How to wake up a HEAVY sleeper?

[maslex]

My oldest son (18) is such a heavy sleeper. I have never in my life seen anything like it.

He has to be up and out of bed by 6:00 am for school. I get up at 4:30 for work and start waking him up then. Then for the next hour and a half, between me, my husband and youngest son, we try everything we can do to get him up.

If you know a heavy sleeper or if you're a heavy sleeper yourself, what are some tried & true tips for waking them up???

 

[kathie859]

My oldest son (18) is such a heavy sleeper. I have never in my life seen anything like it.

He has to be up and out of bed by 6:00 am for school. I get up at 4:30 for work and start waking him up then. Then for the next hour and a half, between me, my husband and youngest son, we try everything we can do to get him up.

If you know a heavy sleeper or if you're a heavy sleeper yourself, what are some tried & true tips for waking them up???

How about a very loud, annoying alarm clock set across the room so he has to get out of bed to turn it off? Oh, and maybe letting him miss his first class so he has some motivation to get moving?

 

[Poohforyou]

What's the latest he can get up and make it to school? My dd is a heavy sleeper and I start about 15 minutes before she has to be up. She's a hs freshman and doesn't give a hoot about fixing her hair or putting on make up. She showers at night so in the morning it's throw on clothes, brush teeth and run out the door.

To get her up I just nudge her until she grunts. I have to do it a few times but once I tell her snoozing is done she gets up.

Have a conversation with him. 18 is awfully old to be spending 90 minutes trying to get him up.

 

[diznygirl]

How about a very loud, annoying alarm clock set across the room so he has to get out of bed to turn it off? Oh, and maybe letting him miss his first class so he has some motivation to get moving?

Yup. Make him get up and turn off his own alarm. That's a lot of people spending a lot of time - what does the 18 year old do to get himself up?

 

[Luv Bunnies]

If he doesn't have to be up until 6:00, I wouldn't start waking him at 4:30. I would let him sleep until around 5:45, set a loud alarm, and tell him he can hit the snooze twice before he has to get up. If people start trying to wake him at 4:30, his last 90 minutes of sleep are being interrupted over and over. He might be overly tired because he's not getting a full night of quality sleep. I would leave him alone until it gets closer to the time he actually has to be up. He'll get more quality sleep that way and it will be easier when he does have to wake up.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

My oldest son (18) is such a heavy sleeper. I have never in my life seen anything like it. He has to be up and out of bed by 6:00 am for school. I get up at 4:30 for work and start waking him up then. Then for the next hour and a half, between me, my husband and youngest son, we try everything we can do to get him up. If you know a heavy sleeper or if you're a heavy sleeper yourself, what are some tried & true tips for waking them up???

What's the latest he can get up and make it to school? My dd is a heavy sleeper and I start about 15 minutes before she has to be up. She's a hs freshman and doesn't give a hoot about fixing her hair or putting on make up. She showers at night so in the morning it's throw on clothes, brush teeth and run out the door. To get her up I just nudge her until she grunts. I have to do it a few times but once I tell her snoozing is done she gets up. Have a conversation with him. 18 is awfully old to be spending 90 minutes trying to get him up.

Same with me it is clothes hygiene out the door

Also turn on the light

 

[trip]

Does he go to sleep at a decent time to get enough sleep? If he expects you to get him up, treat him like a little boy and enforce an early bedtime.

 

[disney1990]

It is not unusual for children and young adults to sleep through alarms and such. There is currently research going on as to how to get these individuals to wake up when a smoke detector goes off. I remember when our girls were in their pre-teen and teen years, the smoke detector was right outside their room and they would sleep through it.

I too would make sure that your son is getting enough sleep and also recommend a very loud alarm on the other side of the room.

 

[scrapquitler]

My oldest son (18) is such a heavy sleeper. I have never in my life seen anything like it.

He has to be up and out of bed by 6:00 am for school. I get up at 4:30 for work and start waking him up then. Then for the next hour and a half, between me, my husband and youngest son, we try everything we can do to get him up.

If you know a heavy sleeper or if you're a heavy sleeper yourself, what are some tried & true tips for waking them up???

My DD is a heavy sleeper, and sometimes getting her up is a total nightmare for me. What works? Cold water in a spray bottle.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I agree with waiting until its closer to when he needs to up, much closer. Use a bucket of ice water if necessary. And then move his bedtime up until you find a spot where 6:00 am is no big deal.

 

[marlynnp]

Add me to the list of people that don't understand why you are trying to get him up so early!

That's 90 minutes of interrupted sleep that's not actually doing anything for him. I wouldn't start trying to wake him until 20 minutes (max) before he needs to be up. And maybe he needs to get to bed earlier too.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Add me to the list of people that don't understand why you are trying to get him up so early!

That's 90 minutes of interrupted sleep that's not actually doing anything for him. I wouldn't start trying to wake him until 20 minutes (max) before he needs to be up. And maybe he needs to get to bed earlier too.

I agree with all these people. If he doesn't have to be up at 4:30, why would he get up when you wake him up then?

I'm not really a 'heavy sleeper', but I set my alarm for when I have to get up! No snooze pressing for me!

 

[Southernmiss]

Agree with the others an hour and a half of wake up starting at 430 am??? I love my sleep and would be ticked. 6 am is plenty early to me.

Our middle son is a great sleeper. He's 16 and sets numerous alarms on his phone for himself. Sometimes I wake him but it's 30 minutes before we leave at 645. Gives him plenty of time to shower, dress and eat.

When he did have a issue getting up, we made him go to bed earlier. Did the trick.

In my experience, teens and pre teens need lots of sleep. Much development still happening.

 

[tina.tina]

My brother in law (33) has been married to my sister since he was 20. He always had a hard time getting up. His mom used to call and call to try to get him out of bed. He lost a few jobs when he was younger due to this issue. I just thought he was lazy and he grew up and became more responsible. Thinking about this issue in terms of health, though, he has pretty severe allergies and he smokes.

I would have a sleep study done for your son to ensure he doesn't have a medical issue. If not, he needs to be responsible for getting himself up. I would charge him a fee for getting him out of bed. Money is already the best thing to motivate my DD who is almost 13.

 

[Aliceacc]

What does your son think?

 

[MSSANDRA]

I agree, he is loosing an hour and a half of important sleep! I would try giving him back the control of the situation. At 18, he is only months away from going away to college. Offer to help him choose an alarm clock (or two or three) and have them placed where he has to get up to turn them off. Maybe a coffee maker in his room with a timer to start about 5:45 ( smell can be a great stimulator) but then give the responsibility back to him.

 

[sunshinehighway]

Sounds lazy to me. Unless he had some type of medical problem, it's time he learned to get himself up. What's going to happen when he goes to college or gets a job?

 

[mom2rtk]

He'll get up when he feels he needs to get up.

Get him a good alarm clock. One with loud bells on top. Put it just out of reach so he has to get out of bed to turn it off.

Then put him in charge of himself. He needs to own it. Let him also own some consequences from not getting up.

I feel for you OP. I have 18 and 20 year old sons. One has gotten himself up on time every day since middle school. We did hand to hand combat with the other one. The honest truth is that he didn't start getting himself up on time until he was in charge of it himself and bought into the importance of being up on time. I'm sorry to say that didn't happen until he was in college.

 

[manning]

My dad's broke me of the habit of not getting up. Wet towels. Yes wet and cold. Ice cold.

He would put three wet towels in the fridge. He would come in, put on the light and gently shake me. If I rolled over and went back to sleep I got the wet towel. If rolled over again he said that's ok the snooze alarm is ready. Amazing how fast I learned how to get up the first time. I woke up as soon as the light came on. Helped me in the army too. I was the first one into the latrine.

 

[minkydog]

Speaking as girl who was hard to waken as a teen and young adult, I have to agree with the above. You're wasting your time, increasing your own frustration, and causing him to have sub-optimum sleep. Stop it!

You know the absolute last moment he can remain in bed--use it. If he absolutely has to be out of the house at 6:30, count backward. If he needs to shower and shave and eat, then he needs to be up at least 20 minutes prior. Set two different clocks with very loud alarms, one for 5:55am and the other for 6:05am and put them close enough to the bed to annoy him but not so close that he can just shut it off without getting up. That way, if he gets up and turns the first alarm off, he can still lay back down for 10 minutes if he decides to. If he lies down again after the 2nd alarm, turn on the lights and tell him to get up--once. No begging and threatening. You are merely doing him a favor by calling his name ONE time. Either he will get up or he won't, his decision. He may be acting like a child, but he's legally an adult.

Do not beg and plead with him. Use natural consequences. If HE chooses (that's the key word here) to stay in bed after 2 alarms and a verbal warning, you need to just let the chips fall where they may. He misses a test? Aw, too bad. Now he has a zero. His fault and his alone. He gets in-school suspension for being late again or missing too many days? Sucks to be him. He has the power to either get with the program or ignore it.

OP, sometimes as a parent we just have to sit on our hands and let them fail at a few things, suffer some consequences and learn life lessons. Your son is an 18 year old man. This is one of those things he is going to have to do for the rest of his life. You need to give over responsibility to him now. You are not doing him any favors with the game you and your DH are playing now


ETA: I learned my lesson in college. I could sleep through anything; fire alarms, loud clocks, loud conversations in my very room. All it took was missing enough classes that I nearly failed my 8am class to bring me around.

My DH learned his lesson at my hands. He was a bit of a mama's boy and he expected me to do what his mama had always done. Hell to the no! I gave him fair warning that I would no longer be responsible for getting him ready for school (first year teaching.) One day I did my best to wake him up, to no available so I walked out and took myself to work. And he was late to school! It was the kick in the pants he needed. Having your very unhappy principal wake you up by phone apparently was the cure for morning sleepiness!