Need Ideas to Get Kids Out of Bed and Moving

Put them to bed at 8. You could use the time and they may NEED that extra time. Every child is different. Start trying to get them up a bit sooner. Do EVERYTHING you can the night before. Even little things, like putting out clothes, having books, etc. by the door, etc can really help cut down on the stress and chaos. Even go so far as to put cereal or whatever on the table, bowls out, etc. Leave as LITTLE as possible for the a.m. You can focus MORE on getting them up & running!

I simply tell my son if he has a hard time getting up we will go to bed 15 min earlier tonight. and I stick to it. now he never has a problem and is usually up waiting for me.

I have a 9yr old son. The only thing that I do is first of all, let him know what I expect. He is on a rigid schedule in the morning. He has so much time to complete things. Up at 6. Eat and some tv time til 6:30, brush teeth comb hair get bag & coat ready, and put on shoes. Bus at 7. I do have him lay out his clothes the night before and that seems to save us a bit of time. He sets them on the end of his bed. Also, his bag is packed the night before (right after homework) so we aren't looking around for lost items. I get his breakfast ready while he dresses. He takes his shower the night before too. That is also a pretty strict schedule. He get home at 4, does his homework and has supper, leaves home at 4:45 for karate or wrestling (2x a week) gets home at 6:30. Shower at 7. Bed at 8 for tv time in his room. Tv off and sleep at 8:30. I think a lot of it is just in the routine and him knowing what I expect of him. Hope this helps. Shannon
PS. He also has his own alarm clock. He doesn't always hear it but I think it helps a bit too.

My 5 year is hard to wake up this year and he's only in kindergarten!! After a few months of nagging and yelling, I just decided that he can be responsible. I bought him an alarm clock and showed him how to use it. Then we sat down and had a >talk<. Part of the bedtime routine is setting the alarm clock and picking out clothes. In the morning, he wakes up to shut off his alarm, gets dressed and comes downstairs to eat breakfast. He can't eat until he goes to the bathroom and is dressed - including shoes. His backpack is ready and by the door before bed the night before (first step of bedtime routine). No TV, computer, video games or toys until he's all ready. If he misses the bus because he was screwing around and I have to drive him, he's 5-10 minutes late to school (bus comes 10 minutes before the bell rings and I have to pack up the baby and toddler before getting into car). If he's late, the teacher has >the talk< with him -- which he hates. He also can't play computer games or video games at all on days he misses the bus (he normally gets 30 minutes a day of video/computer games) - and TV is limited to 30 minutes. (TV is for my sanity so I can make dinner in peace!). When we first started, he went a week without computer/video games -- which totally killed him. Since then, he hasn't missed the bus at all. From the alarm going off to walking outside to the bustop it takes him about 35 minutes to get ready.

You just need to find your child's 'currency' and exploit it. :-) With my son, it's video games. With my nephew (my sis did the same thing when he was 8), it was using the phone. A 9 year old is definately old enough to get himself up and ready for school in the morning with little supervision and no nagging. Just shift the responsibility onto him.

J.,
How about we swap kids just to hear new mouns and growns in the morning? My kids have driven me to my end and last week I turned into Mommy Dearest! My kids eyes were as big as quarters when the new law came down from D' Mamma. They are testing the waters on you so turn up the heat it is working for me. New Rule is at the table 30 mins before the bus comes. That way they have time to eat and brush. They have 30 mins to get dressed, back packs coats and shoes sitting at the door waiting.IF they are not up dressed and moving by the first 30 mins for every 5 mins after that it's 15 mins early for bed that night. Man do they hate it. My 11yr old even tried to slide by saying I don't have my homework done yet. Told her not my problem you screwed up this morning not me. Your the one that will pay that price. She did too, she had to stay in to do it while others went out to play ( I emailed the situation to the teacher and asked him to help me out, lol) It sure is nice to be able to go to bed early when they mess up, lol I thank them in the mornings, that makes it even worse. I have had to spend the last 10 mins of their morning moun following them around and pushing pushing pushing but it gets them to the bus on time and thats what I'm trying to get them to do. It is slowly working and I found they really hate not getting their way and are starting to learn, IT'S MOM'S WAY OR NO WAY. Gosh life sucks being a kid, lol... Good Luck hope this may help you because I have worn those shoes too.

Single !!! they sense that the authority is out of the house. You need to establish yourself as the role model your husband assumes. Good luck!! Ive been single mom of 4 my whole life and there is the element of masculinity that somehow eludes me. Find a friend!! a sarrogate male role model perhaps your father or his. It takes a community to raise these kids and dont think you need to do it alone. Dr Meyer

I got the idea from an old family fun magazine and have not used it yet since we homeschool and my husband works late so we don't want them up early. But the idea was to determine a time limit like maybe 6 minutes for getting dressed and 3 minutes for teeth brushing and then to record songs that length to and tell them you have through this song to get your clothes on and when the next song is over your teeth should be brushed ect. Music is a great motivator and with all the new technolgy this shouldn't be too hard. You can make them each their own CD or put one on in the area of their bedrooms so that they are all moving. In which case you would need the sones to mean different things for each child since I have found that if they are in the bathroom brushing their teeth at the same time it never seems to get done or gets done with someone yelling or getting hurt. You can look up ideas from Family Fun on their web site alot of what we use to solve things around here comes from that source.

I used a couple of distractions - and this is not as wimpy as it may sound - it did work.

One was inspired by my own observation - as long as I didn't move my legs - I always wanted to stay put - but once I moved my legs - I always wanted to get out of bed - - -so I used to grab their socks out of the drawer - and asked them to push their foot out of the covers - so I could slip their sock on their foot. This worked every time.

Also - one year - they had to wear gym clothes on Monday - so when I washed the load on the weekend I would leavce the blues for last - and I would actually fluff the dryer to warm up the clothes - and then would bring them warm clothes to put on - - this worked and they still remember how special this was.

Sometimes a few special minutes can replace many nagging minutes!
PS - I did work and volunteered alot and my kids are now 19 & 16 and terrific.

Hi J.,

This is me as well. I have a 9yr old and 5 yr old twins, so I feel your pain. I practically put one of my 5 yr old on the bus in PJ's the other day. My husband travels out of town about once a month, however it is me getting them ready for school eveyday anyway.

I used to work f/t ( unemployed at the moment), so it was even much harder then.

I have no suggestions for you, just know you are not alone.

L.

Have you tried to let them miss school one day if they aren't ready. It maybe they don't really understand the consequences of not getting ready on time. Be sure you spell this out for them ahead of time. I am not sure if this will maybe backfire, but I know when I was younger and I was slow getting up, I also hated to miss a day of school! Do remember that some are not morning people. For instance, if they miss breakfast one day, they may remember how hungry they were by lunchtime.

Just a couple of suggestions. Good luck!

I don't have great ideas, but maybe your kids aren't "morning" kids. I would suggest having them go to bed around 30 minutes earlier and then waking them up 30 minutes earlier. Maybe, if you can allow them enough down time in the morning you'd be able to get them on the bus easier. I'm not a morning person and need a good 45 minutes to watch TV and drink coffee before I wake my daughter up and start getting ready. Or,even if you don't give them the downtime the extra 30 minutes might allow them to be ready even with their slow pace.

J.,
My girlfriend had this same problem- her solution? She delivered the children to school in their PJ's and school clothes in a sack! Put their breakfast in a bag too! She said it took ONE time and it stopped. 10 YEARS old is manipulating the routine- play hardball and let them take some grief from their peers. I've told my daughters that if they aren't ready in time- they go as is!! So far, that has worked, but you MUST not waffle on this.

Ah, this one brings a smile to my face....it's not just my kids!!! lol My 8 year old was nick named "pokeydog" in preschool and has earned "pokeypacker" from her second grade teacher! She is NEVER in a hurry. The house could be burning and I think she'd take her time getting out. I get them up this way. I say rather loudly, it's time to get up, and I turn on their lights. Then every five minutes I am asking if they are dressed yet, hair/teeth brushed etc. They are sleepy and bicker in the morning but I get them out on a timely basis, much to their dismay lol

Oh oh oh how i have been there. I think i actually did have a stroke! My kids are now grown., once, i told my oldest daughter that i was not going to yell and scream, mearly give her anouncements and that at whatever point she was ready, was how she would go to schoo.(she was 9) example: leaving in 30 minutes, 20 minutes etc. Well, the fatefull time came and she was still i in her pajamas. Well, i packed up the baby got my stuff to leave for work walked into the house carried (more like dragged her to the car!) and proceeded to drive to school. As she sat in the car litteraly freaking out i explained to her that i will never do this or be this kind again, we went home she got ready (in a record 10 minutes). Never had the problem again. My other children were not as bad but they were closer in age and i had the fighting you explained. It helps to pick out their clothes the night before and have as much done as possible prior to he morning. Good luck!

I feel your pain. I have a 14 and 6 yr old who go to school. This is something I have tried and it seems to work some days. I tell them that whoever gets ready first gets to pick what to have for dinner or a show to watch after dinner. I also turn that around and say the last one ready has to clean the litter box or some other chore they both dont like doing. I know these ideas sound silly but I am also a single parent most of the time and also have a 2 yr old so I am willing to try anything..lol..well good luck

hi J. j., i have found that that our kids are just like how we are/were. my guys(3 boys/men) all seem to be like my husband and i, if we tend to be on time they tend to be on time. look at how you get ready to leave the house ? then think about how or what makes you get moving? i find this works for me even now with them at college etc. it is good to get them motivated now it will help in the teen years. good luck jennyG

I am a mom of 3 sons 17,15,8 and they use to be slow but I started putting on the refrigerator a calendar which list each boys name. I place checks=not pleasant & Star=satisfactory by each name and at the end of the week - I will reward them and the one with the most check mark must do something that the son with the most stars
"ask him to do for as many check mark that he received for the week" - Guess what "no one is getting those check marks in the morning because they do not want to do what the brother puts him to do.

Example: Chores they may have for that week:dishes,throw out garbage, dust,vacuum, or pick up dogs poop.

It is also important to assign chores to kids to help them become responsible.

Hi, J.
I have a 10 yr-old and 8 yr-old who HATE to get up. Until recently, they got up and sullenly ate breakfast in front of Arthur or something. A couple of weeks ago I began working part-time, which means they have to get up and out earlier than they have since day-care days. SO...
Here's our new routine, which seems to be working better every day. I get up about half an hour before they do... giving me time for making and drinking a little coffee, and gathering a bit of peace around myself, thereby fortifying myself for the day to come. At that time, I go in each one's room and say "Two eyes!" until each child raises a head and looks at me with two open eyes. As soon as I see two open eyes the child can go back to sleep for however many minutes I give. ( The secret here, of course, is that you can't check the clock when you're asleep, so if I say half an hour and they only have ten minutes, they don't know it.) When I come back, the bath is run for one and I've got the other one ready for a shower and we';re off and running. Works so well that it still surprises me evry day. When they're done and dressed, they come in the kitchen where I've got the tea and hot chocolate ready, which they usually don't drink much of, but which makes them feel better, just because it's there.
Try it, it might work with yours, too. If you've got one who needs to sit on the edge of the bed and stare for a while before getting up, then do the bath thing at night and give that one x-number of minutes to stare at the wall, (tell'em "ten-minute stare" and see if that works instead.
Good luck.
By the way, sometimes being a single parent is easier, because the kids know there's only one captain of the ship, so to speak. Don't worry.

It is really simple. Every action has its consequences. Maybe one morning you can plan on this... Let them miss the bus and see how they react. YOu cannot take them to school and they have to stay in thier rooms for the day. No fun!!! I bet they may jump out of bed next morning really fast.... This is one suggestion. Every actions has a reaction and children learn from action and consequences. If you do not cooperate and listen (your yelling will not help) you do not get rewarded or get something taken away. Try this.

Yeah the morning schedule can be a little crazy---as I write this, and my kids and husband have a snow day, and I do not, and think how easy it was for me to get to work this morning. I resort to very loud music, ususally a different one of my selection each day. Depending on how obnoxious I feel that day ;-)

I walk into each childs room (I have two) flip on the lights, lightly kiss them good morning (one of the two I actually throw the blankets off at this point also--cuz he's slower than the other), then I walk out and pick the music. I have a PC loaded with a bunch of MP3s---so I pick ONE song, and set it to repeat, and it plays over and over LOUDLY---while I go downstairs and complete my morning routine with Breakfast and lunches.

Try reading a book called 1-2-3-Magic. It is absolutely magic how well these systems work. Use 1-2-3 counting method to get them to do what you want. Once you get to 3 they better be running in the right direction to your request or they get time-out, lose TV time (or other), or whatever you desire as punishment. Let them know they have 20 minutes (or however long) to finish particular duties. Set a time in the bathroom to finish combing hair, brushing teeth, dressing, etc. If they are not done getting ready when the timer goes off, they lose something they like or have to help you do something they don't like ;-) or maybe just help out when they normally wouldn't. For example, they could go next door and ask the neighbor if they could shovel snow for them for free or rake leaves or take their dog for a walk or pick up weeds. Something to help someone else. They'll learn two things: they'll learn they better get done quicker if they want free-time to do things they want and they will learn responsibility by giving back to the community. Yeah!

Well I can only go by what my mother did because my kids aren't that old, but they are going to bed a bit late. My mother made us all go to bed by 7pm until we were in middle school. No questions asked, no arguments ever... or we got our bottoms swatted. My girls are 5 and 3 and we start bedtime at 7pm to 7:30...the are asleep no later than 8pm...my mom would disapprove. They are both up on their own by 7am or 7:30....I've read that kids need 10 to 12 hours a sleep a night until they are almost in their teens. Who knows for sure though...every person is different...I need eight, my hubby needs six to eight.

So anyway, try a little earlier bedtime.

Here are some things my mom would do. She turned on the light, gave us a kiss and said it was time to get up. We had five minutes...if we didn't get up...she pulled the covers off and stood over us with a glass of cold water...and she didn't bluff...we had 30 seconds to get up. Then she told us we had 15 minutes to get dressed or she went in and dressed us...typically in something she knew we hated to wear. Then we had to be finished brushing our teeth and combing our hair in 15 minutes and in the kitchen at a certain time. Each of us had a chore when we got there...one got the juice on the table, one got the napkins and silverware, the other helped with toast or fruit...whatever she was serving for breakfast.

My father was in the Air Force and he was gone for a year at a time sometimes. Mom didn't take any trash. She would praise us when we did a good job, but she wouldn't hesitate to set us straight if we gave her a hard time. That might mean a quick trip to the bathroom for a swat on the tail, or a promise that after school we wouldn't be able to watch tv for our hour or go outside at all that day. She made sure we understood she was the boss and there was no giving her a hard time....especially in the morning when things needed to get done.

If we argued then she punished us all to make sure she got the instigator or culprit. We soon learned to keep our mouths shut if we didn't have something nice to say. We might grumble under our breaths at each other but we made sure mom didn't hear it. She wouldn't tolerate the stress our bickering would create for her.

So get a timer and set it....give them time limits with consequences. It will be a pain for a few days but they will get the hint.

Kids become immune to yelling...I know I taught school for nine years...I learned that very quickly. You shouldn't yell unless absolutely necessary. Actions are what count. When one gives you a hard time enact a consequence...no arguments (they argue it gets worse).

Mom would often tell us that we did not live in a democracy it was a dictatorship and she was the boss...period.

I have to say we love and respect our mother deeply for it. She seemed like a tyrant sometimes...but though she was tough and laid down the law..she was also very generous with the praise and the hugs/kisses. I don't know that we have many friends that honor their mothers like me and brothers honor and respect ours.

Be tough, fair, loving, and firm. You are the boss and that is even more important in a military family.

I have an 8 year old and 6 year old and believe me, I can sympathize! I have just in the last two weeks started to put them to bed at 8 rather than 9 (6 year old's teacher commented he seemed tired at school) and it has been working great to get them out of bed more easily. The funny thing is they just lay there or read and don't even fall asleep until 9 but I am shocked at how easily they have been getting out of bed these past two weeks. Keeping them moving is another story... I try either threatening to revoke tv and video games after school or I tell them if they get ready to go with shoes on and backpacks ready they can watch a little tv before we leave - this works too- for a day or two ;) I think we have to just keep mixing it up for them to keep them excited about it. Also I have tried telling them they get an extra dessert if they ready before me- this is good for once too. Good luck! Let me know if anything you try works!

Dear J., My husband and I had the same issue with our 8 year old boy. We have initiated a reward system. I typed up the morning routine, which kicks off with me waking him up, at which point he has to be out of bed within 2 minutes (otherwise a black mark) - everything from this point forward is his responsibility up until the point that he gets breakfast. I shouldn't have to keep shouting him at every stage of the routine. If he completes his morning routine without any issues, he's rewarded a star. 30 stars = an activity or gift to a certain value of his choice. Each black mark = 1 hour less of tv, playstation, play dates, play time, etc. It works like a treat. We have a couple of blips but mainly he get's through the routine without many issues. We'd tried everything before and this is about the only motivation that has worked.

Last night my 8 year old (boy) thought he should have his routine typed in a chart. So I just added him in on my outlook schedule program, wake up 6:30, get dressed, brush teeth, make bed,645, etc. Then we pick up again at 3:30 for homework, extra cirric, etc. (many days vary). He is doing it! Okay I know one day doesn't make a success... but he did it himself. No fights, and no deals.

Also big big rule lately, otherwise all possible bets are off in my house.... NO SCREENS (no tv/no pc) Mon-Friday until 6pm. This helps with homework, piano etc. They don't mind once its a rule, set in stone. Its wavering, me not sticking to it- that makes it harder for them.

I have three boys, 8 yr old, and twin 6 yr olds.

We are still working on the twins! But at least this helps with one.

J.,
I have a 4 year old who already has this problem. What I found works for him is find something that he really likes to do, but does not really get too much time to do. For example, my son loves to watch cartoons and I really do not let him have too much TV time during the day. When I wake him up I tell him "If he wants to watch his shows he needs to get up now." After a few times, he will get it and have no problem getting up and moving. In the beginning he thinks that I am joking and does not get up, then it is a run around to get ready and out the door....and there is no time to watch his shows. After this he realizes that if he does want to watch his shows, he really does need to get up when I tell him to get up. After he us up and moving I tell him to get things while I am getting ready and by the time that I am ready to head out he is ready as well. Let me know if you try this and if it works for you...

Ah, been there, my darling! The situation is the only person with a consequence here is you! If they are late to school - so what - at least in their eyes.

This worked for me. For every minute they are late getting ready in the morning, they must go to bed a minute earlier that night. You need to be firm and consistent and be prepared for a lot of wailing and complaining; that is their 'job'. Your job is to not allow any excuses. It will take a few nights but it works. After a couple of weeks, they will backslide and you may need to do it again a night or two but it will work.

I have a hard time with this, too. I thought an hour was enough time but it wasn't. And all the bickering wasn't good way for anyone to start a new day.

I suggest waking them up at least a half an hour earlier, but let them linger in bed as their daytime battery charges up. I often turn on a book on CD that both my kids, ages 10 and 6, can enjoy. (All the Beverly Cleary books are great and are readily available at the library.) Sometimes my husband will bring them to the family room where they are allowed to watch a half hour of TV (we rent the flintstones and looney tunes!) TV is a treat for them as we don't watch much on a regular basis.

This gives them that extra half hour to fully wake up without the stress of having to do something right away and then they have a full hour to get ready.

Hope this helps!

Great ideas, Kelly! I love the whomever is ready first gets to pick a TV show idea.

I have 3 girls (9, 6 & 5). The only one who is slow in the morning is the 6 yr old. I try to do as much as possible the night before. I also do a count down in the morning (20 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes). At 5 minutes, she should be downstairs, getting her shoes & coat on. She knows that now and has been doing well.

What really motivated her was I told her that she would go to school whether she was ready or not - messy hair, no socks. That also meant she would go to school without her homework, folder, and books if they weren't in her backpack. If she wasn't ready, that is not the bus's fault, nor mine.

She's up the earliest of the 3, but is always the last to get ready. If she backslides, she gets TV & computer time taken away.

The 9 & 6 yr old always bicker in the morning. Very crabby. I try to ignore it for the most part, and just try to move them along.

Good Luck! I think you'll have to try a combination of things before the kids will fall in line.