ARGH! kids can't sleep past DH's alarm (VENT)

Senior Member Joined: May 23 2011 Posts: 126

oh so frustrated, not sure where to put this. DH goes to minyan every day - b"H. and he has to go early to get to work. alarm goes off at 5:45 and poof both kids are up (preschool age). even if they sleep through the alarm, they wake up from his shower, comings and goings in the hallway to get ready or just get up to use the bathroom and see him up and won't go back to bed. it's driving me mad because his minyan is getting them up early, I have to get up early and then I have cranky children all day long because they did not get enough sleep. the one hour makes a HUGE difference. tonight they will probably have to go to sleep after kiddush and challah - I will feed them earlier - because they just won't make it in a sane manner and keeping them up with mess up their day tomorrow. it is a vicious cycle. if DH gets up and out before 5 (from experience we've learned) it does not wake them. and if he misses the early minyan and has to go to the later one, they sleep at least til 6:30 sometimes 7/7:15. of course the later minyan is too late on a regular basis. bedrooms are next door to e/o with bathroom across the hall.

just had to get allthat off my chest. hopefully someone will respond...

How about playing music in your kids room or playing some other "white noise" to make it harder for your little ones to hear your husband? I have a similar problem in that I have a small house with wood floors and noise can travel easily. Plus, my son's room is right next to the bathroom. I play a kids music CD all night in my son's room (he's 3 years old) so it makes it harder for him to hear me or my husband. We've been doing this since he was a baby. Also, I've been running a humidifier all winter in his room and that also makes white noise.

One other idea, can your husband take a shower before he goes to bed, so will help to make less noise in the morning? That's what my husband does. My husband also gets up early (5:30 am) and is out the door my 6am to get to work.

Silver Member Joined: Nov 17 2011 Posts: 912

I don't have a solution, but I share the same problem. I have a sound machine in the kids room, but by morning everyone is sleeping lightly enough that it doesnt usually help. It is super frustrating.

Diamond Member Joined: Mar 17 2008 Posts: 3555

I second the white noise.

Although this won't help with the "walking around" issue, maybe you could also buy your dh a vibrating alarm clock, the type that goes under your pillow. My father used to have one so that he wouldn't wake up my mother when he had to wake up early in the morning. It's hard to sleep with a vibrating pillow under you (vibrating at intervals, so it's annoying to fall back asleep).

Executive Member Joined: Feb 14 2006 Posts: 402

I would focus on minimizing his morning activities.
Ditto a previous poster on the nighttime shower. Is he a dh that can be quiet? I ask because my dh cannot. He doesn't understand when I tell him that by pulling and pusing doors open and shut instead of turning the handle first, he bangs when it is not necessary.
Also will a lower volume wake him up? Or vibrate near his head.
Worth a shot.

Good Luck with the extra sleep.

Posted: Fri, Jan 06 2012, 12:57 pm Post subject:

U can set a noise maker to go off at around 4am.