Is Your Child a Morning Person? (Try These Tips)
The answer to that question at my house…
NO!
Some days we are lucky if one or two of our children wake up in a good mood, but for the most part all of our kids have a hard time being excited about getting out of bed. It can be a struggle to get everyone out the door without arguing about toothpaste issues, collared shirts irritating necks, or socks with reinforced toes bugging little feet.
Heidi Murkoff, of the book series What To Expect, shared these great tips recently with Parents magazine. These pointers are from her new book What to Expect the Second Year. In my opinion, these are great to implemented for an infant, toddler or pre-schooler.
Start When He’s Sleepy
Dressing your child will go more smoothly if you do it as soon as (s)he wakes. ‘A fueled-up toddler has more energy to resist getting dressed,’ says Murkoff.
Be Silly
Pretend to put her shirt over your head or on her teddy bear, then let her correct you- her giggles may override any grumpiness.
Give Lots of Hugs
This allows your kid to greet the day more gradually. Choose a space that is comfy and cozy, like a bed or an armchair. ‘You can sing a special good-morning song, read a book, or just have some snuggles,’ says Murkoff.
I can say, after raising all of these boys, it really can be less of a battle if you help them get dressed as soon as they wake up and are still a little groggy. They just kind of let you guide them and are less reluctant and argumentative.
What do you think? What has worked for you and your little ones when getting ready in the morning is embraced reluctantly. Are there any of these suggestions you do not agree with?
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These are some great ideas for dealing with the morning grumpies in little ones. I look forward to trying these tomorrow morning. Hopefully we will have a happier morning than usual! Thanks for the tips.
Awesome! I hope these help.
For us I can say that getting them dressed while they are half alseep is huge at our house!
Best of luck and thanks for stopping by!
as a early intervention counselor and a mom I appreciate these tips. I do dress my kiddo first thing, but I give him choices and I let him do most of the dressing (he is almost 3). I also really like the idea of a good morning song, wouldn’t that be nice to wake up to your favorite person singing to you?
Great idea!
Ahh, the morning grumpies! I have 5 kids, and know them well from teenager down to 3 year old.
It also helps if I’m on top of my routine for the morning. When I’m running late, I tend to be grumpy and feel rushed myself.
As a former teacher, we do a morning routine run like a calendar time in a kindergarten class. So no matter how crazy our day is, I know I covered all the essentials when they are bright-eyed.
Great tips on getting ready!
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