How do you keep kids in bed as long as possible on Christmas morning?
I don’t mean for the whole morning (although if you need to sleep off excesses of the night before I’m not judging). I mean longer than the dreaded 5am wake-up call.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind getting up earlier than usual on Christmas Day – it is Christmas after all and I’m not that much of a scrooge – but I draw the line at being jumped on at night time, and in my book 5am is still night time.
So what can you do? I asked some fellow bloggers for tips and tricks on keeping little ones in bed as long as possible on Christmas morning and here’s what they said.
10 clever ways to keep kids in bed on Christmas morning
1. Put ‘extra’ stockings in their bedroom. “As kids we had our stockings in our bedrooms so we had a couple of treats to open and play with before waking up my parents,” says Beth at Twinderelmo.
2. Good old YouTube. “My daughter is three and I’m going to stall her with YouTube videos,” says Veronica at My Parenting Journey. “I’ve limited her screening time a lot so whenever I need her to be quiet, YouTube saves the day.”
3. Use visitors to your advantage. “Have your visitors sleeping on the sofa bed in the same room as the tree!” says Luschka at Diary Of A First Child.
4. Threaten to take presents away. It sounds a bit harsh to me but it works according to Claire at Big Family, Big Fun. “If anyone gets out of bed unnecessarily (they can go to the toilet, within reason – one year my daughter claimed she needed the toilet every half an hour throughout the night!) they lose a present from their stocking (we literally take one present away),” she says. “They learn the lesson pretty quickly and it works for us.”
5. Invest in a sleep training clock. “We use the gro-clock,” says Pete at Household Money Saving. “If the kids get up before the clock wakes up, they will have to wait until longer before opening presents.”
6. Tire them out on Christmas Eve. “Ensure you take them out for a long walk on Christmas Eve, that way they are too tired to get up before 7.30am,” says Mandi at Big Dog Little Adventures.
7. Pretend it’s the middle of the night. “Luckily as the mornings are dark, it’s easy to make them believe you and if they are tired enough they may doze back off,” says Michelle at Time and Pence.
8. Tell them Santa won’t arrive if they wake up too early. “He won’t be able to get the job done with delivering all the presents!” says Leyla at Motherhood Diaries.
9. Let them get on with it. “I may tell them to open their stockings without me so I can get that extra little bit of sleep!” says Ayse at Arepops.
10. If you can’t beat them, join them. “I embrace it, shove on a dressing gown, grab my camera and follow them down the stairs!” says Star at Autism Kids On Tour. “There is always time to nap after dinner!”
Do you have any clever hint and tricks for keeping your little ones in bed on Christmas morning? Or is an early morning wake-up call what it’s all about in your house?
I’m pretty lucky and don’t think Ella has ever woken that early on Christmas day and Poppy is top young to get excited. Next year might be a different story though!!! #familyfunlinky
Great tips. My little girl wakes up about 5am every day, even after being up and down all night. I usually try to get her back to sleep or bribe her with the tablet to get a bit more sleep, but I’ll probably be as eager to get up on Xmas morning as her anyway #FamilyFunLinky
A long walk sounds like a good idea, anything to get sleepy! It’s the exitcement that always wakes me! #FamilyFunLinky
I have used the if you get up too early santa may not have been line but I normally just embrace it! #familyfun
We use a gro-clock too! It works wonders and means we always get to lie in until at least 8am. Woop! I think wearing them out on Christmas Eve sounds like a great plan too! #dreamteam
we always tell the kids that they can open their stockings. We try and have at least a few things in there that would hold them over for an extra hour or so. It’s an early rise regardless #familyfun
I like the one about saying that Father Christmas won’t be able to get the job done if they get up too early! But they’re all interesting to read! Like anything with parenting, I guess it’s what works for you! Thanks so much for linking this to #DreamTeam and Merry Christmas!
I’ve never had this problem. In fact we have the reveres. We’ll be lying in bed excitedly waiting for the kids to wake up and discover their stockings but after an hour have to start shouting ‘It’s Christmas’ really loud to get them stirring .
Thank you for joining #FamilyFunLinky x
My dad told us if we woke him up he would lose his job and we’d have to return all the gifts he bought us. It worked. But we were smart and used the smell of homemade waffles and bacon to lure him awake each year. #DreamTeam