Question
HI there. We have a 3 yr. 5 mo. old little girl who is waking up around 5:00am and proceeds to go around waking up her sisters (twins age 6 and a 5 year old). Our rule has always been stay in your room and read until we get you but this child will not obey this rule. I put a timer on her lamp so it goes off at 5:30 and told her she may not get up until it turns on then she must stay in her room and read. She will not follow this rule. My plan was to eventually turn the timer to 6am which is our normal waking time. They all go to bed at 6:45pm and the 3 yr. old no longer naps. I just dropped the nap and moved bedtime up from 7/7:30. The sleep consultants say to moved bedtime up instead of keep them up later. The kids are all exhausted and happy to go to bed early. The older girls are in school and need their sleep and we are all struggling. Also, if she stays in her room, she cries and calls out to me to get her. We follow the "ticket system" and its very effective for the bigger girls but the littlest doesn't understand it well.
We have considered putting the 5 yr old in her room so at least they can play quietly early morning without waking the twins (the 5 yr old is happy to get up earlier than the rest and has always required less sleep) but I'm afraid the 3 yr old will wake up and wake her up at 2 am to play! Thank you for your help.
