New parents can face disrupted sleep for years, not just months — research has shown it can take up to six years for sleep quality to fully bounce back after your first child arrives. So when an early riser is part of your household, a lie-in can start to feel like a rare luxury.
If you’ve got a little one who treats 6am like a perfectly reasonable time to start the day, you’re not alone. Here are some tried-and-tested tips for getting a sleep in when you have young kids.
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A study published in the journal Sleep, which followed parents over several years, found that mums typically lose over an hour of sleep a night in the first three months after a first baby arrives. Dads lose sleep too, though usually less. And the effects can linger — many parents, especially mums, still report poorer sleep quality years later, even once the newborn stage is long behind them.
So if you’re desperate for a bit of extra shut-eye at the weekend, here’s what other parents have found helpful.
Tips For Getting a Sleep In When You Have Young Kids
Swap Lie Ins With Your Partner
This is an easy one. Take it in turns to swap lie-in days with your partner, so you both get a chance to enjoy the extra snooze. Agreeing it in advance — Saturday is yours, Sunday is theirs — takes the guesswork (and the arguments) out of it.
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Buy a Light-Up Alarm Clock
A sleep-training light-up alarm clock acts as a night light but also uses colours or facial expressions to show your child when it’s still sleep time and when it’s okay to get up. Many parents find this one small change makes a real difference to early starts.
Try This Trick on Your Child’s Alarm Clock
Image courtesy of Your Modern Family
This trick from mum-of-four Becky at Your Modern Family is a favourite with parents. She taped the number 7 over the minutes on her child’s alarm clock. When they come out of their room early (and they will, at first), she takes them back to bed and says, “You can come out at 7:00, when the number on the clock matches.” It takes a few days of consistency, but it works for a lot of families.
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Give Them a Snack
Some children wake up genuinely hungry. Keeping a banana and a small tub of cereal by the bed for them to munch on can buy you a bit of extra time — and it usually takes them a while to work their way through it.
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Make Use of a Tablet or TV
Popping on a favourite show can be a lifesaver on those extra-early mornings. A tablet with headphones works well too, keeping things quieter for the rest of the house. Screen time limits matter day to day, but a little flexibility at 6am on a Saturday won’t do any harm.
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Have Your Kids Share a Room
If your children are close enough in age, sharing a room means they can potentially entertain each other when they wake, rather than heading straight for Mum or Dad. An older sibling can often keep a younger one happily occupied for a while.
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Teach Them to Make Their Own Cereal
Once they’re old enough, teaching your child to head to the kitchen, pour their own cereal, and then go and play can free up a precious extra half hour in bed.
Co-Sleep
Letting your child climb into your bed first thing in the morning, rather than all night, is a middle ground that works for a lot of families. Everyone settles back down together for a bit longer, and no one has to leave a warm bed too early.
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Make Sure They’re Getting Enough Sleep
Early rising can sometimes be a sign that something in the bedtime routine needs a tweak. Check that your child is getting enough sleep overall — adjusting bedtime or cutting back on daytime naps can sometimes help them sleep a little later in the morning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do young kids wake up so early?
It’s often down to their natural body clock, but it can also be linked to bedtime being too early or too late, too much daytime napping, or simply a habit that’s built up over time. Small adjustments to the evening routine can sometimes shift things.
What age do kids stop waking up early?
There’s no fixed age — some children naturally start sleeping later as they grow, while others need a bit of gentle retraining with consistent routines and tools like a light-up alarm clock.
Is it okay to let my child watch TV first thing in the morning?
Occasional screen time on an early morning isn’t going to undo good habits. Many parents use it sparingly as a practical way to get an extra bit of rest.
Does co-sleeping help kids sleep later?
For some families, yes — letting a child come into the parents’ bed in the early morning (rather than all night) can extend everyone’s sleep a little. It’s a personal choice and works differently for every family.
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- Mastering the Transition from Cot to Bed
- Co-Sleeping With a Five Year Old
Every family’s early-morning routine looks a little different, so take what works from this list and leave the rest. If you found these tips helpful, why not save this article or share it with another sleep-deprived parent you know?
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