because I wasn’t a helicopter parent from the beginning I always gave him room to roam around the house especially when he started to learn how to walk and I let him open the cupboards and I let him investigate and that way he’s not as naughty as other kids.

He’s 2.5

 

[carrie1973]

@katrina2017 Nice! Thanks for sharing. Yeah, we let our kiddo roam pretty freely. He just prefers to roam to our room and turn up in the mornings. I thought maybe we’d allowed too much roaming, and maybe we did for our kid or maybe my boundaries have been too weak!

 

[katrina2017]

@carrie1973 If you feel comfortable with him, eating light snacks, or like cereal or something, I feel like that might make it a little quieter and focus

 

[carrie1973]

@katrina2017 Totally down for snacks! But I’ll give you one guess where he ends up eating them! Again, maybe our boundaries have been too lax. I appreciate you going down the rabbit hole with me on this though.

 

[katrina2017]

@carrie1973 Get a toddler table and chairs and iPad and let him eat and watch in the mornings as a routine. No eating on the bed

 

[carrie1973]

@katrina2017 I love setting up our environment to do as much of the work as possible. Thanks for this idea!

 

[katrina2017]

@carrie1973 I just did this. He watches only in the mornings which allows us to become human. Ignore the downvotes and do what’s best for your family.